Make Create Educate

What are Sustainable Development Goals ? The 17 sustainable development goals have been set by the united nations as goals to be achieved by 2030. The SDGs are global goals set for various areas including humanitarian, environmental and economical. These goals are a great way to give purpose to student projects so they can address real world issues. Resources Song Ted Talk Introducing SDGs to students  To introduce SDGs to a class and ask them to research one each, then create a page in a floor book. (A floor book is an A3 sized page where student represent their findings, it is then compiled into a bound book and available for students to read).  Each time the class does research, or investigations asked students to identify which sustainable development goal the project is linked to. Books Greta and the Giants  by Zoe Tucker and illustrated by Zoe Persico is a fiction book about one girls fight again giants who are ruining the world. This story is based on Gre...

Picture books are a wonderful way to engage children of all ages.  With younger children they provide an opportunity to engage in literacy with storylines they may not have experienced or thought about. With older students they are a wonderful hook to stimulate discussion or debate.  Is it true? Is it relevant to us? What can we do to protect? prevent? or follow up? Once upon a time Online by David Bedford Using fairytale characters this book illustrates some of the hazards of being online. The Fairy Godmother teachers them how to use screen time to be productive and creators rather than users of technology. The Fabulous Friend Machine by Nick Bland Popcorn the chicken finds a friend machine (phone) and makes some wonderful new friends, who turn out be not telling the full truth. Her old (true) friends step in to save her. The internet is like a puddle by Shona Innes This book gently talks about the dangers of being online and how adults can help us navigate those dangers. The...

There is now a range of books both fiction and non fiction that teach about algorithms and coding concepts. These books can be used individually or in series. Picture Books If I were a wizard by Paul Hamilton Paul is an Australian author that has published a sweet story with Australian bush animals. Each page of the story introduces a coding concept. The back of the book has a brief definition of the concept and how it links to the story. This style of book is useful for teachers wanting to learn more about coding concepts and gives key terms that can be researched to find project ideas and further information. The concepts included in the story include: Repeats and Loops Sequence and Order Algorithms Variables Conditionals Functions Debugging and Patterns Paul's website includes additional resources that can be used in conjunction with the book, apps, augmented reality, games, and lessons.  https://www.wizardcodingbook.com/ This book would be suitable as a story ...

What does Possum Magic by Mem Fox have to do with computational thinking and digital technologies? Possum Magic by Mem Fox is a story about a magic grandma that makes her grandson Hush become invisible. To solve the problem they travel Australia looking for ways to make Hush visible again. Luckily the problem is solved for Hush as he consumes classically Australian foods. Strangely they need to travel to most of the capital cities to do it.  Getting children to visualise a journey and translate what they hear into a concrete experience requires computational thinking. 3 activities to integrate digital technologies in a literacy lesson. K-2 Beebot Activity Create algorithms to follow the trail of the food that Hush eats. Educational content Algorithms Procedural texts Recounts Integrating digital systems Recounts Resources Beebots or bluebots Clear mat  or cardboard ruled up with 15min grid. Pictures  of the foods consumed by H...

On Monday the 23rd February I had the pleasure of attending the launch of the K-12 Education program at Charles Sturt University, Port Macquarie Campus. How exciting for Port Macquarie to have a permanent university campus for 2000 students.  Current education students and local educators were invited to the launch where Dr Noella Mackenzie spoke on teaching literacy in the K-12 classroom. My notes and thoughts on the lecture. As an educator it is important to understand the continuity of learning.  Any classroom can contain students with a range of reading ages. For example one year I had a year 4 class (9yo) with a reading age range of 5-16years. In secondary there are often students who struggle with reading and there may be students with low reading ages. So, it is crucial that all teachers primary and secondary have an understanding of the continuity of learning in literacy regardless of specialty. Many students can learn to read with limited vocabu...