Fifteen Innovative Literacy Ideas for Busy Teachers giveaway - Free eBook is all yours

Are you looking for some fresh ideas to revitalise the way you teach English in your classroom?  Well look no further…

Belinda and Kev have put together an ebook with over fifteen innovative  ideas for teachers to teach literacy.  This book usually retails on Amazon but to Edgalaxy readers it is all yours and completely free.

Whether you are a seasoned veteran or a new beginner I guarantee you will find at least ten fresh ideas to use with your students immediately.  All are open ended and easy to adapt to any age group or ability.  Including

• 3 Fresh Ideas for Reading Group Rotations
• 20 Things to do Before, During and After Reading.
• Useful iPad Apps for Improving Literacy Skills
• Unlock the Potential of Google Forms and QR Codes
• Access Engaging Lesson Ideas and Resources Through TED-Ed
• Free Classroom Posters to Teach Your Students About Reading and Writing.
• Free Useful Graphic Organizers for Teaching Reading and Writing
• Inspiring Visual Writing Prompts
• Expository Writing Prompts for Students
• How to Write a Well Developed Paragraph
• Using WikiPedia as a Powerful Reading and Writing Tool
• Dinosaur Themed Writing Pack for Young Students

The ebook is completely free and non-commercial in the content it contains.

So click here to download it and put some of these great ideas to use.

20 fun ideas to bring Halloween to your classroom

Photo by Brand X Pictures/Stockbyte / Getty Images

Over the last fortnight we have been adding a number of resources to help teachers and students have some fun in the classroom with Halloween.  

Recently we have been compiling theme pages of resources for major events throughout the year and soon enough we will be putting all of our Christmas resources in a single place also.

The key word here is fun, but there is plenty of learning opportunities to take advantage of, especially around literacy art and craft.

So if you are looking for some fresh and simple ideas this spooky season be sure to check out our halloween resources here.

Simple to make Halloween Jack-o-Lantern Jars

The spooky season is almost upon us, and these Jack-O-Lantern Jars are a fantastic way to decorate your classroom for Halloween.  The kids will love customizing their own designs and watching them glow in the darkness of the night.  With a few simple materials you can add a special spooky glow to your Halloween night!

For additional Halloween craft ideas, check out the Halloween Express ultimate guide for Halloween crafts.

Another great idea from Belinda

What you will need...An assortment of jars, coloured tissue paper, PVA glue (or  a glue which will dry clear), a paint brush, scissors, black paper, tea lights or LED candles.

Step One...Choose one of your tissue paper colours and cut out some strips.  For the pumpkin jar I used about 8 strips (2 x 10cm).  Of course the amount needed will depend on the size of the jar.

Step Two...Grab your strips, jar, glue and paint brush and prepare to stick your tissue paper in place.

Step Three...Cover your jar with PVA glue, and start sticking your strips on, as you cover your jar you will need to continue to add glue to ensure the overlapped pieces stick.

Step Four...Once you have completely covered your jar with tissue paper coat with another layer of glue.  Tip...Be sure to only have one to two layers of tissue paper on your jar, too many layers and you will loose the glow effect.

Step Five...Take your black paper and cut out a design to fit your jar...be creative!

Step Six...Glue your black paper design onto your jar and apply another coat of glue over the top of the black paper to ensure it stays stuck down and to give it a shiny appearance.

Step Seven...Carefully insert your tea light or LED candle to see the full effect of your Halloween creation.  Remember to always treat fire with caution!

Create a crafty Halloween spider with your students out of egg cartons

Are you throwing a Halloween party in your classroom?  If so these spiders will be a great addition to the look and feel of your room and your students will find it fun and simple to create them.

Once again this activity has come from my crafty wife Belinda who regularly contributes to the site.

As these are so easy to make your students can make plenty of them in weird and wonderful colors to hang around the room in the least expected places for your guests to find.

What you will need...  An Egg Carton, Craft Glue, Black Paint, Paint Brush, Scissors, 2 x 5mm Googly Eyes, 2 x 15cm black pipe cleaners. Tip...You can substitute googly eyes with white paper, with a black dot for a look which is just as good.

Step One... Using your scissors carefully cut out an egg cup from your egg carton as shown.

Step Two... Using your black paint, grab a paint brush and paint your egg cup.

Step Three... While you are waiting for your egg cup to dry, cut your pipe cleaners into pieces and bend them over as shown to look like little legs. These legs are 3.5cm in length. Tip...Make sure there are no sharp ends.  Although not visible in this picture I have actually bent over the very tip of the wire slightly to create a rounded end. 

Step Four... Using your craft glue stick the legs onto your black egg cup as shown.

Step Five... Glue your googly eyes into position.

20 spooky writing prompts for Halloween

Halloween Express

Halloween is a great time of year to showcase your writing skills.  Literally anything goes, fact, fantasy, horror and mystery.  What is there not to love if you are a young writer who is full of great ideas?

Sometimes those ideas are not as easy to find for some, so we have put together twenty writing prompts to cover both fiction and non fiction aspects of writing.

If you have any other suggestions or ideas we would love to hear them in the comments section below.  Enjoy.

1. Write a spooky story to tell around the campfire. Remember, you want to build suspense and fear within your audience.. Don’t forget to have a big climax to scare everyone who is listening.

2. The best Halloween costume I ever wore was…

3. Write a recipe for a magic potion. Next, explain what the potion would do if someone drank it.

4. It was a dark and stormy night when….

5. Describe how to make a great Halloween costume using mostly supplies you have around the house.

6. You are about to throw the best Halloween party in history! Describe your preparation, the event itself, the aftermath, and the cleanup. Did you enjoy yourself? Did your house almost destroy the street?

7. Write a poem about ghosts. Make each line of the poem start with g, h, o, s, t and s

8. Explain your most memorable Halloween of all time: from the treats you received, the costume you wore, the environment of your neighborhood (if you trick or treated) and why it was so amazing.

9. I was counting all my candy when all of a sudden…

10. The mad scientist was creating a new monster that could…

11. Funny now, but not then? Share a frightening experience that you can look back on and laugh about... now that it's over.  

12. Write a story about a kid who goes trick-or-treating. Start from the minute he or she puts on his or her costume and finish when he or she gets home and put on normal clothes again. Tell me everything that happens.

13. Write a ghost story. It can be one you have personal experience with or completely fictional.

14. Something in the closet was making a strange noise, so I opened the door and…

15. You won’t believe this story, but it is true…

16. If you could design a haunted mansion, what would you name it? What types of rooms would you have? Describe, in detail the best rooms in your haunted house.

17. Everybody said the old Warwick mansion was haunted…..

18. The zombies staggered through my front lawn…..

19. Do you think our modern Halloween traditions still have value? Why or why not?

20. A film company is sponsoring a nationwide Halloween script-writing contest. Write a brief summary of your prize winning movie plot.  

Make a simple paper bat for Halloween with your students

With Halloween just around the corner, why not try these fantastic bat decorations to spook up your classroom. 

This activity was created and put together by my lovely wife Belinda who contributes a great deal to the site.

They are quick, simple to create and look great.  They will definitely add a little spookiness to your house!

What you will need...Glue, Sticky Tape, a 19cm plate, a pen or pencil, scissors, black and white A4 paper.

Step One...Place your plate at the top center of your piece of black A4 paper and trace around it.

Step Two...Starting at the top of the piece of paper cut around your circle as shown, remember to keep the off cut, you will need this for the bat body.

Step Three...Fold your circle in half...along the folded straight edge cut out little half circles as shown to create the bottom of your bat wings. Tip...Make sure to cut the entire folded edge off so you are left with two separate wings as shown.

Step Four...Grab your off cut and cut the top of the circle template off as shown.

Step Five...Fold the two pointed ends over as shown...when you turn your piece of paper around, these will form the bats ears.

Step Six...Fold the top left hand corner down as shown...repeat with the other side.

Step Seven...Fold the bottom right hand corner in as shown...repeat for the other side.

Step Eight...Place a piece of sticky tape across the back to hold the folded edges in.

Step Nine...Glue the bat wings to the back of the bat, across the sticky taped edges.

Step Ten...Cut out some eyes and teeth...glue them to the front of your bat...and you are finished!

- See more at: http://scribbled.com.au/home/2012/10/23/quick-paper-halloween-bat.html#sthash.Dx5i9CjQ.dpuf

The top 100 tools for learning in 2014

Jane Hart, who I respect greatly for her contributions to learning and technology throughout the last decade has recently published her top 100 tools for learning in 2014.

This is the eighth incarnation of this list since being introduced in 2008 and was put together with the contributions of over 1000 teachers globally.

It is a genuine snapshot of what people are using in education.

Twitter, Google Docs and YouTube top the list which is hardly surprising.  

PowerPoint at number 4 was quite a shock as I would have definitely considered this and 'old favourite' when comparing it to a plethora of presentation tools that have hit the scene in the last eighteen months but it is a solid tool and for some old habits are hard to break.

There was no interest around Google Classroom as yet.   It didn't even crack the top 100 which is sure to change over time as this product continues to evolve.

My favourite iPad app of 2014 Adobe Voice did notmake the list either which makes me wonder if I am a little out of touch with Jane's Audience.

Jane's top 100 can be seen below and if you visit her site you can download the top 100 guidebook which is really useful for developing an understanding of what these tools are and where they all fit in the bigger picture of teaching and learning.

I'd love to hear your thoughts around this list too.

Top 100 Tools for Learning 2014 from Jane Hart

Common Application Essay Topics for 2014 -2015

The Common Application Group is a non profit committed to to providing reliable services that promote equity, access, and integrity in the college application process.

Every two years they release a set of essay prompts that can be accessed by prospective students to be submitted alongside a college application to give schools an idea of the quality of candidate they are considering.

This is a great opportunity for senior students to complete a common writing task that may well be useful for them in further education opportunities.

The word limit is capped at 650.  It is very difficult to write an excellent essay with such a short word limit so every word needs to count.

The common prompts for 2014 and 2015 are

These three tips may help you if you are stuck for inspiration.

• Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.   

• Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure.  How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?

• Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea.  What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

• Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content.  What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

• Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.

• Brainstorm some of your favorite memories. Why have these stuck with you? What do they mean to you and what do they say about who you are? Do you see a theme running through them?
• When writing about these memories, describe them in as much detail as possible. What color was the shirt you were wearing? Was it raining outside? How did you feel? The more you remember the more it means to you.
• Most importantly, be honest with yourself. Don’t write about what you think the college admissions board wants to hear. Write about something you really feel strongly about. Your passion and true self will shine through. That is what they want to see.