Daily Archives: 31/08/2016

Music

Ready-made Whole-class Music-making…

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Give your children a ‘sound’ music education

Years ago, music was taught by singing or listening only. Children didn’t make music or explore sound in their lessons. As in Victorian days, it was expected that children should be seen and not heard!

Over the last few years OFSTED have said that too little actual music goes on in primary music lessons. Music is a language and the language of music should be dominant, but often isn’t.

Playing instruments is a great way to get all children making music. They can all play tunes and get a great sense of achievement. However, whole classes of trumpets & trombones, or violins & cellos make a very loud noise indeed. Even tin whistles & recorders are shrill in large numbers. And drums don’t play tunes, only rhythms.

Which Instrument should we use?

The English Ocarina is a really great instrument. The 4-hole Oc® has been judged by independent experts to be the Best Music Education Product. Here’s what the panel said…

The Ocarina “combines creative potential, ease of use, affordability and practicality” Best Music Education Product WINNER in the Music Teacher Awards for Excellence

The sound of the Ocarina blends beautifully in groups. If one child plays it badly, their Ocarina cuts out and is silent, so you only hear the best. And the sound of the Ocarina is the purest of any musical instrument, giving children the best feedback and immediate success.

If you would like to enable your children to play great music in class, in assembly, at the Christmas Concert or at community events, just order now. Ocarinas are supremely portable as children wear Ocarinas when they play. They are also lightweight and very easily stored.

But is it ‘proper’?

People who don’t fully understand music or children, may think that the Ocarina is not a ‘proper’ instrument. What is a proper instrument? Crumhorns are proper for medieval music, French Horns for orchestral music and Ocarinas for educational music. It’s “horses for courses”. There is no single instrument that is perfect for everything. However, Ocarinas are best in class.

Tuned, Accessible, Musical and Ready-to-play

There is nothing to go wrong – no reeds or strings that require setting up or mending – just kits of Ocarinas with music books, backing CDs, ready-made lessons and lots of musical fun.

Order an Ocarina Class Set today. Hand them to any teacher and within half-an-hour their class will serenade you with familiar tunes and play eight notes – seven more than they would play in half-an-hour on any other instrument! Or give them to the staff first and let the fun begin!

music@ocarina.co.uk | ocarina.co.uk | 01536 485 963
David Liggins B.Ed (Hons) | Christa Liggins BA (Hons), PGCE
Ocarina Workshop, PO Box 56 Kettering, NN15 5LX

School News

Cover Teacher who thinks a vulgar fraction is a row on ‘Eastenders’?

According to figures from the Dept for Education, the average secondary school teacher has about four working days off a year due to illness.  Of course this incorporates teachers who have a long time out with a serious illness as well as the 44% of teachers who are fortunate enough to go a whole year not getting ill at all.

These numbers show why the need for ready-made materials for supply teachers who cover Maths classes is as vital as ever.   For even when something has been left from the previous lesson, there are always going to be those who finish the work rapidly, and need something else to do.

Which is why the Absent Maths Teacher volume of worksheets was developed.

The worksheets within the volume cover a wide range of topics and range of ability – and are all designed so that they can be used as a one-off in an emergency, or as a series of highly varied tasks over a number of days, should the absence be unexpectedly protracted.

Activities range from drawing Venn diagrams showing the intersection of two sets, to working out profit and loss percentages.

Each topic area is followed by a wide range of questions, an extension task through which (for example) the students are required to balance equations, and a homework task in which the students have to copy a series of diagrams and find the value of angle x.

The volume covers such topics as the rules for algebra, decimals, equations, geometry, powers, statistics, etc. etc.

Each lesson in the volume is printed on a single page and is simple to photocopy instantly for any class that suddenly requires the lesson.

The Absent Maths Teacher Worksheets collection is available from Hamilton House priced at £30 plus £2.95 delivery.

You can order the Absent Maths Teacher worksheets collection by filling in the order form and sending it by fax, email, or post (see contact details below). Alternatively, if you have a school order number, you can order by phone.

First and Best in Education, Earlstrees Court,
Earlstrees Road, Corby, Northants, NN17 4HH
Telephone: 01536 399 011      Fax: 01536 399 01
Email: sales@firstandbest.co.uk

Languages

How can your school avoid the ‘learning a language’ trap?

Teachers can be under-confident when teaching foreign languages in the classroom because they do not have the language skills. What’s the most effective way of supporting your staff in the teaching of French, Spanish or German?

Avoiding the trap …
Have you been in the scenario where the teachers have been informed that they have to teach a language and seen the panic on their faces? Suddenly they have to read, write, speak and teach it to the children. Most teachers race on line to hunt through the mixed bag of resources.  Imagine their surprise if they could be provided with a proven resource that enables them to teach a language, they do not know, effectively.

Finding the resource …
What is the right resource? A resource which gives instant lessons, lesson plans and games, with sound, which are effective and fun. A resource which promotes linguistic confidence.

EDpaX offers …
Lessons that develop the teaching of French, Spanish or German in the Primary classroom.

There are 28 topics specially developed for teachers required to teach a foreign language using the interactive whiteboard. No preparation is needed! There are 500+ teaching pages, with sound, including games and activities. Each language introduces and reinforces initial language, spelling, vital verbs, simple sentence structure and small paragraphs. Colourful and effective interactive whiteboard language lessons and games at your fingertips! These instant lessons bring fun to language learning for both the teachers and the children. Ideal for all Primary school teachers.

Photocopy Workbooks each containing 56 differentiated photocopy pages which reinforce and consolidate every topic are included as a SPECIAL OFFER. Planning grids detailing the language used in each topic are there too.

Check out the product at  http://www.edpax.com/languages-mfl/

Want to try before you buy? Please download a full FREE interactive whiteboard teaching topic from Free Resources at http://www.edpax.com/free-resources/languages/

Do you need more information? Please email info@edpax.com or call 0845 4752289

One language product contains 2 disks plus the photocopy workbook for only £350

(excl. VAT and p&p). One-off purchase with full site licence.

www.edpax.com