Daily Archives: 09/12/2015

English

It’s well established that song lyrics are the easiest of all texts to learn. Which is why children remember what they sing.

There are many theories as to why all human societies have song as well as language, but the most commonly accepted reason is that it is easier for people to learn song lyrics than to learn words in any other form.

Song, therefore, is used as a way of unifying a society, with everyone easily remembering the words that express the unity of their group.

The technical reason why songs are easy to remember is to do with the way the left and right halves of the brain work – and I’ll happily leave you to look into that at your leisure!  But for now, I’d like to point out the application that this facet of the human mind offers us.

Children can memorise poetry faster than prose and songs faster than poetry.  Therefore, when we teach something as a song, it takes far less effort and time for the children to remember the lyrics.  And better still, those lyrics stay in the memory far, far longer.

Indeed many adults today can still recall the lyrics of their favourite pop songs from their youth – especially if they were in the habit of singing along with them.

It’s for this reason that we have created Chantez plus Fort – a book and CD set containing 20 easy-to-learn French songs written specifically to help children learn French.

They are linked to some of the KS2 Programmes of Study for modern foreign languages but are also relevant for pupils in Years 7 and 8, especially those with special needs.

The songs introduce and reinforce key vocabulary for popular topics, such as greetings, names and ages, time, days of the week, and months, shapes, colours and sizes, family and pets, food and drink, classroom items, and the weather.

Whilst enjoying the songs children will broaden their vocabulary and hone their listening skills and pronunciation.

CD 1 contains all 20 songs sung by French children and mini-dialogues which can be used for listening comprehension and role-plays. CD 2 contains instrumental tracks for the 16 original songs.

The accompanying book contains teachers’ notes with ideas on how to introduce, use, and extend the songs, photocopiable illustrated song sheets, photocopiable music sheets including guitar chords, scripts for the mini dialogues, and English translations of all the songs.

If you are a KS3 (Years 7-9; 11-14 year olds) teacher you may wish to order the KS3 version of this book. And you might like to note that we also have songs for Spanish (Vamos a Cantar) and German (Singt mit uns).

You can order the MFL Songs resources by Brilliant Publications in a variety of ways, including:

  • By visiting the website links above
  • By phone on 01449 766629
  • By fax on 01449 768047
  • By email to orders@tradecounter.co.uk
  • Or By post to Brilliant Publications, Mendlesham Industrial Estate, Norwich Road, Mendlesham, Suffolk, IP14 5ND.

Brilliant Publications,
Mendlesham Industrial Estate,
Norwich Road,
Mendlesham,
Suffolk,
IP14 5ND.

website: www.brilliantpublications.co.uk
email: orders@tradecounter.co.uk

phone: 01449 766629
fax: 01449 768047

Building, furniture, maintenance, energy etc, PE

See whether your school qualifies for a brand new sports facility at no cost whatsoever to the school

This is true – your school can get a brand new sports facility at no cost whatsoever to the school (and indeed many schools already have), but it does require a little bit of planning – which, fortunately, Notts Sport can help you with.

So, the immediate question is, how does it work?

There are two stages. First, we develop the facility that you require on your school grounds using Fast Track Funding, which means no payment is required until the facility is complete. After that, payment is arranged over a period of time – normally five or seven years.

This is when the second part of the arrangement comes in. Schools are finding that it is not at all difficult to hire out their new facility to local clubs on occasional evenings and weekends, and through that are able to cover all the costs of the development (and more).

And there you have it – a brand new sports facility at no cost whatsoever to the school, all whilst helping to promote sport and healthy lifestyles in the local community which will inevitably create a significant amount of positive PR for the school.

Such sports facilities that we install for schools under the Fast Track Funding Scheme include a new all-weather pitch for football, cricket, hockey, etc., and at the heart of the development plan is England Hockey’s Official Facilities Partner.

Unfortunately our seminars about Fast Track Funding have now finished. However we have created a presentation for those who couldn’t make it to the seminars and are interested in Fast Track Funding. You can view this presentation by clicking here.

We will be doing live Fast Track Funding webinars in the New Year. To register your interest or if you have any questions about the Fast Track Funding Scheme, please don’t hesitate to contact us, either by calling us on 01455 883 730 or emailing us at info@nottssport.com.  

There is further information about Fast Track Funding on our website.

What’s more, you can find out more about the various pitch surfacing systems designed and developed by Notts Sport, by visiting http://nottssport.co.uk/.

Music

Discount Sibelius 8 now available

There has never been a better time to upgrade or add seats to your Sibelius License!

Sibelius 8-upgrade from any version £19.00

Add new Sibelius seats £69.00

And how about buying the best and easiest to use sequencer for your Year 1 and 2 classes. (Also suitable to GCSE and A level students)

Acoustica Mixcraft – it really is a fantastic program for pupils learning to use MIDI and Audio to create new music from £20.00 per copy

Typical School License 5-24 copies £26.00 per copy.

Get in touch or send orders to hq@softplanetgroup.com

1 month terms-simply send a Purchase Order.

SOFTPLANET, Greenbank House St Andrews, KY16 8LP

Or call us on 01334 461244

www.softplanetgroup.com