NEWS
Sharing survival tips
Pupils are being asked to reflect on their first six months at secondary school in a national challenge. The competition, to coincide with the release of Diary of a Wimpy Kid on DVD, asks students to put together school survival tips for a chance of winning a Playstation 3 plus #163;1,000 for school equipment. The closing date is February 28. Go to www.filmeducation.orgdiaryofawimpykid
Walking the line
National charity Living Streets is offering free resources for secondary schools to promote its Free Your Feet campaign, encouraging walking. Go to www.walktoschool.org.ukfreeyourfeet
Poet puts his art into it
Poet Ian McMillan is a keynote speaker at Creating the Future, a conference looking at the role of the arts in education, in Leeds on March 10. Visit www.artformsleeds.co.uk
GEOGRAPHY
What is it?
Green.TV is an online TV channel devoted to broadcasting short programmes about environmental issues, including climate change and sustainability. The resource is developed in partnership with organisations such as the Worldwide Fund for Nature, the RSPB and the United Nations. This is a collection of videos that will provoke classroom discussion on these topics.
How to use it
Use the videos as a starting point to look deeper into aspects of environmental change. For example, a video on water shortages in Africa shows a series of satellite images taken over long periods of time and the impact climate change has had on water levels across the continent.
Another looks at the tsunami that struck south-east Asia in 2008, and how scientists in Europe are working to prevent this from happening on the east Mediterranean coasts.
Sir David Attenborough also hosts a video, looking at the work done by environmental charity BCTV (where he is a vice-president) and how volunteering can transform people and places.
Where is it?
The collection can be found at www.tes.co.ukgreen-tv-videos
PE
What is it?
This is a group of resources about healthy eating and lifestyles, for secondary PE lessons. Focusing on sport, diet and nutrition, they can form the basis of a discussion or a project on how to support a healthy lifestyle.
How to use it
Laptop07 has uploaded a good general introduction on the importance of sport, which looks at the various types of activity - from team games to outward bound activities such as hiking - and asks pupils to consider how sport makes them feel.
For kinaesthetic learners, SJK26 has created a series of flashcards that teachers can use to teach aerobics steps. Harrier Owl has also put together a series of flashcards, this time for circuit training.
There are a number of resources looking at the theoretical side of sport; for example, a revision podcast on optimum weights in sport (uploaded by Mr Mac), and a series of worksheets for pupils to fill in when they have performed fitness tests (251butterflies). Jesscunlliffe, who received an Ofsted grade one for this lesson, has uploaded her lesson plan on lifestyle factors that impact on physical health.
For schools offering GCSE Dance, Tizabella has uploaded a revision aid which covers a range of questions that might crop up in the exam. These could be laminated and turned into flashcards or other visual resources. She has also uploaded a selection of pictures of different dance moves for visual reference.
A comprehensive scheme of work is also available for netball, ideal for teachers of Year 7. Jennie 3315 has contributed this collection of learning objectives and outcomes, including decision-making, adhering to the rules, and assessing players’ strengths and weaknesses.
Where to find it
The collection can be found at www.tes.co.ukhealthy-lifestyles
MATHS
What is it?
This is a collection of resources compiled by the Centre for Innovation in Mathematics Teaching (CIMT), part of the University of Plymouth. In 1995, the centre began to create a Mathematics Enhancement Program (MEP), which has now grown into a complete mathematics curriculum from primary school right up to the transition to A-level, with tonnes of resources available to download.
How to use it
The full set of CIMT resources has been categorised to make them easy to find and use. The pupil practice books can be used to complement or replace existing textbook resources, there are related assessments and mental tests, activities and historical backgrounds, and finally there are lesson plans enabling teachers to bring all the aspects together.
Some of the best resources include notes on the historical significance of Pythagoras’ Theorem and why it caused a great problem for the Greek mathematician and his followers, and a detailed set of plans for a series of lessons to introduce time and timetables to Year 7 students. There are also extra sets of textbooks and levelled exam-style questions, targeted at standardacademic and expressspecial groups, complete with answers.
Where to find it
The collection can be found at www.tes.co.ukCIMT-maths.
