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August 2008 Edition

Welcome to Issue 13 of the Teachers’ Toolkit e-newsletter.

While being inundated with all things Beijing Olympics and the celebration of some great sporting achievements, life at Teachers’ Toolkit continues at a pace as it does in our teaching community. And all while we experience one of the coldest winters for 13 years. Why is it so?

Hopefully some of these extra ideas will help warm you and your students up to achieve your own ‘PB’ (personal best). Issue 12 of Teachers’ Toolkit magazine is in production and will be arriving in your mailbox in early September.

In this e-newsletter you will find:

Teachers’ Toolkit needs your help

We thought it about time we ran a survey to find out if Teachers’ Toolkit is on the right track in delivering the magazine and website. Go to www.teacherstoolkit.net.au where you will find information on the home page News of a brief survey form to download, complete and fax back to us. Your feedback will be appreciated, plus you could also be eligible to receive some great educational resource books or quality children’s literature.

MacquarieNet Poetry Competition and Les Murray

MacquarieNet, with the support of Macquarie Dictionary and Teachers’ Toolkit, will launch their primary school Poetry Competition on 1 September. All details, including prizes, will appear in Issue 12 of the magazine. You can also find details on the Teachers’ Toolkit website.

Special and significant days

We acknowledge the use of the resource-rich EDNA Australian Schools Calendar website, where you will find many other events to enjoy and celebrate with your students.

www.edna.edu.au/edna/go/schooled

Wonder School program offers nutrition lesson plans for schools

These nutrition lesson plans are free and available for teachers to access at www.wonderschool.com.au

The program includes lesson plans for teachers to use in the classroom. The lesson plans include information about healthy eating and exercise plans. Lesson plans are broken down for students in Early Stage 1 (kindergarten), Stage 1(Years 1&2), Stage 2 (Years 3&4) and Stage 3 (Years 5&6).

www.wonderschool.com.au

Edible schoolyards

Many schools in Australia are creating school gardening systems that not only look good, but also give value in more ways than one. Take a look at how an enterprising Californian, Anne Walters, has created a growing movement to transform school lunch into a vibrant expression of education for sustainability—and coined the phrase ecoliteracy.

Visit the website, where you will find heaps of information, ideas and classroom help for your gardening activities.

www.edibleschoolyard.org

Cyber-Bullying by Shaheen Shariff

Cyber-Bullying: Issues and Solutions for the School, the Classroom and the Home

While cyber-bulling is relatively new to the Australian environment, it is harmful and a growing concern. How do you cope with this problem created by human behaviour and protect children? This powerful and practical book alerts educators and policy-makers to the rise of cyber-bullying internationally, and the dangers of implementing reactive responses to control it.

Published by Routledge, ISBN: 978-0-415-42491-2

Spring and cycling

With the warmer weather approaching, it is an ideal time to encourage children (and adults) to get on their bikes for all the right reasons. The benefits of pedal power are well known, and now is a great time to revisit these.

Bikes are brilliant! Take a look at Teachers’ Toolkit Issue 4 or go to Download Lesson Plans at: www.teacherstoolkit.net.au and search ‘bikes’ for some great teaching ideas.

Here are some websites that could be helpful with ideas and resources. Also take a look at your own state government’s transport department website, which should include advice for cycling.

Music. Count Us In.

Was your school one of the 900 school communities that took part in Australia’s biggest ever simultaneous school music performance in 2007, all singing the same song on the same day? If you are, then it is on again in 2008; if you weren’t, consider being part of this music event. Mark your diaries for the big day: Thursday 23 October at 11.30 am.

Register at www.musiccountusin.org.au

Pan Macmillan giveaways

Congratulations to all the teachers who were the lucky recipients of the giveaways from Issue 11 of the magazine. Copies of the following titles have been sent out:

  • The Frank Frankie: the Newspaper that Helps People by Ingrid Jonah
  • Cloudland by Lisa Gorton
  • The Wish Kin by Joss Hedley.

Watch out for Issue 12 where we will be giving away copies of:

  • Little Seed by Gav Barbey
  • The Pencil of Doom by Andy Griffiths
  • Money Run by Jack Heath.

Remember that the Pan Macmillan Inside Covers units now appear in every issue of the magazine, and will include other titles with FREE giveaways. You must be registered to enter.

Book of the Year Awards 2008 announced

The Children’s Book Council of Australia has just announced the 2008 winners and honour books for its Book of the Year Awards 2008. Here are the winners, but also take a look at the honour books, shortlisted titles and more.

  • Older Readers: The Ghost’s Child by Sonya Hartnett
  • Younger Readers: Dragon Moon by Carole Wilkinson
  • Early Childhood: Pearl Barley and Charlie Parsley by Aaron Blabey
  • Picture Book: Requiem For A Beast by Matt Ottley
  • The Eve Pownall Award for Information Books: Parsley Rabbit’s Book About Books by Frances Watts

Visit http://cbca.org.au to learn more.

New Kids’ Books in Oz

Have you visited Chris Cheng’s new blog featuring the latest Australian children’s book releases?

See http://newkidsbooksinoz.blogspot.com to view the list.
Macquarie Net

MacquarieNet: Australia’s leading online reference library extends 30-day free trial offer for schools!

www.macquarienet.com.au

Due to overwhelming demand, MacquarieNet is continuing with its 30-day full access free trial for schools to use its online reference library To sign up, contact MacquarieNet by email (support@macquarieonline.com.au) and you will receive your login details.

Individual teachers can register online for a free 7-day trial — it only takes a few minutes to receive your login details, enabling you to explore and research some truly amazing information.

City children to experience farm life at the 2008 Royal Melbourne Show

Victoria’s city school students will have the chance to become a country kid for a day when they have the unique opportunity to experience real life farm activities first hand with the introduction of the 2008 Royal Melbourne Show’s innovative schools and holiday excursion program. 18 - 26 September

To get the most of the excursion, the school programs also offer a series of online teaching resources for each year level in line with VELS, providing a time effective and educational solution for both primary and secondary school levels.

Teachers may also access a detailed Teachers’ Guide to the Royal Melbourne Show online at www.royalshow.com.au

Classroom discussion

Did you know that children who spend more time outdoors are less likely to develop short-sightedness? Recent research has shown that spending time outdoors helps this situation, even if the child is doing a lot of reading, studying and other ‘near-work’, such as using a computer. Watching television and using computers had little effect on the development of problems such as myopia in children who spent significant amounts of time outdoors.

Set up a debate in your class to argue why this might be so.

Staffing our schools

‘A rigorous, rich and rewarding curriculum for all students is only possible with a highly qualified and well-paid teaching service.’ (Angelo Gavrielatos, Australian Education Union)

Teachers’ Toolkit supports the idea of a competitive professional salary for all teachers to help guarantee an acceptable supply of qualified teachers along with proper recognition and appropriate rewards for demonstrated quality teaching, knowledge, skills and practice.

Please encourage your colleagues to subscribe to this newsletter by forwarding a copy to them. Subscription to the newsletter is free and ensures that teachers do not miss out on any of our classroom-friendly ideas and resources.

Subscriptions can be entered using the link below.

Teachers’ Toolkit e-Newsletter

The Teachers’ Toolkit team

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