Term 1 Week 7: Literacy

Upcoming Events

• 12-20 March: Muscular Dystrophy Bow Tie week - http://www.mda.org.nz/
  
• 14-20 March: Brain Awareness Week - http://www.neurological.org.nz/


• 19-26 March: World Shark Week - dsc.discovery.com/videos/shark-week-saving-the-sharks


• 20 March: Sun-Earth Day - http://sunearthday.nasa.gov/2011/index.php


• 20 March: Brain Day - 9am - 4 pm, Owen G Glenn Bldg, 12 Grafton Rd, Ak.


• 21 March: World Forestry Day - http://www.fitec.org.nz/


• 21 March: World Poetry Day - http://languageisavirus.com/poetry-guide/world_poetry_day.html


• 22 March: World Water Day - http://www.emap.rsnz.org/


• On Wed 23 March at 7pm in the Events Centre, Ak Museum the 2011 Royal Society of NZ Distinguished Speaker Professor Robin Clark will be speaking on "Science meets art: investigating pigments in art and archaeology" at four locations around NZ. Professor Clark is an internationally celebrated UK scientist and an expert in forensic archaeology. The lectures are free and open to the general public. Register online to ensure a seat. http://www.royalsociety.org.nz/events/annual/distinguished-speaker/2011/


• 20 April - 30 May: Roof of the World Tour - http://roofoftheworldtour.com.au/. Spreading laughter and fun… sharing cultures, sparking imagination. Adventure Learning involves performers travelling in an area of the world and sharing their learning online.
  Visit the Himalayas with this group as they travel to 25 schools, teach juggling and theatre skills and learn about life in the highest mountains in the world. Ask them questions and watch their site for updates on the adventure.
  

Professional Reading
This month's newsletter from Adolescent Literacy focuses on Reading Comprehension. These tips are useful for all teachers in all subject areas.
Issue Highlights:

• Deliver Explicit Comprehension Strategy Instruction
• Scaffold Mindful Silent Reading
• Watch an exclusive interview with YA novelist/poet Marilyn Singer, who discusses her love of the rhythym and rhyme of poetry.
• Visit Adlit.org's National Poetry Month page for ideas to help students develop a love of verse, in time for National Poetry Month in April.
  

From the Literacy Online Community: You will be aware that a government priority is a focus on Māori achieving educational success as Māori. This was a focus at the recent conference that literacy, numeracy and ESOL facilitators attended. Professor Angus McFarlane, from the University of Canterbury presented a keynote address entitled ‘Diversity’s plea to educators: Kia hiwa rā!’ where he highlighted the importance of teachers recognising that they do not have to be of the same culture to be able to connect with a different culture and make a difference to student achievement. Learn more about Angus’ work by reading his presentation "Discipline, Democracy and Diversity: Creating culturally safe learning environments."


Literacy Strategies
Some resources to help you teach students how to summarise ideas from what they have read.

During and After reading: summarising ideas

• http://smc-sct.wikispaces.com/file/view/Summarising+ideas+Aaron+Wilson.doc - Teach students how to recognize the ways that the texts they read are organised so they can make their own 'structured overview' of the text they are summarizing.


• http://reading.ecb.org/teacher/summarizing/index.html - has videos to show you and your students how to summarise effectively.


• http://www.adlit.org/strategies/21827 - goes through how to support students to summarise and has resource sheets as well.


• http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/summarizing - for younger students. Goes through the steps to effective summarising with examples from English, Maths and Science.

General Resource

World Conservation magazine - latest issue

New challenges, new approaches, new players
January 2011

The latest issue of World Conservation magazine takes stock of the Convention on Biological Diversity conference that took place in Japan last October where governments approved a ‘Big Plan’ for saving biodiversity and looks ahead to what’s in store for conservation in the coming years. We cover some of the latest thinking and new approaches that might be used and hear prominent figures outline what they see as the greatest priority for saving biodiversity. Which new partners will become engaged in conservation? What progress will be made in curbing burgeoning levels of wildlife trade? What future for the oceans?