resources update issue 67

• Longman (Pearson):
  Exploring Science Access Pack
• Heinemann Secondary: ICT Matters Etutor
• Whitespace: Numbershark 3
• Renaissance Learning UK Ltd:
  Accelerated Maths
  

• TAG Learning Ltd: Inspiration for Handhelds
• Gapwork: CitizenCentral
• Renaissance Learning UK Ltd:
  Accelerated Reader
• Ginn: Abacus Evolve:
  Talk Maths Year 3 multi user pack

£500 PRIZE DRAW DEADLINE EXTENDED until December 4th; so this is your LAST chance to have your say about your levels of satisfaction with your Management Information System (MIS). Your school MIS system is the system which organises all your pupil information, exams results, reports, timetabling, finance and normally lots more.

To take part please click here

The results of this survey may feed directly into improvements to your system in the future.

It should only take 10-15 minutes to complete and responses will be welcomed from all teachers. We would particularly like to hear from head teachers, deputy head teachers, senior management team, heads of departments school administration staff/secretaries and finance staff.

If you aren't the person responsible for, or using the system in your school, perhaps you might forward it to that person. That would be a huge help. Many thanks for your time.

Inspiration for Handhelds

Longman (Pearson)

The entire range of Exploring Science curriculum materials have been written specifically for teaching wide-ability classes through integral differentiation, helping your pupils to achieve their best. The Exploring Science Access Pack enables lower attaining pupils to be taught in mixed ability classes with editable worksheets to support the Pupils’ Books in the same series. It gives pupils a record for the lesson with ‘You should know…’ summary sheets and improves their assessment technique and performance through unit tests specifically designed for pupils achieving below NC Level 4. It enables you to track the progress of lower attaining pupils with ease. Examples of activities included on the CD-ROM are end of year tests, investigations, quick quizzes, topic tests and target sheets.

ICT Matters e-tutor is designed to complement the rest of the ICT Matters course by providing comprehensive tutorials to teach the skills needed to complete course tasks. This in no way limits its use to schools which are using the rest of the course, since the tutorials take students through the use of Office 2000 applications, teaching the skills needed for the KS3 ICT Strategy units. Any school running Office on the school network would be able to make good use of the software. It can be used for whole class teaching, either projected or using an interactive whiteboard; for individual use by students to work through or just visit for specific skills and in addition teachers can export information from the testing exercises to help assess individual progress and compare year/class progress.

Citizen Central is a multimedia resource designed for use in PSHE, politics and citizenship lessons at Key Stage 4 although it could be used to support younger pupils also. Volume 2 comprises a video, CD-ROM, workbook and a website and consists of resources for students and teachers alike. Teachers can easily extract and adapt the content. The workbook contains many lesson activities which could be easily implemented. Some of the activities include: what is a debate, how does government work, exploring democracy, international politics, who should get the vote and making laws. I particularly like the design and format of all the media in this resource and found the video and workbook to be extremely comprehensive. There is plenty of relevant and interesting content.

Numbershark 3

Whitespace

Numbershark 3 is an interactive program linked to the NNS and designed to support primary pupil’s numeracy skills. Each topic is supported by games, which can be tailored for pupil’s own ability. In addition there are teaching points and visual reminders of the mathematical concepts so it is easy for the teacher to incorporate the activities into their planning. The activities are very easy for pupils to pick up, the visuals are appealing – particularly the zoo creatures in the ‘spend coins’ activity.

Children’s work is recorded and their progression monitored, which is a particularly useful facility and works well over the network so pupils can work in a suite or classroom. Numbershark 3 is a particularly effective resource, for lower achievers as the activities can be broken down into tiny steps which are repeated, a much needed bonus for pupils who find number concepts difficult.

Accelerated Reader is primarily a literacy tool that encourages and motivates children of all ages and abilities to read. Children read a book of their choice, at their own pace and once finished, they take a computer-based quiz about the book. A report is immediately produced which the teacher can use to assess the level of understanding and the comprehension skills that the children have.

These quizzes give immediate and positive feedback and help the teacher to monitor and assess the reading that children are doing. Additional teacher-made quizzes can also be added. There are also literacy skills tests available that can be used for assessment purposes.

The quizzes and tests can be used to develop independent reading or as part of guided reading sessions.

This is a very good management and assessment system that supports teaching and learning in maths. It lets teachers individualise instruction without increasing their workload, and gives instant, specific data to use in improving pupils’ performance.

The system holds teachers records centrally and allows them to obtain specific information about the attainment of any child in the class. It can generate unlimited practice assignments that address specific numeracy objectives. These contain random multiple-choice questions, tailored to individual learning levels, which are automatically marked using the supplied scanner. It works extremely quickly and provides immediate and individual feedback to pupils. It is also valuable as a record keeping system.
In its easy-to-use format, Accelerated Maths would be an asset to maths teaching and assessment in any school.

Talk Maths 3 forms part of the Abacus Evolve mathematics programme for KS1 and KS2 children. It can be used as a stand-alone resource or as part of the mathematics programme of study and is suitable for use either in an ICT suite or in the classroom. Used on the interactive whiteboard, the CD-ROM would be ideal as a starter or as part of the plenary session.

Talk Maths encourages children to work collaboratively in pairs and discuss how to complete a mathematical activity by sharing ideas, thinking about the strategies to employ and, crucially, learning from each other. There are 15 activities on the CD-ROM, each with three levels of differentiation allowing participation at individual’s own level.

Overall, a well presented piece of software.

Your requirements

• Work with colleagues to prioritise areas where new resources are most in need
  and/or could make the most impact in enhancing pupil learning.
• List the age groups and subjects most in need of additional multimedia resources.