CORPORATION NEWS
Curriculum Corporation is adding to its list of resources for teachers and students with titles focussing on student wellbeing. Additionally, a new title offering insights into a topical range of environmental issues as well as new multimedia materials to support teachers and students in achieving their teaching and learning outcomes are now available. These new resources are profiled below.
Read and Reflect: Literature discussions in small groups
Not Just Ticked Off: Stories and strategies for managing Tourette Syndrome
The Big Book on Drugs
Creating Conversations: Talking about drug issues
Environments Asia Pacific
Biowatch
Online Mathematics
Read and Reflect: Literature discussions in small groups
Dee Clements and Sally Godinho
1 86366 711 3
$35.95
order here
Read and Reflect is a middle-school resource that prepares teachers and discussion leaders with strategies for constructing good questions and focussing small group discussion. This exciting new resource aims to create lifelong readers who have the ability to read critically and reflectively.
Read and Reflect is based on an adult book-club model. This resource supports students with an opportunity to study literature, not just through listening and reading, but through discussion, debate, hypothesis and investigation. Carefully selected books, appropriate to reading ability, engage readers in exploring key topics such as bullying, the environment, Indigenous people, international conflict, children’s classics and popular literature. Students are encouraged to take risks and further explore their learning through involvement in a range of activities that embrace different learning styles.
topNot Just Ticked Off: Stories & strategies for managing Tourette Syndrome
Edited by Dr Jeni Wilson
1 86366 711 3
$21.95
order here
This excellent and timely resource speaks with the authority of those who live with Tourette Syndrome (TS) and provides an invaluable insight to help and inform those who work with young people who have a tic disorder. Improved understanding is a key to acceptance, integration and optimum functioning of children with TS.
Not Just Ticked Off offers a rich compilation of experience and advice from the young people themselves, their families and support people. The stories, poems, information, experiences and management strategies in this title offer a helpful reference for schools and teachers to reduce social problems for children with TS by educating their peers about TS. Topics covered in this title include ‘A Teachers Story’, ‘Effects on Learning’, ‘Classroom Information’, ‘Favourable and Negative School Experiences’ and ‘Classroom Strategies’. Published by the Tourette Syndrome Association of Victoria Inc. (www.tsavic.org.au)
topThe Big Book on Drugs
Julie Bowen
$19.50 for pack of 4
order here
A contemporary issue for many schools continues to be finding the right vehicle for raising awareness and informing students about the negative side of drug use. These 18-page magazine-style student books, accompanied by teacher notes, offer such a reference. The Big Book on Drugs provides information to improve general understanding of illicit drugs, their effects on one’s physical health and the social and legal implications of drug use. The accompanying activities assist teachers to foster discussion about this sensitive issue.
topCreating Conversations: Talking about drug issues
Print manual and CD-ROM
$65.00
order here
Creating Conversations is a school-based program that involves students in facilitating parent-events about drug issues. This training manual helps school communities plan events and provides the training that students need to effectively engage their parents in discussions about drugs.
Evaluation of the project out of which this package arose showed students gained self-confidence, improved their public-speaking ability and developed problem-solving skills, better peer relations and greater understanding of drug issues. Their parents also benefited through being able to share views with other parents and young people, while gaining a greater understanding of drug issues, strategies for dealing with related issues and some local contacts for further information or advice.
The manual assists in the implementation of similar programs with helpful hints on event planning, the conducting of student facilitator training sessions, discussion topics and activities including hypotheticals, role-plays as well as follow-up and evaluation. Each step is carefully documented and many proformas and documents useful to establish the processes are provided.
top Environments Asia Pacific The middle years
Trevor Poultney
1 86366 567 6
$21.95
order here
With this book students are encouraged to explore the region in which they live and to develop an understanding of current environmental issues, possible solutions and future challenges.
Five ‘hot’ environmental issues of the moment are canvassed in this title that offers a number of case studies, background material and guided learning activities. Environments Asia Pacific is a 48-page magazine-style student book or teacher resource, developed for the lower and middle years of secondary schooling. The publication is in full colour and packed with photographs, illustrations, facts and text directed at students. It provides a number of pathways to understanding such issues as the growth of megacities; sustainability versus extinction; water supply and its implications on the environment; and ecotourism and forests.
Teaching activities are also offered and are divided into Investigations, Analysis, Taking Action, Debate, and Role-play. The book provides many launch-pads for wider investigation via the Internet and other texts. Environments Asia Pacific is a new title in the Access Asia range produced by the Asia Education Foundation, a partnership between Curriculum Corporation and Asialink (University of Melbourne).
topBiowatch
$44.95 single user
order here
Biowatch is a CD-ROM for younger students examining the biodiversity of their own environment. Teacher notes guide work with students to scope out and plan research activities. Students have the opportunity to record and document their measurements, interviews, observations and comments as they are introduced to soil as a habitat for the biodiversity of plant and animal life. Students are stimulated and encouraged to spend time on indoor and outdoor activities including working with the computer, in their investigations of the food chain and recycling; the interconnectedness of living things. Biowatch is a great introduction to issues of caring for the environment and scientific aspects of the natural world.
topOnline Mathematics
$250 single campus, 1000 students
$500 single campus, 1000+ students
order here
The suite of online resources available through Curriculum Corporation has been expanded with a maths product that targets students in years 7-12.
Online Mathematics is published by King’s College, New Zealand, and has been tailored to the Australian mathematics environment. An ongoing publishing program ensures a continuous increase of an already extensive lesson bank. This is a well designed, highly interactive site with straightforward navigation taking users directly to their topics of choice. Core topics in the curriculum are covered with multiple activities that can be used for revision, topic introduction, additional exercises and as a catch-up tool for absent students. Further useful features include year-level glossaries, formulae, tests and exams, and each Monday a fresh ‘problem of the week’ is added to the site. Online Mathematics is offered as a subscription to schools, and schools are encouraged to invite home purchase to support their students with after-school revision and homework activities. Visit www.onlinemathematics.com for further information on the extensive range of lessons available at all levels and strands.
topEQ Winter 2003 © Curriculum Corporation