Monday, November 23, 2009
Have your say, November 2009
A selection of resources and opportunities for schools, teachers and learners.
The 10:10 Climate Change Campaign is a UK wide campaign to encourage organisations including schools to reduce their carbon footprint. Schools signing up commit to reducing their carbon emissions by 10% over a year by selecting a start date anytime between now and 31st August 2010 and then tracking their electricity use over the year. There is a dedicated schools website which has support, ideas and case-studies of schools who have already achieved the 10% reduction. Highlighting the Copenhagen Climate Change Summit on 7th December may be a good way to launch the 10% reduction pledge in schools and the Countdown to Copenhagen resource could be good to motivate and inspire learners. The pack has been produced by ActionAid and encourages children and young people to send messages to world leaders ahead of the summit expressing their views and expectations of the leaders. To download the pack for free: www.actionaid.co.uk and click on Schools.
Small Steps 4 Life is a government initiative designed to encourage children and young people to live a healthier lifestyle by setting themselves goals towards improving their lifestyle. You can visit the website here.
StoryVault is a new website which gives children (and adults) access to real life accounts of historical events. As well listening to interviews with people who witnessed or were part of significant events, visitors to the site are encouraged to record and upload interviews of their own.
A website from the DCSF DirectGov kids has been launched which offers a virtual world for children to learn about institutions and processes in society. There is also a Teacher’s Area and Parent’s Area. Children visiting the site explore a town by clicking on a building to enter and explore what is going on inside. Each building has a series of activities and information points for children to use to find out more about what happens there. The buildings are populated and users can follow a person through the parts of their job and day. There is also a teacher and parent area with resources and extra links and ideas. At any point a child can click on a Your View button and rate the site and send a comment. Visit the website here.
JAM studio is a website where users can compose and record songs using the online tools. Other users can then add reviews and suggestions to develop. The site is free to register. There mixer desks and a range of tools to change tempo etc, The Online Music factory is the description. We came across this recommended by a PbyP learner who submitted some music produced in JAM as evidence for his profile. This site also lets you create songs using the style of your favorite artists. This is very much useful to play different kind of instruments online and to try out your creativity without having to buy expensive music instruments and synthesizers.
The youth-led Respect? campaign are asking 1,000 young people to sign a pledge to speak up when they see a story in the media which affects them. The aim of Respect? is to improve the representation of young people in the media, government and UK society as a whole, by encouraging young people to speak up, challenging stereotypes and encouraging decision-makers and society to listen to and directly involve young people in policymaking. The Respect? campaign is supported by YouthNet and the British Youth Council (BYC) and led by eight 16 to 24-year-olds who together form the Respect Young Peoples Advisory Group(RYPAG). The Respect? pledge reads: "I will make my voice heard and help young people’s views to get noticed. When I have an opinion on a news story, I will voice it in the media by commenting online, writing to editors of papers or magazines, or calling in to TV or radio programmes. It’s our news too. But only if 1,000 other young people will pledge to do the same". The deadline for young people to sign up to the pledge is the 31 May 2010. So far 202 people have signed up and 798 more are needed. Respect? has teamed up with young people’s website TheSite.org, where young people can get tips and advice on how to use the media to speak up as part of the campaign.
The official UK Parliament website has a wide range of resources and information to support teaching and learning about the British parliamentary system. The resources are organised for different age-ranges . There are also competitions on the website: there is currently a competition open to win tickets to election workshops with MPs at the houses of parliament.There is also a valuable First Time Voter pack useful for schools to give all their students who will vote for the first time in the forthcoming election.