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.

Here are five great new resources that I have discovered online this week:

1) 100 Most Beautiful Words (shared by @LibWithAttitude) – This list of 100 beautiful words was chosen by Robert Beard, who has been making dictionaries, creating word lists, and writing poetry for 40 years. It’s a great selection of vocabulary which can be used in a number of ways. You could ask children to try and guess the meaning… or work out how to spell each word… or make flashcards which will help people to remember the definition / spelling… or use it as a starting point for discussing the children’s own favourite words.

2) Red Riding Mood – There are lots of great Internet Safety videos and resources online and I’ve recently discovered a series of three new videos from Facemoods. They highlight key safety messages for people to remember when using Facebook so they are probably more relevant for older pupils (although lots of younger children also seem to have Facebook accounts, despite their Terms of Service stating that under 13s should not join).

Click here to view the embedded video.

3) 25 Superb Optical Illusions (shared by Larry Ferlazzo) – These fantastic optical illusions are perfect for use in the classroom. Can your children see all of the illusions straight away? Can they explain how they work?

4) Online Storytime (recommended by 2sparkley) – This wonderful site has videos of famous stories being read aloud. The stories are all popular books and the videos show the original illustrations. You can also embed the videos, so they could be posted on a school website to share with your pupils and their parents.

5) Polyphonic Kids (created by Chris Leach) – Chris has created this blog to introduce children to a wide range of music… from different styles and artists. It’s a great place to share a variety of music with your pupils. They can also add comments to share their opinions or vote in the poll on each day’s post.

What have you discovered recently?

Sing Up is launching a new set of professional development workshops running until February 2011.

The programme of one-day workshops, which are led by the country’s top singing leaders, have already been popular with music and educational professionals. The training aims to build the confidence and expertise of teachers and musicians in leading and supporting children’s singing.

www.singup.org/training

Each session is designed to offer those working with Key Stage 1-3 students practical, insightful and inspiring tips for bringing out the best in their pupils and to make the most of singing across the curriculum. The programme covers a wide range of themes including using singing to support the transition process, relating singing to the curriculum and using singing in SEN settings.

To learn more about these workshops and to book online visit www.singup.org/training. To book by telephone, call 01634 729883.

The BBC have a huge collection of audio resources for primary schools on their School Radio pages. These include:

• Dance and PE Workshops,
• Music activities and audio clips to use in lessons,
• Collective Worship resources,
• History audio clips and more…

www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio

Accompanying teachers resources are online and many of the audio programmes are available as free podcasts, so you can download and use them in your classrooms straight away!

Alan McKinney from SoundScalpel has kindly contributed a large collection of sound effects to Teaching Ideas. You can download these sounds and use them in your classroom for:

• Adding atmosphere to lessons,
• Assemblies,
• School performances,
• Adding sound to children’s ICT / multimedia work,
• Addition to a school website / VLE.

www.teachingideas.co.uk/english/dramasoundeffects.htm

I’ve also recently discovered www.freesfx.co.uk which has lots of free sound effects which you can also use.

www.freesfx.co.uk

What are your favourite sound effect resources? How do you use them in the classroom?

The National Centre for Early Music, a venue for concerts and festivals, also offers a varied musical outreach programme and produces many learning resources designed to widen participation in music. They have free learning resources aimed at key stages 2 to 4 which can be downloaded from their website, covering 17th century music, music and art in Saxon times, and cross-cultural musical fusion between India and renaissance Europe.

www.ncem.co.uk

They also run many projects for young people which have included collaborating with Sing Up!, jazz workshops, widening access to music for young people at risk, special needs projects, and tours bringing world class musicians to work with children in schools. Details of all their projects and resources can be found in the Teaching and Learning section of their site.

Many Year Six classes put on a performance at the end of the year to mark the end of their time at their primary school. Although the end of the academic year is still a few months away,  here are details of a new musical for those teachers who want to plan ahead!

‘Fame Idle is the story of three kids who are confused why everyone around them seem obsessed by celebrity culture and they are not. It’s a musical comedy with a moral message… “Fame ain’t all it’s cracked up to be.” It has a modern score and a witty script that follows Bobby, P.J. and Smudge as they discover what friendship means when faced with a chance of fame – but at what cost?’

Here is a video which highlights some photos and audio from the production:

Many schools have already put on their own performances of the musical and received extremely positive feedback. To find out more for yourself, visit www.fame-idle.co.uk.

Cyberkidz is a Dutch ‘edutainment’ site with lots of educational games, covering Maths, Literacy, Geography, Art, Music and more. The games are sorted by subject and age range, suitable for children aged 4-11.

www.cyberkidz.net

The site has recently been translated into English, so even more children are now able to take advantage of these resources.

Sing Up is a new campaign to encourage schools and communities to use singing in a range of ways. The Sing Up site states that “Every child deserves the chance to sing every day. Singing improves learning, confidence, health and social development. It has the power to change lives and help to build stronger communities.”

The organisation promotes singing as a cross-curricular tool, in line with the National Curriculum. They also provide training for teachers to lead inspirational singing activities with young people. The site has a huge collection of songs, lesson plans, games and activities which teachers can take advantage of in their classrooms.

This Youtube video gives more information about the Sing Up materials.

Here are details of two fantastic resources for those teaching Literacy / Music / History linked to the topic of Ancient Greece:

‘Heroes of Troy‘ is a music resource for school children aged 9 to 11 and offers 7 songs to learn, each linking to an episode of the Trojan War. The website is audio-based, but also includes Teachers’ Notes, words and music for the songs, backing tracks…and well-known music presenter David Grant is on hand to teach all of the songs.

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/troy/

It’s intended to target a range of music objectives at Key Stage 2 but also links to the history topic Ancient Greece while offering opportunities to link music with literacy and performance.

Winged Sandals offers animated versions of different Greek myths, along with games and other online activities to try. This has always been popular with children whenever I’ve used it at school.

www.wingedsandals.com