These (below) are some of the books on CD (in .pdf format) we have from Macmillan. By purchasing them in CD format, I can put them on the Library Server and the content can be accessed from every classroom. One more step towards our 'Library without walls'. :)

These books are exactly the same as the bound book series and you simply click to move to the next page. One major advantage is that they can be used for either the individual student or whole class teaching and learning via our QPS classroom projectors.

Installation of these books onto the servers is scheduled for Week 2 of Term 3. I will update this post with further access details as they become available.

Saskia :)

I belong to an 'Evidence based practice' closed Facebook group facilitated by Dr. Ross Todd (renowned expert on Information Literacy and Associate Professor at Rutgers, The State Univeristy of New Jersey) and this was an interesting recent post that could be relevant for your classroom ...

"... suggestions if you are going to set up displays of students' work. With the examples, include in the display: (1) the syllabus goals / explicit learning standards that are to be demonstrated (2) the instructional interventions that your team have undertaken to enable the learning goals - highlight any inquiry / transliteracy interventions (3) include with each student's work their reflection on what they have learned (4) your analytical summary of what the students' work demonstrates in terms of the syllabus objectives (5) your analytical summary of the students' reflections. This moves you from a "showing" to "telling" and making explicit the learning outcomes connected to your teaching role."

Saskia :)

Take some time to look at this very cool app for you iPhone or Android cellphone. It links up (and syncs up) to your computer and provides a way to digitise handwritten or drawn work, such as posters or displays made for Concept work.

The site explains:

Take a picture with our app, and it's online in seconds. Three Ring is a website that allows you to securely upload photos of student work. With Three Ring, you can sort by class, student, or custom tag to easily find the artifact you're looking for.

You can pull up a student's work for parent-teacher conferences, administrative meetings, formative assessment, or use as exemplars.

How it works: with your smartphone, you can take a photo and tag it before you upload it. Take a picture while in class or grading.

After you're done, you can log into the website and see all the photos you've uploaded.

It's a simple way to focus on what matters: student work.


There is a logging in process which is simple and painless ... and it's FREE for teachers. :)

Have a play!

Saskia :)

This was posted on Derek Wenmoth's blog recently:

"I came across this briefing note from the Department of Education in the UK, titled  Encouraging reading for pleasure: What the research says on reading for pleasure. 

The first section of the briefing note highlights research evidence on reading for pleasure from domestic and international literature; exploring evidence on the trends and benefits of independent reading amongst both primary and secondaryaged children, as well as why children read.  The second section of this briefing covers the evidence on what works in terms of promoting reading for pleasure.

Some highlights from the paper:

What are the benefits of reading for pleasure?

• Children who say they enjoy reading for pleasure are more likely to score well on reading assessments compared to pupils who said they enjoyed reading less
• There is some evidence to show that reading for pleasure is a more important determinant of children’s educational success than their family’s socio-economic status
• It can have a positive impact on pupils’ emotional and social behaviour It can have a positive impact on text comprehension and grammar.

What works in improving independent reading?

• An important factor in developing reading for pleasure is providing choice – choice and interest are highly related
• Parents and the home environment are essential to the early teaching of reading and fostering a love of reading; children are more likely to continue to be readers in homes where books and reading are valued
• Reading for pleasure is strongly influenced by relationships between teachers and children, and children and families.

No particular surprises here for those who have been involved in teaching reading for a while – but a very useful paper to support teachers and schools that may be considering bringing back the good old 'silent reading' period in class, or promoting reading for pleasure as a key part of their reading programme." 

The full paper can be accessed as a PDF file here and it is well worth a read. 

Saskia :)

Click here to open Studyladder Olympic themed resources for use in your classroom. There are interactive sites as well as printable resources, potentially suitable for homework activities.

I also have included relevant Olympic and country links in the Olympic 'Symbaloo' in the middle and senior schools' Concept pages - feel free to have an explore! It is all free and no login is required.

Saskia :)

My daughter and I really enjoy this site. She likes to 'warm up' before a storywriting session on her own longer self chosen story by creating mini stories from these story starters. It's a nice way to get some creative juices flowing. :)

The idea is that you go to the first page, type in your name and level, and pull the lever. It will scramble some story starter options for you. If you don't like the one you get, you have the option of simply changing one aspect or the entire thing!

Clicking NEXT will give you format options and then give you an area for the child to create their masterpiece. There are also options for artwork etc.

Lots of fun and worth a look. :)