Here it is ... the cover of the e:lit guide to the shortlisted books for 2010 that I have been working on with Sophie for a few weeks now.
The 2010 CBCA guide will be mailed all to e:lit members in July. The activities in the guide are designed for teachers to use in the classroom in order to support students in a guided, deep and inspirational exploration of these fantastic texts. For each title there are publishing details, activities, and synopsis and themes, so whatever theme is being studied there is probably an opportunity to enhance it with a literature component. This is increasingly relevant now that literature has become one of the three interrelated strands in the new national English curriculum.
For more details jump to the
Advance Title Information page on the
elit site for the book.
Its been a busy Tuesday ...
These are a few images that I asked Val to take of me in operation today.
This is an author vist to schools doing writing workshops 21st century style. I was working with five schools in two sessions (hi to the smiling kids at Tamworth, Franklin, Bonshaw, Sandon and Wakool Public Schools). There are cameras set up in the schools (front and back of the room), a ceiling anchored microphone, large television monitors and also interative white boards (IWBs). And just like a normal workshop kids come armed with pens and papers and lots of questions.
I was running a writing workshop to tie in with
e:lit's Special Forever project. My presentation was on the IWB in Sydney and at the same time it was being viewed in the schools that I was working with. And as you can see in some of the images, I can write on the IWB and the students write back -- just as if I was in the classroom with them! This is way cool fun ... especially at the end of the session when the kids start writing messages back to me!!! Of course what was written on the IWB in one school was also seen on the IWB in all the schools that I was working with so the board can get a tad cluttered until I pressed the eraser icon! On the television screen I can see the actual kids in the classroom - so I can even identify who I am chatting with ("the wriggler in the second row" etc). The classes all (usually) appear in small images on the screen while the actual class answering questions or responding to me is the larger image on the screen. And of course on their home screens the kids are seeing me talking to them (or the other classes) all the time. I can watch them write, listen to their comments, and respond with suggestions ... one student even held his work up to the camera to show me what he had written! Absolutely terrific.
This is so fantastic - especially for those small schools who can't get to see authors and illustrators normally because they are just tooooo far away! It is heaps of fun! And for me, because I am not right in front of the kids I was talking louder than normal until I realised - so the voice was a little sore for the rest of the day!! Hopefully I will get to see examples o
Thrilled to say that on Saturday afternoon I was elected to the board of e:lit - and what is e:lit you ask?
Read on (this is from the website)
What’s e:lit all about?
In a word, literacies. e:lit is the face of the Primary English Teaching Association, and reflects everything we stand for: accredited professional development, innovative books, useful hints, proven teaching tips and much more. The "e" in e:lit name stands for expertise in primary literacies, but it’s also a strong hint that you’ll find more and more of our great resources being offered electronically, right here on our site. We're one of the largest and most successful associations for primary teachers in Australia. Over the last 38 years we’ve produced landmark publications and presented professional learning opportunities promoting literacy and language in Australian schools.
at the AGM
with Stephen Wilson, General Manager
... hope you know what you're in for!
and the first meeting is this Tuesday ... no rest for the wicked.
What did I get up to last Tuesday? I just talked to 5 schools over a few hours in a video conference that was being run through the
e:lit offices with some of the schools from the
Special Forever Project.
What a blast that was ... doing everything remotely. Writing Narrative Non-Fiction was the order of the day.
Hope that the students create some wonderful narratives for this year's Special Forever Project.
With the CBCA short list having been announced it is once again time to prepare the teaching guide --
Exploring the 2010 CBCA Short List for
e:lit as I did last year. This year's booklet will have a few little differences.
For a start I have an extra week to put together my part of the content. How generous are the e:lit folks!
And coming on board with me to create the booklet is
Sophie Honeybourne who is a teacher at
North Sydney Demonstration School - so she must be good! I also taught there, Year 4 was my class - just a
few years ago and only for a short while. The animals called me away!
Here is the 2009 edition.
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Here it is ... the cover of the e:lit guide to the shortlisted books for 2010 that I have been working on with Sophie for a few weeks now. 
Hi Chris
What a fabulous use of technology! I love the idea that for a relatively low cost (certainly compared to the cost of an author tour to all those schools) these kids are NOT missing out just because they live in regional or remote areas. Your willing embrace of the technology (a skype call to the Lady Cutler for heavens sake!) and willingness to share it with others is lifeblood.
Clare McKenzie (ex CBCA!)