Wordcount Website

Just for fun!

WordCount™ is an artistic experiment in the way we use language. It presents the 86,800 most frequently used English words, ranked in order of commonness. Each word is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. The larger the word, the more we use it. The smaller the word, the more uncommon it is. Type in a word and discover how commonly we use it.

Don't use "Query Count" with pupils...

Listening at 5-14

Listening resources tend to be pretty thin on the ground. The LTS 5-14 English Language resource page has a few simple sheets which could be useful.

• You can find a reading/listening unit based on a short extract from Roald dahl's 'Boy' here.

• There is a listening exercise relating to genre identification here.

• The resources page also features sheets which pupils can complete after group discussion and class debate as evidence of listening.

If you want to view the whole page, you'll find it here.

Talking and Listening will be grouped together in the new outcomes, which will be published in the new year.

Writing using Mobile Phones in Class

John Gerard at Meldrum Academy has been making great use of the cameras on his pupils' mobiles to improve their writing. It's a really easy process (honest) which is fully explained below.

Working through a piece of writing in stages he follows modelling of, for example, an introduction, by asking his pupils to photograph their progress on their phones and send it to his computer via bluetooth. He then opens these files so that they display onto the whiteboard for class discussion before they move onto a new section. Here's one pupil's offering to let you see how it looks:

He adds comments from their discussion onto the screen and when the process is complete, pupils get a printout of a set of notes entirely produced by the class. This seems to me a superb way of involving pupils more in their learning, giving immediate feedback, encouraging peer-assessment and using technology relevant to pupils' lives. And let's not forget that they must love working this way!

You don't even need an interactive board for this, just a projector connected to a PC. One thing you will need though is a blutooth dongle like this one:

They cost around £5 and plug in to your PC just like a pen drive, allowing your PC to receive bluetooth messages. (they're a great thing to have to get your own mobile phone pictures onto your PC at home!)

to receive a file from a pupil, plug in the dongle and right click on the bluetooth icon on your desktop:

then ask the pupil to send the file to your PC using bluetooth. The PC will appear in their phone with it's network name, shown here in red.

You then select "receive a file" from the menu on your PC and follow the prompts to save the file to your computer. It would be a good idea to create a folder specifically for these images.

And that's it! Remember that the pupils will know how to do this much better than you already, so if you're not one of those control-freak teachers, let them help you and writing could become more fun and productive for everyone! Thanks to John for the instructions!

If you're doing something similar, leave a comment and let us know. If you give this a try, I'd love to hear about your progress.

English Inside the Black Box

You may well have read or heard of Black and Wiliam's "Inside the Black Box" which gathers together their findings on best practice in formative assessment, but have you seen this little gem? It's only twenty pages long, but I recently heard one PT describe it as "twenty pages of gold".

What I like about it most is that they begin by looking at the nature and aims of English teaching, and discuss the difficulties of assessing a subject which has two very different faces: the technical and the imaginative. The answer to this, Black and Wiliam decide, lies in the development of English teacher's judgements. This highlights the importance of frequent moderation and discussion.

They go on to look at the four main aspects of formative assessment which have been proved to raise pupil achievement and develop lifelong learners:

• Classroom talk (including questioning)
• Feedback
• Sharing learning intentions/ success criteria with the learner
• Peer and self-assessment

but before you sigh in memory of some whole-school AifL inset, they discuss these with relevant examples from the English classroom, and suggest many little things you might try to involve pupils more in their own learning.

Who currently does the most work in your lessons: you or the pupils? If the balance is all wrong, give one or two of the ideas in this little book a try.

There should be a copy in school, but if not you can obtain them at £5.00 each by emailing the publisher at:

information@nfer-nelson.co.uk

Leave a comment if you have any thoughts on this publication or can recommend any others...

Higher English Review

The SQA have announced that they are to review Higher English following concerns about the qualification. The main issues (which were raised following a survey of headteachers) are that pupils do not perform as well as predicted and that the exam is too narrow.

The review will look at the content of the exam but also how SQA share the requirements with teachers.

Read about it here, here and here.

Teaching Scots

A CfE Responsible Citizen should "develop knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland's place in it". Teaching Scots can be a fun and rewarding part of an English course at any stage.

On Monday at Keith Grammar School, Sheena Blackhall gave an entertaining and informative presentation to Moray English teachers about how one might go about teaching Scots. She spoke (and sang) for only an hour, but suggested loads of approaches and resources for those who may be unsure about how to get started.

Sheena's talk would be perfect for a bit of CPD at a departmental meeting and she also works in class with pupils. Email me if you would like her contact details. View her blog at:

http://screivins.blogspot.com/

Here are a couple of great websites full of resources on Scots:

http://www.abdn.ac.uk/elphinstone/kist

http://www.rampantscotland.com/

Resources from South of the Border...

If you're not put off by terms like "Key Stage 3", "Year 10" and "GCSE", why not have a look at Curriculum Online's English Resources page?

You may have seen their CD Roms etc in school but this page gives you access to loads of free resources on just about any part of English teaching you can think of. Use the Browse option on the right hand side to see their well-organised inventory and click the "free" option when sorting your results to see only the stuff that's, well... free!

http://www.curriculumonline.gov.uk/Subjects/En/Subject.htm

I'll add a link to the blog's list for future reference.

Interactive Whiteboard Resources

Got an interactive whiteboard hanging there doing nothing? Below are a few sites which feature interactive literature and language resources suited to whiteboards:

Eats, Shoots & Leaves

The site for Lynne Truss's book features games which ask participants to position punctuation marks correctly in text.

Have a look at: http://eatsshootsandleaves.com/ESLquiz.html

Globe Theatre

Introducing Shakespeare? This site from the Open University lets pupils explore the theatre in 3D, inside and out.

http://www.ualberta.ca/~sreimer/shakespr/glob-qt.htm

Dickens Timeline

This site features an attractive interactive timeline showing what was happening in the novelist's life and around the world as each book was published.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/archive/programs/davidcopperfield/timeline.html

BBC Skillwise

A packed site featuring noisy, colourful games on spelling, grammar etc.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/skillswise/

Penalty Shootout

A quiz game which lets pupils take penalties against George Bush, Shakespeare and others. This one is based on Twelfth Night, but you can buy the template for a small fee and make your own quizzes on whatever you choose.

http://www.twelfthnightsite.co.uk/shakespeare_shootout.htm

Have fun! Your pupils will.

Principal Assessor Reports

PA Reports for this year's Standard Grade, Int. 1 &2, Higher and Advanced Higher exams are now available online. View them here:

http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/2461.html

Each report outlines candidates' strengths and weaknesses in each element. These can be extremely useful to both teachers and PTs. The web page also links to PA reports from 2002-2006.

Exam Timetable

The 2008 English exams will take place at the following times:

Standard Grade - Tuesday 6th May

Writing F/G/C 9.00-10.15am

Reading Foundation 10.35-11.25am
Reading General 1.00-1.50pm
Reading Credit 2.30-3.20pm

Intermediate 1 - Thursday 15th May

Close Reading 1.00-1.45pm
Critical Essay 2.05-2.50pm

Intermediate 2 - Thursday 15th May

Close Reading 1.00-2.00pm
Critical Essay 2.20-3.50pm

Higher - Thursday 15th May

Close Reading 9.00-10.30am
Critical Essay 10.50-12.20pm

Advanced Higher - Thursday 15th May

1.00-4.00pm
(or 100-2.30pm for candidates who submit a Creative Writing folio)

Full details (including times for Alternative Communication/ Spoken English S. Grades and English for Speakers of Other Langugages NQs) can be found here:

http://www.sqa.org.uk/files_ccc/NQExamTimetable2008.pdf

CPD events

Some upcoming CPD events in the North East:

Tuesday 13th November

Developing an Understanding of Writer’s Craft from different Cultures and Traditions – Primary & Secondary
Summerhill 9.00 - 12.00

"Learn to Listen" – Listening Through Media (Levels D&E)
Summerhill 4.00pm - 6.00pm

Monday 19th November (Closure day)

Aberdeenshire

Advanced Higher - Richard Bennett
9.30 - 3.30
Meldrum Academy

Int.1 and 2 Close Reading / Critical essay - Morag Munro
9.30 - 12.30
Meldrum Academy

Standard Grade Writing and Critical Evaluation - Morag Munro
1.30pm - 3.30pm
Meldrum Academy

Aberdeen City

The American Dream - Gatsby and Death of a Salesman -
Bob Cooper (Strathclyde University)
Aberdeen Grammar School, 9.30 - 3.30

An Inconvenent Truth - Rick Instrell
Bridge of Don Academy, 9.30 - 3.30

Moray

Sheena Blackhall / ACfE in English
Keith Grammar School
8.45 - 12.30

Shakespeare Resource

Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time series on Radio 4 continues this Thursday with a programme about the divine right of kings in the 16th/17th century. Could be really useful when teaching King Lear and other Shakespeare plays.

The programme goes out at 9am and again at 9.30pm and will no doubt be available from their archive after this.

The new Advanced Higher Shakespeare texts are The Winter's Tale and The Tempest. Does anyone have resources on either of these? Please leave a comment if you do.

Improving Literature Answers in Aberdeenshire

A Scottish Government-funded AifL project looking at this issue is now underway in four Aberdeenshire schools. Teachers at Meldrum Academy, Gordon Schools Huntly, Peterhead Academy and Turriff Academy will work with Standard Grade pupils on increasing their enjoyment of literature tasks and expanding their range of skills in this area.

Using a starter paper developed by the department at Meldrum, the group will produce a model for teaching structure, analysis and evaluation which will hopefully equip pupils to tackle literature indepedently and encourage a more self-confident and resilient attitude to the demands of the Int.2 and Higher literature exams.

Ultimately their findings will be published in a Case Study report. Email me if you want to know more.

*What strategies do you employ to prepare your S.Grade pupils for Int. 2/ Higher? Leave a comment and share your ideas.

Introducing Film? Great Web Resource

Film Street is a great website for introdcing pupils to film. It would be best used with Upper Primary or S1/2 pupils. The site allows them to explore a lively cartoon film studio and get invloved in aspects of filmmaking. They can create animations, learn about camera shots and then use them to direct a short sequence, write a script and much more.

If you have a whiteboard or access to several PCs, this site will really grab pupils' attention as it is fully interactive. If you have a film club, or are thinking of starting one, the site features a scrapbook where pupils can keep their work and record progress - and they are rewarded with hidden content as they make their way through the activities.

There are also loads of short films and new movie trailers to watch online.

This might even be a fun and unintimidating bit of CPD for those interested in teaching film but unsure of the basics. There are teacher and parent sections featuring advice and suggested activities.

Give it a try at http://www.filmstreet.co.uk/

Blue Peter Book Awards

The 9 finalists have now been chosen for this award.

The Blue Peter Book Club site is a fantastic resource. It features advice on setting up a Book Club and downloadable materials to help, writing tips and the chance for members to chat online with their favourite authors. Malorie Blackman (pictured) is on today.

Check it out at http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/bluepeter/bookclub/

Happy Birthday Reading Bus!

St. Machar ASG's Reading Bus was one year old yesterday and the event was celebrated with a huge party at the AECC. Over 400 pupils attended and took part in "bus stop" workshops showcasing the exciting activities which have been going on aboard the bus for the last year.

The 12 workshops were all delivered by pupils and included broadcasting, animation, storytelling, non-fiction writing, Read Together and Doric. David Barry, writer in residence on the bus, and local author Sheena Blackhall also lent a hand.

View their fantastic website at: http://www.readingbus.co.uk/

There's a link on the site for contacting Jenny Watson, the Reading Bus Co-ordinator.



Broadcasting workshop

Increasing Motivation at Higher

Donald Paterson at Speyside High has been using a blog to try to motivate his Higher pupils. He uses it to encourage discussion through posts and multiple-choice polls . He even posts homework tasks on the blog: pupils can publish mini-essays etc. and then read and comment on each other's work.

It takes only minutes to set up online and all pupil comments come to the teacher first for moderation, so nothing unwanted or inappropriate can make it on to the blog.

Have a look at: http://shshigherenglish.blogspot.com/

Been using a blog with any of your classes? Why not leave a comment with your thoughts or even a link so we can have a look?