Monday, July 27, 2009
Have your say, July 2009
Free resources and opportunities for learners, teachers and schools available this month.
Save Our Sounds was launched by the World Service arm of the BBC in June 2009. The aim of the project is to create an audio map of the world, built by individuals uploading sounds of where they are in the world onto an interactive map. The growing map is fun to listen to and to contribute to. Part of the project is to try and capture sounds which were once everyday and are now uncommon - currently there are requests for the sound of dot-matrix printers and floppy disc drives to be added to the disappearing sounds area. New Sound challenges are set on the website each day. To add your own sound and listen to that of others click here. For an introduction to Save Our Sounds click here:
The British Library has a substantial sound archive which is free to browse with a comprehensive search facility. The Sounds in the archive include the spoken word, music and those from the natural world.
Fantasy Parliament is a free online way of engaging with the successes, roles and responsibilities of current MPs in the Westminster Parliament. Each user forms their own cabinet from the list of current MPs and then gains points for their cabinet members political activity in parliament such as speeches in the house, interventions, promotions etc. There are six different ways your MPs can score points each week:
- Speaking in the house - 5 points
- Asking an oral parliamentary question - 5 points
- Answering an oral parliamentary question - 5 points
- Asking a Prime Minister's Question - 20 points
- Voting Attendance - 3 points per % of attendance
- Promotion to the real cabinet - 60 points.
The points system means it is the MPs who are the most active parliamentarians, not those who are most famous or appear in the media the most, who gain points and so are more likely to make your cabinet successful in the fantasy league. The current top five cabinets and top five MPs are displayed on the website.
The Poetry Society and the BBC have teamed up to launch the SLAMbassadors poetry competition. The competition is open to 13-19 year olds who need to write an original piece (rap or poem) on the theme of identity and then record themselves performing it in 60 seconds or less. The entry can be sent or directly uploaded onto the showcase area of the competition site. Six winners will be invited to a two day masterclass in London with leading UK poets. There will also be a live slam poetry event. The closing date for the competition is 19th October.
There are also free BLAST workshops being run around the country to learn about and practice SLAM poetry. For more details visit the The Poetry Society's SLAMbassadors UK website or the BLAST site. Both sites also offer free resources for teachers.
Show Me is a website designed to show what is happening across the UK in museums and galleries for children and young people.
Cool It Schools is a new website and project designed to support children doing something positive about climate change. Register as a school and you will get your own showcase area in which to exhibit written, photographic, video, audio and visual creations by your learners about climate change. You can then view the ideas and responses to climate change of children and young people from other schools. There are schools from all over the world registered on the site. The aim is to present findings at the meeting of world leaders to discuss climate change target progress in Denmark in November 2009.
The Big Challenge Competition was launched last year to encourage and support children and young people being able to make a difference to the problems and issues they see as important in either their local community or on a wider scale. The first winners were announced earlier this month and now it is time to submit ideas to win the next round. The competition is open to all 16-25 year olds who submit an idea they have for helping to solve a problem or challenge in society. Winners get the funding to put their idea into action - there is £60,000 to share amongst successful projects so the competition is a real chance to make an idea for an event, project or production a reality. Reading the winning ideas is a good starting point: you can also read entries submitted this year on the site. Closing date to submit your idea is 29th September. Big Challenge is funded by Vodafone and a range of charities working to promote social entrepreneurship in young people. Click here to visit the website and to submit your idea click here.