Jole Rider, the charity organising the project, suggest holding your Story Book Day in the week commencing 5th July, but you can also take part later in the year.

Find out more by reading this PDF, embedded below:

• Zooburst – This amazing site lets you make your own 3D augmented reality pop up books (via @relativism, @xannov and @ianaddison).

• Application for Headship - Information and advice for those who need to write a letter of application when applying for a headship (via @andyross75).
• World Atlas Maps – A large collection of blank maps which are very useful for your Geography lessons (via @simonhaughton).
• Becta Archive – The official archive of the Becta website. Use this site to access the useful resources when the Becta site disappears (via @daibarnes).
• Hello Bonjour Hola – A site containing resources for teaching and learning French and Spanish (via @dawnhallybone and @valleseco)

• SchoolToons – Resources to support animation work in the classroom at KS2-4 (via @DrJoolz).
• Tips for New Tweeters – @stuartridout gives some useful advice for those who have just started to use Twitter.
• Year 5 Control Technology Plans – A set of plans, from @simonhaughton, which include the use of Scratch.
• Literacy with ICT (PDF) (from www.edu.gov.mb.ca) - A handbook for parents about using ICT to support learning in Literacy. See the document below (discovered via @TechnologyToday)

Don’t miss Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 in this series! Do you use Twitter? What have you discovered recently?

Image – Montreal Twestival 2009 Cupcakes

www.youtube.com/user/breakthruchris

At present, there are approximately 200 videos, which have been viewed over 300,000 times! The videos cover a wide range of literacy concepts, including:

Alphabet Sounds, for example:

www.teachingideas.co.uk/themes/myst

The Myst series of computer games can be extremely valuable teaching tools and they are becoming incredibly popular in classrooms around the world, thanks to Tim Rylands. The characters, landscapes and storylines in the games can all be used to enhance learning in a wide range of curriculum areas. My new Teaching Theme area currently has more than 80 Myst-related teaching ideas, display resources, educational videos, online applications, photographs of classroom displays and links to other useful sites. I hope that the new theme will help you to use these wonderful games with your children.

We’ve already started working on next month’s theme, which is ‘Summer at the Seaside‘. If you have any ideas, resources or links which might be useful for the World Cup, Myst or Summer themes, please get in touch. Thank you!

www.radioinschools.co.uk

Podcasting is a wonderful tool to promote speaking and listening. It can also be used to extend learning in lots of different curriculum areas. I have written two articles about my own experiences with podcasting, which you can read on Teaching Ideas here and here.

www.signedstories.com

It’s now being used all over the world by children learning English, and is recommended by the British Council. Could you use this wonderful resource in your classroom?

Things everyone needs to know about Functional Skills

1. Functional Skills qualifications are a new set of qualifications in the application of English, mathematics & ICT and are assessed at Entry Level, Level 1 and Level 2. These qualifications are key to the Government’s reforms of 14-19 and adult education in England.
2. Functional Skills are for everyone. The qualifications will be available nationally to all learners at any age from 2010.
3. Functional skills are not simply about knowledge in English, mathematics and ICT subjects but about knowing when and how to use the knowledge and skills in real life contexts. It’s about identifying a problem or engaging in a task, selecting from the knowledge we have, or knowing where to get it, and applying that knowledge to find an effective solution or outcome.
4. Functional skills are essential to all our lives. This is why they have been incorporated across the new secondary curriculum being taught from September 2008, are part of the learning routes for young people (GCSEs; Apprenticeships; Diplomas and Foundation Learning Tier) as well as counting as qualifications in their own right for adults and young people.
5. Employers and universities want reassurance that, whichever learning route learners choose when they leave education they have the skills needed to apply what they know and to operate confidently, effectively and independently in life and work. Better functional skills will help to raise standards in schools and colleges and improve employment prospects and further learning for all learners regardless of age or ability.

What you need to know as a provider (Pre-16).

1. DCSF published “Delivering 14-19 reform: Next Steps” in October 2008. It was very clear – functional skills will be a core part of each of the four qualification routes for young people, including GCSEs from 2010. Functional Skills qualifications will also replace the core Key Skills qualifications from September 2010.
2. Functional skills are not separate curriculum subjects but an important element of the teaching and learning of all subjects. In developing functional skills, learners can adapt and apply what they have learned to suit different situations that face them.
3. From 2010 Functional Skills will be assessed by the new GCSEs in English, maths and ICT. While GCSE grades will not depend on a separate test, good teaching of functional skills will be vital to ensure candidates gain higher grades. It will also be valuable for young people to take separate Functional Skills tests. Achievement in these tests will be incentivised through the School Report Card.
4. Teaching and learning of functional skills can be through a range of models; from discrete lessons to fully embedding teaching and learning. However, it is expected that in the long term Functional Skills will remain the responsibility of core subject teachers but will be reinforced throughout the rest of the curriculum in every lesson.
5. Functional skills means developing these applied skills. For some of you, this is simply formalising your existing teaching approach.
6. The Functional Skills Support Programme, run by National Strategies for schools, offers a comprehensive (free-of-charge) package for continuing professional development (CPD) at regional and local level to support schools in preparing to teach Functional Skills. This support can be accessed through your local authority or www.nationalstrategiescpd.co.uk.
7. Functional Skills will be assessed as separate assessments in English, mathematics and ICT. Assessment will measure application of skills for a purpose. It can be either completely tasked based or a combination of task and test elements.
8. Functional English, mathematics and ICT help learners reinforce skills in communication, problem solving, listening, time management and team working – a solid foundation for further learning and employment.
9. We have designed the Functional Skills qualifications so that at level 2 learners are able to apply their skills confidently in a range of different contexts. That is why there will be an entitlement to study functional stills to age 19.

What you need to know as a provider (Post-16).

1. Functional Skills qualifications are being introduced for use with adult learners and, if current piloting supports this, could replace the existing Skills for Life literacy and numeracy qualifications from September 2012.
2. Functional Skills in English, mathematics and ICT are not necessarily taught as separate subjects but are an important element of the teaching and learning of all subjects. In developing functional skills, learners can adapt and apply what they have learned to suit different situations that face them.
3. Functional skills teaching should build on existing good practice that has been developed from key and adult basic skills teaching. All models of delivery have merit; however reinforcement across the curriculum is the desired goal, with specialist input where required.
4. Functional skills means developing these applied skills. For some of you, this is simply formalising your existing teaching approach.
5. The Functional Skills Support Programme, run by the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS) for post-16 centres, offers a comprehensive (free-of-charge) package for continuing professional development (CPD) at regional and local level to support centres in preparing to teach Functional Skills. This support, which covers the teaching and learning of Functional Skills in a variety of contexts, can be accessed through http://excellence.qia.org.uk/functionalskills.
6. Functional Skills will be assessed as separate assessments in English, mathematics and ICT. Assessment will measure application of skills for a purpose at each level It can be either completely tasked based or a combination of task and test elements.
7. Functional English, mathematics and ICT help learners reinforce skills in communication, problem solving, listening, time management and team working – a solid foundation for further learning and employment.

www.qcda.gov.uk/6062.aspx

Jacqueline Marshall piloted Functional Skills at Archbishop Beck Catholic Sports College in Liverpool where she taught ICT and Business studies. During the pilot she represented the ICT department in the Functional Skills team that cooperated with the local authority in rolling out Functional Skills across Liverpool from January 2007.

She and her colleagues provided the awarding body, Edexcel, with feedback on their experiences piloting the new qualification, contributing to the constant improvement of exam papers over the course of the pilot to best reflect students’ abilities. In addition to her work as a teacher (and mother), Jacqueline studies for her Master’s degree in Education and is currently incorporating her experience from the pilot into a dissertation about the teaching of Functional Skills. Here she answers some questions on the new qualifications in theory and practice.

Q: What exactly are Functional Skills?

A: Functional skills are not simply about when and how to use knowledge and skills in real life contexts. They’re about identifying a problem or engaging in a task, selecting from the knowledge we have, or knowing where to get it, and applying that knowledge to find an effective solution or outcome. Functional skills are essential to all our lives.

Q: What’s the brief history of Functional Skills?

A: The introduction of Functional Skills as a qualification was partly in response to employers increasingly noticing school leavers’ lack of ability to apply their knowledge and perform basic tasks. The Functional Skills qualification forms a part of the 14-19 curriculum and also ties in with the Government’s skills strategy. It will be included in GCSEs in maths, English and ICT from 2010 and will replace the current Key Skills qualification. It will also form part of apprenticeships and will be taught along with the new Diplomas and in adult education.

Q: What did you observe during the pilot at your college that made you a fan of Functional Skills?

A: Pupils’ skill levels increased, they were engaged by the lessons and the contextual approach of the teaching. The ability to apply acquired knowledge is key to enjoying learning. We all hear the question “Why do we have to learn this?” a thousand times during our careers!

Q: What was the feedback from teachers regarding Functional Skills? Is it viewed by them as an important qualification?

A: I have had lots of positive feedback. The recognition of Functional Skills is growing and once you start to teach it you see the positive impact it has on your students and across the school as skills are transferable.

Q: Do you think Functional Skills will help students in their working life?

A: Yes. School leavers will be equipped with a greater ability to solve problems and perform tasks. Students are learning transferable skills that will assist them in work and life.

Q: How easy will it be for teachers to incorporate Functional Skills into the existing curriculum?

A: Very easy. In a way, every good teacher already teaches functional skills. It is just a matter of highlighting the skills that students will be mastering and putting a new focus on them by testing them separately. I also got a lot of support from Edexcel in the form of material and plans that helped me integrate Functional Skills teaching in my lessons.

Q: Can you offer any practical advice to teachers and centres in terms of how to teach Functional Skills?

A: Highlight what Functional Skills are, display information on the qualification and topics, maybe have functional skills listed in the student planner. Allow students time to practice these skills not just in the core subject but cross curricular.

Q: Based on your observations, will most centres and teachers be ready for Functional Skills?

A: Yes. I feel teachers will be ready – thanks to the sheer amount of support and resources out there. If they feel unprepared, they should just attend one of the many conferences that the exam boards run. In Liverpool, I have worked closely with the local authoritiy to create a Toolkit with resources for students and teachers.

Q: As a teacher, where can I find more information on Functional Skills?

A: There’s the homepage of the QCDA for a first overview and for more detailed information on structure and content of teaching, the websites of the awarding bodies are always a good port of call (I’ve worked with Edexcel).

• Saucer Sorter – A counting stick for your interactive whiteboard… using the numbers to practise counting forward and backwards in steps… rearrange numbers and ask pupils to put them in the correct order… hide numbers with the star bar and get the children to say what is missing…

• Mummy Numberline – An interactive numberline for simple addition and subtraction.
• Counting Caterpillar – A wonderful game for KS1/2 pupils which requires them to order numbers.
• Count On Catapult – An exciting game which lets children practise counting on to the next 10.

• Change Exchanger – With three levels of difficulty, this game asks children to scan items on the checkout and calculate the amount of change that is needed.
• Editable Interactive Whiteboard Dictionary – An impressive dictionary which you can show on your interactive whiteboard, to support children with their writing.
• Day and Night – Learn how we get day and night by using this interactive guide.

James has also produced lots of ‘Bingo’ style activities covering a range of topics:

• Sound Bingo
• Letters and Sounds Blending
• High Frequency Word Bingo
• Science Bingo

This is just a small selection of the resources available at ICT Games. Teachers can use the planning guide which links the activities to the Primary Framework.

All of the games are fantastic quality, so schools are very lucky that they are available online for free. You can follow James on Twitter to see when he adds new resources to the site.

For those who are new to the project, it aims to turn classrooms into newsrooms, giving children a chance to make the news. Pupils are given opportunities to make news reports about things that are important to them, through the radio, TV and online. You can find out more in this video which explains more.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/school_report/

The BBC site has some useful links and resources for those planning to take part:

• Advice about getting ready for the day,
• Posters to decorate your newsroom,
• Reward certificates for those taking part.
• Suggestions for stories that the pupils could report on.
• A suggested timetable of activities.
• Lots of other resources for teachers.

The School Report site is an extremely useful resource for those taking part in the day, but lots of the content could also be used at other times of the year too.

• SpellingCity.com – Teachers can register on this site and add spelling words for their pupils to learn. Children can then try a range of activities and take part in tests.

• SATs Spelling Tests – @arsenalchris has added all of the spelling words used in KS2 SATs tests to SpellingCity and made them available for others to use. Mrs Aviss has also created a set of 10 spelling revision lists which will give more practice.
• BBC Skillswise – The BBC have lots of spelling resources on their Skillswise site, covering a wide range of spelling patterns.
• Youtube Spelling Bee – An interactive spelling bee is available on Youtube. Click on the correct answers to go to the next video. There is a prize at the end!

• Lisa Dubernard has recommended some spelling resources on Promethean Planet.
• Don’t forget the ‘Ways to Support Spelling in the classroom’ presentation on Ideas to Inspire.
• St Ambrose Barlow Catholic Primary School have lots of Year 6 spelling resources on their school website.
• Teaching Ideas – Lots of spelling resources are available to use in the classroom. Also try searching for spellings with TeachrSearch.
• Teaching Videos – There are a number of teaching videos which can be used to help children to learn spellings.

What are your favourite spelling resources?