resources update issue 73

Continuing our series of tasters of our digital resource evaluations, we bring you a selection of geography, maths, history, science, RE & PSHE titles for primary and secondary: -

• BBC Active: Big Picture E Big Book: Tudor Life
• BBC Active: Pathways of Belief: Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism DVD Plus Pack
• Cambridge - Hitachi: Mult-e-Maths KS2 Fractions, Decimals, Percentages, Ratio
• Thing-e: EduPuzzles KS2 Years 4,5 & 6 Geography Crossword and Wordsearch Puzzles

• Thing-e: EduPuzzles KS2 Year 5 Science Crossword and Wordsearch Puzzles
• B-Dag Ltd: Consequences
• Markco Publishing: What to do when you can't learn the times tables
• Pebbleshore Ltd: Scamp 5

This is a great way to supplement a scheme of work on Tudor life, being full of useful information and providing stimulating and motivating material, which would encourage even the least enthusiastic child! The comprehensive resource pack focuses on Units 7 and 8 of the QCA Scheme of Work ‘The Tudors’. In addition, the pack also develops valuable literacy skills by including ‘language of the time’, reading comprehension and a variety of writing genres.

Included in the teacher’s resource book is extensive information covering the period, together with photocopiable activity sheets, tasks and investigations for the pupils, which contain a number of cross-curricular links. The accompanying CD-ROM is perfect for whiteboard or PC use, offering text free pages, links to activities, words/pictures to copy, paste or enlarge.

This DVD plus pack is designed to support religious education study of three major religions - Islam, Hinduism and Sikhism.

The pack assists teachers with the planning of teaching and learning through providing content rich video sequences on aspects of each religion in order to develop pupils’ knowledge and understanding. It also provides visual support material for each of the three religions and develops learning opportunities arising from each of the television programmes contained on the DVD. These programmes are designed to fall into separate sections, accessed either separately or used as a ‘whole content’ showing. The accompanying resources are useful and colourful with photocopiable activity sheets – always a boon for the busy teacher! This series is well worth purchasing and is a welcome addition to any school’s RE resources.

B-DAG’s Canlyniadau/Consequences provides five interactive stories which present moral dilemmas and promote discussion in Personal, Social and Health Education in Welsh and English. At key points in the stories, the reader has to make a decision which affects the direction of the story and the consequences for the characters. The software addresses specific KS2 learning objectives from both the ACCAC and QCA PSE frameworks and promotes the key aims of developing pupils’ self-esteem, personal responsibility and active citizenship.
All the children involved in the trial responded enthusiastically to this title. The issues discussed seem to appeal to the targeted age groups irrespective of their background and the children were enthusiastic in empathising with the characters and sharing their own experiences. It also helps children to verbalise how certain actions have consequences.

What to do when you can't learn the times tables

Mult-e-maths is a suite of software specifically for use on the interactive whiteboard. This title includes all the objectives covered in these areas by the NNS for Years 3-6, although some tools make it suitable for children of a younger age or ability.

The CD-ROM is both easy to install and navigate. Oral and mental starters and complete lessons are available with accompanying teacher notes and resource sheets. The explicit links to key NNS objectives are helpful in planning and the question prompts on each screen are useful, too. There is a range of very handy tools, which have a use beyond the application for a particular lesson. Whole class activities as well as popular team games make this a good addition for any school.

This interactive CD-ROM is aimed at an individual who is struggling with their tables, but could be used successfully as an introduction to a lesson with an interactive whiteboard. The software enables pupils to focus on learning their tables in their entirety and encourages the use of different strategies to help with problematic tables. The software has a valuable self-voice echo option, which requires a sound card and microphone. Pupils can record table facts, which then enables them to be presented visually and aurally in the pupil’s own voice. This can then be repeated for as many facts as the pupil wishes. It is a useful tool for teaching tables as it goes beyond rote learning and systematically helps pupils to build on known table facts to learn more.

This CD-ROM contains Crossword puzzles, Word Search puzzles and printable crosswords that are mapped directly to the learning objectives of the QCA Schemes of Work. They are presented in a multimedia format that is both educational and engaging and ideal for use with an IWB.
Each CD-ROM has 12 units each with 12 activities. All of these activities have been designed to provide a simple to use environment that reinforces children’s knowledge of both the concepts and vocabulary used in the KS2 geography curriculum. The crossword puzzles and word searches are particularly useful as a way of revising topics and geographical concepts as well as assessing the children’s knowledge and understanding at the end of a lesson. The use of an interactive whiteboard also develops language through discussion.

Scamp 5 is a wonderfully simple interactive GIS mapping program, allowing teachers to encourage students to learn through enquiry and investigation.

The software contains the 2001 census data material and the 2004 indices of multiple deprivation which can be explored by the class, groups, pairs or individuals through a structured framework, guiding the users through the system in a logical way. Students can explore the idea of patterns in deprivation and how they relate to different areas, creating exciting possibilities for any geography student.

Scamp 5 is particularly useful in geographical enquiry or as students are examining patterns and processes. Post 16 and KS4 students will find the software more useful for enquiry and project work. Overall, a valuable asset for any geography teacher.

Hardware and planning issues

• Check your hardware is compatible with the resource – for both stand- alone machines and the network.
• Check that all teachers who’ll be using the resource have reliable and regular access to necessary equipment, eg a whiteboard for whiteboard software.
• Check whether the resource requires a licence, which states how many people may use a piece of software.