A million minutes of genuine news hits YouTube

Remember the days when TV networks only scheduled an hour of news per day? and a live cross to a breaking story was for a legitimate event worth sticking with...

Well Associated Press does, and fortunately they have made their entire back catalogue of historic news events available to the world through YouTube.

Yes you can relive all one million minutes of the worlds most famous moments, both deadly serious and lighthearted.

The videos date back as far as 1895 and equate to 550, 000 individual uploads to YouTube.  The largest to date.

They are available here and could be applied to the classroom in a multitude of ways...  One thing is for sure though that those boring history lessons are about to get a little more visual.

You can access it here.

70 Guided reading Activities for individuals and groups

This collection of 70 Guided Reading activities has all your ELA and Common Core needs covered for grades 3 - 6 and has been a top seller since being released in February. Read the feedback for yourself.

Teachers around the globe are adopting this as their ‘Go-to’ resource for reading and writing activities for months on end without repeat. ‘No-prep’ and maximum engagement. All your students need is a book from home or school.

This bundle of beautifully presented literacy tasks will ensure your students are engaged and on task during literacy rotations either working as a group or independently. Every activity has clear instructions and open ended outcomes to meet the needs of all ability ranges.

These activities have been designed by exemplary teachers and run in our classrooms for over two decades. Each activity is designed to run for approximately 40 - 60 minutes in duration and are ‘evergreen’ meaning they can be applied to any student or text.

Overview of activities included (Please note that most tasks have multiple elements.)
40+ Activities requiring students to use a range of different writing styles.
30+ Activities requiring students to use a range of artistic and creative skills.
20+ Activities that utilize popular technology tools and applications.
20+ Dedicated group work based tasks
20+ Tasks requiring further reading, inquiry and exploration of concepts within a text.
40+ Tasks that can be applied to films and graphic novels.
10+ activities involving drama, music or role playing..
15+ Graphic organizers that can be applied to any text or topic.
Plus much more.

I’ve also added a PowerPoint file that includes all tasks as editable slides on top of a downloadable ebook. The purpose of this is to allow you to share the tasks on a large screen, and if you are fluent in PowerPoint you can edit the tasks to further suit your needs.

This highly sought after resource can be accessed here.

Why we cant expect students to be great writers until we model it as teachers

I found this article by David Cutler about the importance of modelling high quality writing for students in more than just a five minute window on the the whiteboard.  It needs to become a meaningful process every time we pick up a pen and engage with students.

This is definitely something I have been guilty of not doing as well as I could when I looked at his six focal points of how teachers should writing effectively.

1 - Teachers need to be effective writers

2 - Teachers need to share their writing

3 - Teachers need to write for their students

4- Teachers need to run writer's workshops

5 - Teachers need to seek feedback.

6- Teachers need to write about the real world.

It is a great article for anyone teaching writing and is available here.  

YouTube for Kids launches to make the net a little more family friendly

Today YouTube launched YouTube for kids.  In the United States anyway, but we are assured the rest of the world will come on board soon.

As a teacher and a parent this is a real win for kids aged under twelve who Google have targeted this new app at on iOS and Android.

It contains a mixture of syndicated material such as sesame street and select user generated content.  Furthermore, it has features designed to make parents feel comfortable about leaving their children to use YouTube such as the ability to turn off the ability to search and specifically play educational material only.

This may be useful for teachers who wish to allow their students to view content as part of a study of digital literacies as they can really filter the content and options through the settings on the app.

From a business perspective this definitely allows Google to zoom in on a specific audience but we all know that there is no such thing as a free feed, especially on the internet.

This video below from Tanya Awith demonstrates some practical ideas oh how you can use this new app in your classroom.

Teaching the vocabulary of Charlie and the Chocolate factory

Learning Intention / Overview

Understanding vocabulary in a text aids students in understanding events and concepts in a story.  Using context clues from stories also ensures that students look closely at text and examine word meanings. Once students comprehend vocabulary they are better able to make connections in text and in conclusion better understand the story.  This lesson will also provide students with the opportunity to practice using a thesaurus.

Methods / Teaching Strategies

•  Group work
•  Understanding Context Clues
• Thesaurus Practice
•  Personalized Learning

Assessment of Learning

·         Vocabulary Sheet (provided)

Click here to download the free lesson plan

How to use the Google Research Tool to improve Essay Writing

Whilst the Google research tool has been a part of Google drive for a few years now  It amazes me how few teachers and students are aware of what it can do.

In short the research tool is the perfect accomplice for writing an essay or creating a project.  It will not only provide you with all the facts and answers you require but also cite them.  And that's just the beginning.

I have put together this six minute video tutorial to make every student and teacher an expert around getting the most out of using the Research tool but also assist teachers in identifying work that has basically been written entirely from this tool.

I forgot to mention in the video that this applies to Google Docs, Slides and Sheets.

Please leave any thoughts or suggestion on this below.

20 fun ideas to bring Halloween to your classroom

Photo by Brand X Pictures/Stockbyte / Getty Images

Over the last fortnight we have been adding a number of resources to help teachers and students have some fun in the classroom with Halloween.  

Recently we have been compiling theme pages of resources for major events throughout the year and soon enough we will be putting all of our Christmas resources in a single place also.

The key word here is fun, but there is plenty of learning opportunities to take advantage of, especially around literacy art and craft.

So if you are looking for some fresh and simple ideas this spooky season be sure to check out our halloween resources here.

20 spooky writing prompts for Halloween

Halloween Express

Halloween is a great time of year to showcase your writing skills.  Literally anything goes, fact, fantasy, horror and mystery.  What is there not to love if you are a young writer who is full of great ideas?

Sometimes those ideas are not as easy to find for some, so we have put together twenty writing prompts to cover both fiction and non fiction aspects of writing.

If you have any other suggestions or ideas we would love to hear them in the comments section below.  Enjoy.

1. Write a spooky story to tell around the campfire. Remember, you want to build suspense and fear within your audience.. Don’t forget to have a big climax to scare everyone who is listening.

2. The best Halloween costume I ever wore was…

3. Write a recipe for a magic potion. Next, explain what the potion would do if someone drank it.

4. It was a dark and stormy night when….

5. Describe how to make a great Halloween costume using mostly supplies you have around the house.

6. You are about to throw the best Halloween party in history! Describe your preparation, the event itself, the aftermath, and the cleanup. Did you enjoy yourself? Did your house almost destroy the street?

7. Write a poem about ghosts. Make each line of the poem start with g, h, o, s, t and s

8. Explain your most memorable Halloween of all time: from the treats you received, the costume you wore, the environment of your neighborhood (if you trick or treated) and why it was so amazing.

9. I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden…

10. The mad scientist was creating a new monster that could…

11. Funny now, but not then? Share a frightening experience that you can look back on and laugh about... now that it's over.  

12. Write a story about a kid who goes trick-or-treating. Start from the minute he or she puts on his or her costume and finish when he or she gets home and put on normal clothes again. Tell me everything that happens.

13. Write a ghost story. It can be one you have personal experience with or completely fictional.

14. Something in the closet was making a strange noise, so I opened the door and…

15. You won’t believe this story, but it is true…

16. If you could design a haunted mansion, what would you name it? What types of rooms would you have? Describe, in detail the best rooms in your haunted house.

17. Everybody said the old Warwick mansion was haunted…..

18. The zombies staggered through my front lawn…..

19. Do you think our modern Halloween traditions still have value? Why or why not?

20. A film company is sponsoring a nationwide Halloween script-writing contest. Write a brief summary of your prize winning movie plot.