Classroom resources

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Journal articles about Classroom resources

The latest ten articles from our journals on this subject.

Te Kākano (the seed): Growing rich mathematics in ECE settings

Sally Peters and Lesley Rameka

Early Childhood Folio Vol 14 no.2 (2010)

How can we grow rich, authentic mathematics in early childhood settings? This article focuses on a framework, Te Kākano (the seed), which is a metaphor for growing rich mathematics. Te Kākano is set out in Book 18 of Kei Tua o te Pae and is now central to a new early childhood resource, Te Aho Tukutuku: Early Mathematics, to be published in 2010. This article expands on the background material in Te Aho Tukutuku: Early Mathematics, giving further insight into the collective thinking and theoretical ideas behind the Te Kākano approach.

Unravelling children’s “freedom of choice”

Alison Stephenson

Early Childhood Folio Vol 14 no.2 (2010)

This article is offered as a provocation for teachers, encouraging them to reflect on underlying assumptions about the ways in which resources for children’s learning are managed. The article explores how the familiar notion of children’s “freedom of choice” was played out in a centre. It describes how, within the apparent freedom, teacher controls set parameters around the range of available resources and children’s access to them, and defined how they might be used.

Kei tua o te pae: Assessing learning that reaches beyond the self and beyond the horizon

Margaret Carr

Assessment Matters 1 : 2009

This paper outlines the development and the conceptual design of an assessment for learning resource of 177 exemplars from early childhood contexts. Two metaphors provide the foundation for the resource: te whāriki and kei tua o te pae. These metaphors underpin a discussion about assessment of learner outcomes that reach “beyond the self” and“beyond the horizon”, using the resource as an example.

Celebrating 30 years: Highlights & history

Maire K. C. Smith

set 2004: no. 2

set started in 1974 as a kit—looseleaf pages and little booklets with articles, reviews, and even
stories. set generally came out twice yearly—free for the first few issues, funded by the Department
of Education, then on a subscription basis. It covered education from preschool to tertiary level.

Celebrating a Continuing Service

John Watson, Director 1968–84

set 2004: no. 1

Research Information for Teachers, known as set, has become an iconic symbol of NZCER’s long-term services. It implements one of its key statutory obligations, it continues the priorities inherent in the Council’s most significant phase of expansion begun in the 1960s.

Dusting off the Teacher's Manuals

Chris Joyce and Charles Darr

set 2004: no. 3

Traditionally, the beginning of the school year sees a flurry of assessment activity. In many schools this includes the use of standardised tests such as the Progressive Achievement Tests (PATs), the Essential Skills Assessment: Information Skills (ESA:IS), and the Supplementary Tests of Achievement in Reading (STAR).

News and Views - mainly for parents, whānau, and caregivers

NZCER

set 2004: no. 2

Spelling – Write and Right! (Part 3)
In News and Views (No. 3 and No. 4, 2003) we gave you the lists of essential words that make up 75 percent of most writing. We left you with this question:
Q: The essential words make up about 75 percent of all writing.
What about the other 25 percent?

The Band-Aid Strip

Charles Darr and Jonathan Fisher

set 2003: no. 3

Which learning experiences promote proportional reasoning? Here is a piece of equipment which can be integrated into lessons when dealing with ideas involving fractions, decimals, and percentages.

Young children’s understanding of volume

Brenda Bicknell

set 2003: no. 3

The focus of this article is the strategies that young children use to find the volume of rectangular prisms. Children were observed during teaching sessions and their solutions to follow-up assessment tasks were analysed. Some implications for the teaching of volume to young children are presented.

'I've found my memory!': Reciprocal Teaching in a Primary School

Marie Kelly and Dennis Moore

set 1993: no. 2

One of the key elements in reciprocal teaching is getting the children to 'be the teacher' for a while. This research found great gains in reading for the children who tried the technique. Teachers found it easy too.

Books and CDs about Classroom resources

Kick-starting the Nature of Science

$20.24

Nature of Science is the core strand of science in The New Zealand Curriculum. This resource aims to support teachers to understand the different aspects of the Nature of Science and what this might mean in practice. All aspects of this strand are covered: Understanding about science; Investigating in science; Communicating in science; and Participating and contributing. The authors ask a key question, “what might Understanding about science look like in the classroom?” and then go on to suggest many practical activities.

Date published: 8 June 2010

Key Competencies: Exploring the Potential of Participating and Contributing

$46.00

This pack includes:

Date published: 8 June 2008

Key Competencies: The Water Cycle: A Science Journey

$46.00

“The most I have learnt about the new curriculum came from trialling this resource, because it incorporates everything and you can see it working in front of you. It is a resource that gets students thinking, working together, questioning.”
Lorraine Spiller, NZ Science Mathematics and Technology teaching fellow 2008 and teacher, Aotea College.

Date published: 8 June 2008

Spell Right! Endings (CD-ROM)

$46.00

A fun, highly visual, interactive CD for home or school use. Suitable for ages 8+. Based on the well-known Spell-Write. Students can:

Date published: 8 June 2007

Key Competencies: The Journey Begins

$46.00

This is a discussion kit based on NZCER’s research with five “early adopter” schools. The seven pamphlets in this kit draw on the stories of these schools as they adapt their curriculum, teaching and learning to focus on lifelong learning. They are intended as a beginning point, or “kick start”, as schools work towards implementing the key competencies.

Date published: 8 June 2007

Spell Right: The Essential Lists (CD-ROM)

$46.00

An interactive CD-ROM based on the well-known Spell-Write book.

(Runs on PC and Mac)

This CD-ROM is designed as part of the variety of activities that form the classroom spelling programme. It allows students to:

Date published: 8 June 2005

SWOT: Study Without Tears (CD-ROM version)

$36.80

The CD-ROM version of this popular book brings together the key ideas from the book in a highly visual way for senior secondary and tertiary students.

Learning how to study does make a difference. SWOT provides guidelines and techniques to help students become confident in taking charge of their learning. 'You can do it!' is the underlying motivational message of this CD-ROM.

Step-by-step guidelines include:

Date published: 8 June 2003

Spell-Write Teacher's Manual (Revised)

$23.00

This teacher's manual has been written as a guide for using Spell-Write (revised edition,1998).

Spell-Write (revised) is based on the important principle that spelling is primarily a skill of writing that is best mastered within the context of learning to write. An important goal for this manual is to help translate this principle into classroom practice.

It contains updated and expanded sections on:

Date published: 8 June 2003

SWOT. Study Without Tears

$20.24

Fully Revised Edition

Written for senior secondary and tertiary students.

Step-by-step guidelines include:

Date published: 8 June 2001

Spell-Write—Revised Edition (1998): An aid to writing and spelling

$7.36

An essential aid to spelling for students aged around 8–11 years.

Spell-Write (revised), and the research undertaken prior to its development, continues to reflect the principle that spelling is primarily a skill of writing which is best mastered by students within the context of learning to write.

A teacher's manual has also been written as a guide for using Spell-Write (revised).

Date published: 8 June 1998

My Words: an aid to writing and spelling in junior classes

MY WORDS : AN AID TO WRITING & SPELLING IN JUNIOR CLASSES

$6.44

My Words is a beginner's aid to learning to spell intended for children in junior classes. It includes an alphabetical section and a thematic section with common words grouped into categories such as time, nature, family, and so on. There are Mäori language alternatives for most entries in this section. There are spaces for children to build their own personal spelling list.

Date published: 8 June 1990