Clicker, a literacy support tool from Crick Software, is currently used in over 90% of UK primary schools. It helps pupils to achieve reading and writing success and the latest version, Clicker 6, is about to be launched at BETT 2012.

A key focus for Clicker 6 is independent learning. The new Quick-Start Screen enables pupils to work on activities straight away without teacher assistance, whilst built-in support tools like the updated speech feedback and new word predictor enable them to overcome learning barriers that would previously have prevented them from putting great ideas into writing.

Clicker 6 also has new activity wizards which guide teachers through the activity creation process, automatically transforming their content into Clicker Sets, and makes tailoring these activities to pupils’ needs quicker and easier.

For further details on Clicker 6, visit Crick Software on stand F40 at BETT 2012, where you can also find out about exclusive upgrade discounts. You can also visit Crick Software’s site for more information.

I get to watch lots of online videos in my search for new additions to my Teaching Videos site. The site now has almost 2,500 educational videos, so I thought that I would share some of my favourites… the most inspirational… the most incredible… the most beautiful… and the most entertaining. Here they are:

1) Try to Do – This wonderful video tells a great story about a baby squirrel who tries to climb a big wall. It is a fantastic way of encouraging children to think about perseverance and determination, as well as exploring ways of helping others.

Click here to view the embedded video.

2) I’ll Be Gone - This video could be used to discuss how sounds and music are made… watch the rhythm of each sound played out in the video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) Steve Spangler Science – Steve has a huge collection of online videos which teach Science in very exciting ways. Lots of his experiments can be tried at home or in the classroom, but some (like the one below) are definitely not appropriate!

Click here to view the embedded video.

4) Landscapes: Volume Two – This is a beautiful video which features stunning time-lapse video of landscapes in Arizona and Utah. It would be great for inspiring descriptive writing about settings and locations.

Click here to view the embedded video.

5) The Water Cycle stop motion – I love stop-motion animations and we make lots of them at school too. This video is a great animation about the water cycle which is perfect for Science lessons:

Click here to view the embedded video.

6) The Balloon Lady - Can you write a story about the Balloon Lady? Why is she so cheerful? How does it make the other people feel to be given a balloon? What happens to the balloons after the end of the film?

Click here to view the embedded video.

7) Kuroshio Sea – This looks incredible in full-screen HD on an interactive whiteboard. I’ve shown this to classes a number of times and the reaction is always ‘WOW!’.

Click here to view the embedded video.

8 ) The Highwayman – Lots of schools use ‘The Highwayman’ by Alfred Noyes as part of their Literacy lessons and this animated video is a great accompaniment for any work using the book. Don’t forget that there are more teaching ideas linked to The Highwayman on my Teaching Library site.

Click here to view the embedded video.

9) Test Your Awareness – This extremely popular video is a great test of children’s observation skills!

Click here to view the embedded video.

10) Haerskogen – These amazing little creatures could be used in the classroom in lots of ways. Can your children write a description of them, or a story about their lives? Could they design their own creatures in Art, DT or ICT? Could you use them in Science for work on habitats and adaptation?

Click here to view the embedded video.

What are your favourite online videos?

The Champion Hare is a colourful rhyming picture book about a young hare who enters a sports contest and finds himself racing a cheetah and throwing shot put with a gorilla. The story aims to show children that competing can be fun, even when you don’t win, and that perseverance sometimes pays off!

The author recently posted on our Facebook page about the free resources that are available to accompany the book. All of these can be downloaded from the Champion Hare site. You can also find out about the latest resources on the Champion Hare blog.

Don’t forget that you can also find free teaching ideas and resources which are all linked to popular children’s books on our Teaching Library site. Take a look!

Spellathon is a new and exciting, sponsored spelling competition which aims to take over the world, while raising funds for learning disability charity Mencap. Entrants pledge a target number of words to spell correctly whilst practicing ahead of the online global championships to be held in March 2012. All words spelt correctly, are “banked” in your hive and your scores are displayed on the global leader board.

The competition is set in a futuristic digital universe and is presented by ‘The Professor’, a 3D bee character voiced by Stephen Fry. Spellathon can be played anywhere, by anyone – children, students, and adults of any age! You can register now at www.spellathon.net.

Here are links to some useful resources that schools can use to bring news and current affairs into their classrooms:

1) Newsthink – Newsthink is a free fortnightly email which explores current headlines in the news and provides teachers with activities, videos, photos and discussion triggers to use within the current curriculum. The content of each newsletter varies depending on the world’s current affairs. Newsthink is a resource primarily designed for Key stages 3 and 4 but could also be used for older secondary students.

2) First News – This popular newspaper for children also has a fantastic website. You can read articles, watch weekly news bulletins and take part in surveys and competitions.

3) BBC Newsround – The BBC’s popular news programme for children has its own dedicated site which is regularly updated and has some fantastic content for younger news readers. You can also watch the news and take part in other games and activities. Don’t forget to look at their e-safety special features and their accessible reader (which is great for sharing the headlines on an interactive whiteboard each day).

Are you aware of any other good news resources for children. Share them in the comments…

Here are five fantastic resources that I’ve found in my RSS subscriptions and Twitter streams this week:

1) Learning Chocolate (shared by Rosa Esteve) – This site is great for helping children to learn vocabulary related to a huge collection of different topics. Each topic has lots of different activities to help children learn and practise new words.

2) Stopover (shared by Anthony Evans) – This wonderful video could be used for lots of different Literacy activities. Could your pupils write some narration or speech? Could they write a recount of the story? Could they write a sequel / prequel for the animation? Can they think of vocabulary to describe the characters / locations etc?

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) Fungooms (shared by Sites4Primary) – This is a lovely site for young children, with funny characters, simple games, music, stories and more. I’m sure that lots of older children (and adults) will like it too!

4) Oxford Owl (shared by Peter Richardson) – This site is an amazing resource for teachers, parents and children. There are lots of ideas to help you support children’s reading, along with free resources and e-books. The Kids’ Barn section also has lots of games and online reading activities.

5) Knoword (shared by Tim Rylands) – This addictive game can be used to reinforce and extend language… clues are given and you have to enter the matching word within the time limit given. Could you play this in your classroom?

Which of these resources is your favourite?

The Book Club offer a great service for schools, helping them to find and buy books quickly and easily. Schools are able to send them a list of the books that they need and The Book Club will organise a quote (with a 10% discount on all books), source the books from the publishers and deliver them free to schools. Their site also has lots of useful lists of suggested books, which are all organised by age group and subject area / topic.

Take a look at their schools page for more information or browse around their site to find some relevant books for your current topics. You can also follow their book suggestions on Facebook and Twitter. The Book Club have also kindly offered to support my new Teaching Library site, enabling me to continue adding new books on a regular basis.

I’ve been browsing through Twitter posts and RSS subscriptions that I follow and have found some new discoveries to share. Which is your favourite?

1) Beatlab (shared by Tony Parkin) – This tool is similar to the inudge site that I shared recently.  It lets you create simple loops of music using a wide variety of instruments. You can also change the speed and length of your loops.

2) Learn with Portal (shared by Steve Bunce) – When I’m not teaching or working on my websites, I enjoy spending time playing XBox. I recently played through the game Portal 2 and I had great fun solving the various puzzles that the game provides. I was really excited about this project which involves schools using the game to design levels and create their own challenges. The Learn with Portal site doesn’t show much at the moment, but this Youtube video shows some of the potential of the project:

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) Inside Story Flashcards (discovered on I Learn Technology) – This site has a selection of flashcards that would look great on an interactive whiteboard, or printed and put on display in the classroom. The cards are sorted into basic, easy, medium and hard groups of words and they could be used for ‘Word of the Day’ type activities to expand children’s vocabulary.

4) Edupic (discovered on the Whiteboard Blog) – Edupic has a large gallery of pictures and clipart that can be freely used for educational purposes. Teachers could use them in their presentations and children could also use them as part of their own projects in the classroom.

5) Writing Prompts (discovered on I Learn Technology) – This great site shares some wonderful images which can be used as starting points for writing in the classroom. There are a wide range of pictures, covering lots of different weird and wonderful topics!

Don’t forget that I have also created a number of ‘Writing Inspirations‘ posters which you can download for free on Teaching Ideas.

The Dahlicious Dress Up Day takes place on Friday 30th September and is a fun way for school children up and down the country to get creative and raise money for a fantastic cause by going to school dressed as their favourite Roald Dahl character.

From Oompa-Loompas to the BFG, The Twits, Willy Wonka, Matilda, Fantastic Mr. Fox and all those other characters from Roald Dahl’s stories, there are plenty of characters for children to choose from. Children are asked to donate £1 to dress up and wow their friends and teachers with their costumes, masks or face paint.

The money raised will go to Roald Dahl’s Marvellous Children’s Charity to help fund much needed specialist nurses, support and equipment for seriously ill children with lifelong and life-limiting neurological or blood conditions.

If your school isn’t already taking part, sign up for an event pack at www.roalddahlcharity.org/schools, email schools@roalddahlcharity.org or call 01494 890465 to speak to someone about getting involved.

Don’t forget that there are also lesson ideas and resources linked to Roald Dahl’s books on my Teaching Library site.

Write Path is an exciting Literacy event that takes place in October. The event started in 2008 and is organised by Bev Humphrey, an independent literacy and technology consultant. Schools who take part in the project will be able to take part in different writing activities, including an opportunity to complete stories that have been started by authors, special poetry day activities and awards to win.

There is a charge of £50 for participation but all schools that take part are sent a copy of the project’s specially published book that their students’ writing appears in. You can find out more about Write Path by visiting their Ning site or by contacting Bev by email. You can also get advice from those who have already taken part by browsing through the posts in the forum.