Podcasting: Blog Posts

Source: Podcasts for Educators - Weblog

MP3, MP4, MOV, M4A and M4V format information

One of the more interesting aspects of educational podcasting is the variety of different formats used. In addition to the ubiquitous MP3 format, there are also audio/enhanced formats such as M4A and M4B as well as the MOV, MP4 and M4V video formats.

We have updated the podcast channel listings to include information about the format of every podcast listed, making it much easier to see "at a glance" the format used for a particular format. This is most useful where some podcast channels incorporate every format in their RSS feeds!

For every item listed in our podcast directory, we are using one of the following symbols:

for podcasts using the original MP3 format

for podcasts using the AAC format for audio/enhanced podcasts

for podcasts using the AAC format for audio/enhanced podcasts

for video podcasts using the new codec

for video podcasts using this general format

for video podcasts using this traditional format

We hope this much requested information is useful for users of our educational podcast directory.

Where's that podcast channel?

• the podcaster has ceased to provide/update the podcast channel
• there may be technical problems associated with the RSS feed
• the content of the podcasts no longer meets our criteria
• the podcast channel was never listed in the directory
• the podcast channel has been removed for another reason

Validating RSS Feeds

Source: Hillside FLaT Project

Final post - Sustainability

As the formal part of Hillside's Future Learning and Teaching project draws to a close (January 2005 - January 2007), this post will outline the plans for 2007, ensuring that ICT (including social software) and Multiple Intelligences developments continue, allowing teachers and pupils opportunities to access information and learn in new ways, and for pupils to show that they meet assessment criteria for National Units in meaningful settings (ie relevant, contextualised, audience).

Key commitments for 2007 include:

• Video blogging (intranet only) - this will allow pupils to generate evidence for a range of Access PSE units. This will be done via laptop with built-in camera, and on-screen prompts/questions. Pupils will have the opportunity to give opinions on their care package via this method, prior to a Looked After Review meeting
• After-school Computer Animation club based around creating an animation using Mediastage
• Creating a bank of mp3 files for Access German, using some of Accelerated Learning theory
• Offering pupils Video Conferencing facilities, based on learning opportunities via the Global Leap database, and possible eTwinning link-ups
• Pupils leaving at the end of Fourth Year will continue to have the opportunity to 'burn' work onto CD-ROM, to take with them
• Fourth Year pupils who participate in our Parenting programme (based around our Real Care Baby II), will be encouraged to blog their experiences
• Some homework will be provided on mp3 files, with pupils allowed to take an mp3 player overnight with them to their unit
• Continue to work with Fionna Balfour (CALL) and hopefully other agencies and 'edubloggers' to develop an online resource which supports those interested in Learning 2.0 and Assessment 2.0 (for want of a MUCH better phrase). This includes providing advice on the amending of National Assessments (NABs)
• If possible within pupil internet access constraints, provide a class with the opportunity to build up an RSS-feed home page eg Netvibes
• Collaborate online with educators, via Skype, Google Documents etc to create content useful in the delivery of Personal and Social education
• Provide school staff with twilight CPD opportunities eg RSS, Social Bookmarking
• Encourage classes to create audio and visual content via podcasting, and contributing audio to the freesound project and images to Flickr (under Creative Commons license)
• Work with care staff in the school to develop DJ/mixing facilities, for pupils to utilise as part of their 24-hour curriculum.

This is the final post on this blog. For reference, however, it will not be deleted. From January, all updates, experiences, opinions, links etc will be through my fortnightly podcast, Booruch, available via iTunes or at http://booruch.libsyn.com/.

Technorati Profile

Project update - October 2006

As we approach the last term before the end of the formal period of the FLaT project, I thought that a brief review and next steps would be useful.

The Craft teacher has finished working of his amended assessment (NAB) and this will be used with my class in the new term.

I had a further meeting with Fionna at the CALL Centre. We looked at each other's ideas of resources for amending materials and assessments, and how our ideas for sharing what can be done, or is happening in centres throughout the country rough outline, could compliment each other.

By January, an interactive website will be up and running, which will contain resources, links, case studies (audio/video), opportunities for educators to add their experiences, and support for those interested in amending materials. Further details will follow after the October break.

Class 3 took part in a Victorian Child Criminal Video Conference with The National Archives in Kew. Pupils examined documents and photos from 19th Century London, and then constructed some metaphors which they then incorporated into a poem. Each pupil produced a poem, which was emailed to Eukaria, in Kew.

Global Leap and JVCS continue to provide excellent Video Conference support, therefore we have booked a further session where we delve back to the First World War and converse with someone on 'the front'.

Based on podcasts that I have reviewed for my Booruch podcast and that pupils have listened to in their studies, I and primary teacher John Johnston have constructed (and continue to update) an education podcast directory, giving educators and students access to useful audio and content.

I am very interested in Joe Dale's PowerPoint advice. He fights the 'death by Power Point' groan by taking visitors to his site through tutorials on how to add 'drag and drop' and 'triggers' to slide shows; transforming the software. I am particularly interested as I have experimented with assessing via Power Point. The advanced techniques (with Joe's 'hand-holding') will be part of what I produce at the end of the project.

Media Studies at Access 3 has been introduced into Class 3's curriculum, as we strive to be in a position to potentially offer each of the Access clusters. Learning will form the basis of a media production in terms 2 and 3.

I am regularly meeting with care staff at the school as we integrate music into the 24-hour curriculum. We have identified staff with DJing/production experience and are currently considering which additional resources (compatible with the iMac/Garageband) are needed. It is expected that initially, pupils will have an after-school opportunity to work with staff who are trained in using the equipment based in the Multimedia room.

Next month, a company (working with the Partners in Learning fund) are sending their 'Diary Room in a Box' for staff and pupils to record their experiences of the Podcasting project. This resource, or a similar use of the iMac (and iSight camera) appears to me to be a way of recording pupils 'Leisure Time Activities' out-with the formal curriculum, thus illustrating objectives and outcomes from the residential units' numerous positive, educational evening activities. Further details to follow.

July 2006 - update

I continue to work with the Craft instructor to amend NAB materials. We are working on an assessment item within the Working with Craft Tools unit (Access 3). We are focusing on using ICT to enable 'drag and drop' matching tasks, which are more easy to access and respond to (while ensuring that Performance Criterion remains unchanged). These assessment tasks will be up-to-date and should promote pupil independence. Time constraints are worked around by meeting during time set aside for the monthly ICT drop-in session in my classroom.

We plan to make use of of time during the cross-curricular Activity Week to provide an option which utilises Garageband, iRiver, Logo, Comic Life, Audacity, Digital Camera etc. The pupil group will be challenged along the lines of:
""Your group are going to produce a 30 minute Radio show. In it will be your top 5 songs at the moment; your news, views and interviews; and a song or track that your group have produced. You can use the digital camera to shoot some video that will go along with the audio. You can keep a photo-diary of the day, which will be turned into a humourous comic strip."

We have used the Simply VR software to attempt to produce 360 degree Art and Craft images in order to allow pupils to showcase their efforts and to build up examples of work for their personalised S4 leavers CD-ROM. Unfortunately, the images taken by the digital camera are too large and I can't seem to reduce it. Therefore we will try to apply our animation skills (using StopMotionPro) to achieve a 360 image.

Our Radiowaves station (Hillside Beatbox) has a couple of new stories on it. Pupils worked in English to write a match report on our recent cup final. Our Green Team (Eco Schools) recently visited Craigencalt Ecology Centre. Upon return to the school, Class 3 decided that some follow-up questions were necessary in order to inspire the group for next sessions environmental activities. Therefore we set up a Skype call to Ronnie at Craigencalt. All questions were planned and sent to Ronnie in advance. The Skype call was recorded using Hot Recorder. After the call, pupils were then able to use Audacity to carefully select the key parts of the conversation, which was then uploaded to our Radiowaves station, where it remains one of the 'Featured Stories'.

Pupils in Class 3 continue to be encouraged to search for appropriate educational podcasts during their studies. Recently, during some Social Subjects research (Marine conservation) and pupil went into iTunes and searched for this term. They then selected two shows from the ten listed (DiveFilm podcast) for listening to in the coming weeks. As usual, they will be encouraged to give feedback to the producers in terms of production values, and any follow-up questions.

One of the static class teachers spoke to me about the challenge of teaching Long Division. We searched on the Web for examples of good practice. One of the strategies that we agreed to try out was to use the enhanced podcasts produced by Millthorpe School. These podcasts have audio and video, and are humorous and in a context. In August we will allow the class to access the Long Division show, evaluate its impact, and feed-back to the producers along with some follow-up questions from the pupils.

During a separate Social Subjects project, myself and a pupil visited the Royal Museum in Edinburgh. We took photos of relevant Ancient Egypt artefacts, which the pupil then tagged, commented on, and added notes to using the class Flickr account, when back in the classroom. The pupil was 100% on task, and became aware that using social software (where anyone on the Web can see the photos and his comments/interpretations etc) means taking care over content. The Flickr task helped to reinforce his learning (in a sense helping anonymous, future learners searching Flickr using Ancient Egypt related tags). I plan to explore the potential for using Flickr tasks like these as assessment tools. I discussed assessement options with the pupil and he agreed that I would contact a History teacher, who will be asked to visit the class Flickr page and 'mark' (comment) on the pupil's work ie accuracy of notes, appropriateness of tags.

After our recent success in Video Conferencing with The National Archives in Kew, we have used the booking system at Global Leap to once again engage with their staff (in September), this time as we learn about Victorian Child Criminals' Poetry. Having an event like this in the diary helps to sustain a positive, focused ethos in the class. It reinforces that staff are committed to creating enhanced learning opportunities, and builds upon previous success (both academically and socially ie being able to interact purposefully with a 'new face'. I'm aware of new technology (particulary associated with the new Macs) which means that soon the bulky equipment needed for good quality Video Conferencing may no longer be necessary. With the support available, I'm confident that at least one other teacher will make use of the booking opportunities available at Global-Leap.

The last Access Network meeting (held at the end of June) continued to provide support to those who are considering amending NABs. One influence on future direction (of amending NABs) is that a number of SQA subject reviews are taking place, therefore I will focus on those units which we currently deliver that are not currently subject to review. For example, Social Subjects NABs have been rewritten and show a great improvement; although I'll still be giving advice on alternatives as Social Subjects assessments, in particular, can be made more accessible and meaningful through, for example, blogging or the creation of a podcast. By the start of September, those pupils who are working on an Independent Study Contract will be discussing with me how they will show that they have met the evidence requirements of an Access 2 or 3 Social Subjects unit. This approach remains intensive. For example, I've noted that pupils need to set themselves a couple of targets towards the end of the previous lesson (in the day). Often this means that they have break time to consider their work so that a productive 45 session follows. The class is typified by movement, discussion and drafting, and although often appearing like a booruch; pupils remain 'on task' for the lesson, have clear ownership of resources and learning, and appear to learn more (with some freedom to move there learning in different directions).

During Independent Living (PSE) we continue to use a Rogerian, person-centred approach. The current unit is entitled 'My Home'. Pupils worked together to choose the order in which the 7 sections would be tackled, and then chose 2 learnings styles/modes for each section eg 'Moving On' was selected first, to be studied primarily via discussion and a visitor to the school. This continues to be very labour-intensive, though you learn to make the most of resources and external links. I believe that this element to Class 2's ethos is only sustainable with classroom support, good health, and receiving all 'Preparation and Correction' periods. Over the summer, I will consider one more subject that this approach could be realistically used with (eg Media Studies). The Rogerian approach was 'done to me' during a Masters unit at Moray House; delivered by tutor Richard Hendry. I decided to try it out with PSE, as pupils require a degree of ownership of a life skills programme and due to the existing programme being well structured, though 'dry'. Class 5 have started work on a whole-class animation in French which will allow them to script the language that they have learnt during Unit 1. Set in Paris, the characters are ... snowmen.

For the 'Where I Live' section, pupils were to dream of their ideal living environment (lead-up work had been done by immersing ourselves in the excellent The Real Game). The chose to each produce an animation. Therefore, I gave them the following task: Produce >30 second animation (with £0 budget) entitled, "Welcome! Let me show you around my new home." This block of animation (where the classroom assistant and myself are now comfortable with this media) was noticeable by pupils improving their planning (storyboarding), selection of resources, and control/manipulation of filming.

My weekly podcast has just reached it's summer holidays (21 episodes in 6 months). Show 21 gives an overview of what's best in the Web 2.0/new media world at present and also sees me reflect on podcasting within Hillside. Of note, my colleagues now have access to the database of educational podcasts that I've built up during this year. This will go live on the Web at the end of the summer (as a result of collaboration with a fellow Scottish 'edublogger'). The second batch of Independent Living podcasts are booked in for recording during August and September, for release at http://independentlivingpodcasts.blogspot.com during October. ETwinning, RSS, and the edublogger community help me to keep an international focus. Relating this to my conviction that genuine collegiality and collaboration is central to 21st Century teacher professionalism, I will continue to host a fortnightly Skypecast over the summer ('Podcasting in the Classroom'). So far, the 3 conversations have covered resources, benefits/constraints, project ideas, and sharing of best practice.

One focus for the FLaT project has been to offer pupils and class teachers the entire range of Access 3 clusters. Media Studies (Analysis and Production units) has been introduced to Class 3 during the last term. The key textbook is GCSE Media Studies (OCR) by Longman; ironically a bit out-of-date as it has nothing on social/new media, although any text over 6 months old would probably suffer in this respect.

Recently, I met with an Enterprise in Education representative. We sketched some plans for the year ahead and discussed appropriate Enterprise packages and contacts. It is expected that myself and our Craft teacher will develop a couple of links from next session. Two classes have worked on Enterprise activities this term, without any FLaT support, so I'm considering how we can collaborate with external organisations to enhance the experience for pupils and build on the toehold within our curriculum. The Food and Drink Challenge would enable us again to work with local business and possibly Further Education.

Learnng via interactive 'off-timetable' events will continue into session 2006/7. The Teenage Health Promotion morning is booked to take place at the school in September, and The RealCare Baby and parenting programme looks likely to be funded, and find its way into our PSE/after-school curriculum from October. This report (and a previous introductory programme run at Hillside) has convinced me that pupils will benefit from this kinesthetic approach.

Class 5's Maths class in the school benefits from a high level of team-teaching. One period a week is given to 'ICT Maths'. As the term drew to a close, I decided that a way to 'cement' the pupils' learing of multiplication by 2 digits would be for them to collaborate to produce a 2-page comic, using Comic Life (bundled with new Macs) which in a fun way would teach the reader how to tackle such a calculation. The pupils were given a 10 minute tour of Comic Life, and as 'digital natives' (well, 2/3rds were) spent the next 30 minutes genuinely collaborating on a meaningful task. Two of the boys were particularly encouraging of the classmate who wasn't too confident with the technology. The task was fun (making me do silly poses and making daft statements) and it brought the step-by-step process alive. The end result was produced within a period; though as all of this should be about the 'teach' and not the 'tech', it is important to consider, in advance, WHY the technology is being used and if it an efficient use of time and resource. I regard Comic Life as another tool in the toolkit. It is not 'the answer', but there will be a time-and-a-place (particularly in Modern Foreign Languages).

Source: Storynory Free Audio Stories For Kids

Sif and her Golden Hair

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The Norse legends come from Northern Europe including, Iceland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. The Pagan gods of the Norse people often represented forces of nature. In this story you will hear about Thor, the god of Thunder, Sif, the goddess of the harvest, and Loki the god of fire and mischief. There are plenty of wonderful stories about the Norse gods – and we will be telling you a selection here at Storynory over the coming weeks.

Read by Elizabeth. Adapted for Storynory by Charlotte Sebag-Montefiore.

What do Thursdays mean to you? They are not gloomy like Mondays, or glorious like Fridays, or lazy like Sundays?. They seem quite boring really, unless, that is, you know about Norse mythology. But once you have heard the stories of the Norse gods, you will realise that Thursdays are meant to be loud, thunderous, stormy days, for they are named after Thor, the red-headed, hammer yielding, thunder-clapping god of the Norse people.

Although Thor was a raucous fellow, he did, underneath it all, have one soft spot ? and that was for his beautiful wife, whose name was Sif, and whom he loved tenderly and dearly. She had long, thick wondrous golden hair, that flowed down her back like a field of corn. In fact, it was Sif who made the Norse people?s crops grow, and their fields yield long heavy ears of corn that would keep people well fed and happy. She travelled over the Northern world, and wherever there were families, farms and people tilling the land, Sif was sure to be near at hand smoothing their path against the cruel winds, cold and winters of the North.

Of course as every lady knows, beautiful hair does not take care of itself. She was very proud of her hair, and did not allow herself to have a bad hair day. Especially as she knew she was not the only one who was very proud of her hair, Thor her husband was very proud of it too, and often boasted of it when he was drinking his mead to anyone who was around to listen. Morning, noon and night, Sif combed her wondrous hair with a jewelled comb, and she often washed in pure sparkling streams, and lay it out in the sun to dry on a rock. As you can imagine, with hair as thick as hers, it took quite a while to dry.

One day, while she was sitting on a bank of the softest moss outside her house in Asgard, where the gods live, drying her golden hair in the sun, Sif went to sleep. It?s easy to go to sleep in the sun when you?re not doing much. And it?s especially easy, if another god puts a spell on you so that nothing can wake you).

It was Loki, the god of fire and mischief, who cast this sleeping spell on Sif. He found her dozing with her gorgeous hair flowing all around her, and his evil mouth smiled at this chance to make trouble in the Thunder-God?s household. He knew that Sif?s hair of gold was Thor?s greatest treasure – and he was determined to take it away from him.

And while she was asleep, Loki took his shears and chopped off Sif?s hair, every single lovely lock! One by one they tumbled onto her shoulders and down her dress. Her head was bare, as if she?d had a haircut in the army or become a convict on a prison ship – the poor thing!

A while later, Sif woke up. Her head and neck felt cold and light, – she looked up and saw the sun was still shining. Then she felt for her hair, – there was nothing there! Looking down, she caught sight of the clusters of curls that lay all around her. Horrified, she rushed inside and burst into tears…and rain fell in bucketfuls on all the corn in the north, so the people asked ?What in heaven?s happened to Sif?? She continued to cry and cry.

That night Thor came home. But when he called to his lovely wife, he did not hear her sweet voice in reply.
Thor thought she must be somewhere else, so he put his hammer down, and whistled as he walked over to the homes and palaces of the other gods to look for her. Sif was nowhere to be found. Sadly, Thor came home, he did not like coming back to an empty house. ?Sif? he called again and again, ?come back to me?.

And then he heard his name, in a whisper. Sif stood in the shadows, so that Thor could only see her outline.
?My husband,? she sobbed,? I am ashamed for you to set your eyes on me. I must leave Asgard, the home of the gods, which is beautiful and perfect, and go to hide elsewhere.?

?Don?t speak like that. What has happened to you my sweet, that you say such terrible things?? asked the Thunder-God tenderly. ?Come out so that I can see you.?

?My crowning beauty, my hair has gone. An evil-doer has cut it and taken it from me. I do not want you to see me like this, so I must leave.?

Thor saw that it was true, Sif had lost her hair. Her shaven head was still beautiful, but the dancing joy had gone from her eyes. Instead her face was puffy with sobbing and her distress touched the heart Thor.

And then the men of the Earth heard the skies roar with agonised Thunder –

?Who was it who did this, Sif?? raged Thor. ?I, the strongest of the gods, I will find whoever did this and kill him. I will make the other gods use all their strength, all their magic and all their powers to give you back your wonderful golden hair!?

Thor led Sif in her veil to the Court of the Immortals , where some of the other gods and goddesses were seated on crystal benches sipping mead in Council. None of them could tell Thor who had cut Sif?s hair. Finally Odin, the chief of the gods, and the father of Thor, spoke. ?It must have been Loki who did this? he pronounced. He is the god of fire, and we all know that fire can wreak much mischief. [And] Nobody else would do such a thing. Though fire was not the cause of this, a great mischief it was, and Loki has ever loved mischief. But Thor, you must not kill him here. There can be no killings among[st] the gods in Asgard. I will find Loki for you. But do not kill him. Besides, he has many skills, and maybe he will find a way to return Sif?s beauty to her.?

?Hmph? grunted Thor who was red with rage. ?I?d like to kill him! …but that wouldn?t help Sif?. Odin spoke again, ?Control your rage, my son. I will call the call, and all must answer it, even Loki!?

Odin?s call was terrible to hear, but all the gods and goddesses who were not in the Council chamber, had to leave what they were doing and assemble . Even Loki. Loki saw at once that everyone was against him, so he said ?Where is your proof that I am the culprit?? ?Come?, said Odin. ?Do not lie, do not avoid the truth. You have done Sif and Thor a great wrong, and you must repair it!?
?I cannot grow hair, joked Loki. And even if I could, it would not be on her head!? None of the gods laughed. Loki looked at Thor whose temper was legendary, and he looked at Odin [as he] who solemnly said again ?You must make good the wrong you have done ??, and [he] Loki saw that he would indeed have to find a way to restore Sif?s beauty.

So Loki left Asgard. He did not leave in order to escape from Thor, though that was part of it. He left to try and find a solution. He did not go to the Giants in Jotunheim, even though [for although] he had been there before, and had friends there ? as far as it is possible to have friends among the Giants ? and he did not go to Midgard, the land of the mortals. For he knew that there had never been a man or woman who could do anything that would restore Sif?s hair. No, Loki went under the earth.

This is not something that you or I could do, for the innards of the earth are molten hot and we would not survive. But Loki was the god of fire, and so he was able to go down and down inside the passages of the earth. That is where the Gnomes live. You might think the gnomes were ugly, but they didn?t think so, and Loki didn?t mind. Down inside the earth, the Gnomes were master smiths and the rich guardians of metals, minerals and crystals: they had learnt [to] with hammer and tongs to fashion articles of much beauty and magic from them. Loki had seen them make a magic spear that hit whatever it was thrown at, and a boat which could sail anywhere, and which you could fold and put in your pocket.

Loki was crafty, and he always flattered the Gnomes whenever he went to see them. He praised their work to the skies, and promised them the earth although they already had it! Resisting flattery and false promises needs more wisdom than the Gnomes possessed, so they grew to like him. Nobody else had ever been nice to them, not even when they were babies, so their hearts softened. Then he said ?Have you gold and skills enough to make a cap of floor-length hair as fine as silk?? The Gnomes set to work at once. They stitched, threaded, weaved and span[ for days, [but] until finally the Cap of Golden Hair was ready! Even Loki was impressed. ??Tis true, you are master smiths indeed. None are better. Will you give me this Cap in return for the Heavens and the Earth??

The Gnomes who were not clever, gave Loki the Cap of Golden Hair, although the Earth was already theirs, and the Heavens were not Loki?s to give. Loki said his farewells, and was glad to return to the fresh air of Midgard with the Cap. Then he ascended to Asgard and the Heavens and went to find Sif. ?Take your veil off, Sif? he said ?for you will have golden hair again?. And he wrapped the Cap around Sif?s head where it fitted perfectly. Sif was so overjoyed with her new hair that she twirled around, her long locks flowing behind her. Her eyes sparkled once more and as the glow returned to her cheeks, she looked truly beautiful.

And that is the story of how Sif lost and regained her golden hair.

Chap 14, Wonderful Wizard of Oz

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We’ve now heard how Dorothy defeated the Wicked Witch of the West, and rescued her
companions. In this chapter we shall meet the Winged Monkeys again – and hopefully they will be more friendly this time !

Read by Natasha.

You will remember there was no road–not even a pathway–between the
castle of the Wicked Witch and the Emerald City. When the four
travelers went in search of the Witch she had seen them coming, and so
sent the Winged Monkeys to bring them to her. It was much harder to
find their way back through the big fields of buttercups and yellow
daisies than it was being carried. They knew, of course, they must go
straight east, toward the rising sun; and they started off in the right
way. But at noon, when the sun was over their heads, they did not know
which was east and which was west, and that was the reason they were
lost in the great fields. They kept on walking, however, and at night
the moon came out and shone brightly. So they lay down among the sweet
smelling yellow flowers and slept soundly until morning–all but the
Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman.

The next morning the sun was behind a cloud, but they started on, as if
they were quite sure which way they were going.

“If we walk far enough,” said Dorothy, “I am sure we shall sometime
come to some place.”

But day by day passed away, and they still saw nothing before them but
the scarlet fields. The Scarecrow began to grumble a bit.

“We have surely lost our way,” he said, “and unless we find it again in
time to reach the Emerald City, I shall never get my brains.”

“Nor I my heart,” declared the Tin Woodman. “It seems to me I can
scarcely wait till I get to Oz, and you must admit this is a very long
journey.”

“You see,” said the Cowardly Lion, with a whimper, “I haven’t the
courage to keep tramping forever, without getting anywhere at all.”

Then Dorothy lost heart. She sat down on the grass and looked at her
companions, and they sat down and looked at her, and Toto found that
for the first time in his life he was too tired to chase a butterfly
that flew past his head. So he put out his tongue and panted and
looked at Dorothy as if to ask what they should do next.

“Suppose we call the field mice,” she suggested. “They could probably
tell us the way to the Emerald City.”

“To be sure they could,” cried the Scarecrow. “Why didn’t we think of
that before?”

Dorothy blew the little whistle she had always carried about her neck
since the Queen of the Mice had given it to her. In a few minutes they
heard the pattering of tiny feet, and many of the small gray mice came
running up to her. Among them was the Queen herself, who asked, in her
squeaky little voice:

“What can I do for my friends?”

“We have lost our way,” said Dorothy. “Can you tell us where the
Emerald City is?”

“Certainly,” answered the Queen; “but it is a great way off, for you
have had it at your backs all this time.” Then she noticed Dorothy’s
Golden Cap, and said, “Why don’t you use the charm of the Cap, and call
the Winged Monkeys to you? They will carry you to the City of Oz in
less than an hour.”

“I didn’t know there was a charm,” answered Dorothy, in surprise.
“What is it?”

“It is written inside the Golden Cap,” replied the Queen of the Mice.
“But if you are going to call the Winged Monkeys we must run away, for
they are full of mischief and think it great fun to plague us.”

“Won’t they hurt me?” asked the girl anxiously.

“Oh, no. They must obey the wearer of the Cap. Good-bye!” And she
scampered out of sight, with all the mice hurrying after her.

Dorothy looked inside the Golden Cap and saw some words written upon
the lining. These, she thought, must be the charm, so she read the
directions carefully and put the Cap upon her head.

“Ep-pe, pep-pe, kak-ke!” she said, standing on her left foot.

“What did you say?” asked the Scarecrow, who did not know what she was
doing.

“Hil-lo, hol-lo, hel-lo!” Dorothy went on, standing this time on her
right foot.

“Hello!” replied the Tin Woodman calmly.

“Ziz-zy, zuz-zy, zik!” said Dorothy, who was now standing on both feet.
This ended the saying of the charm, and they heard a great chattering
and flapping of wings, as the band of Winged Monkeys flew up to them.

The King bowed low before Dorothy, and asked, “What is your command?”

“We wish to go to the Emerald City,” said the child, “and we have lost
our way.”

“We will carry you,” replied the King, and no sooner had he spoken than
two of the Monkeys caught Dorothy in their arms and flew away with her.
Others took the Scarecrow and the Woodman and the Lion, and one little
Monkey seized Toto and flew after them, although the dog tried hard to
bite him.

The Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman were rather frightened at first, for
they remembered how badly the Winged Monkeys had treated them before;
but they saw that no harm was intended, so they rode through the air
quite cheerfully, and had a fine time looking at the pretty gardens and
woods far below them.

Dorothy found herself riding easily between two of the biggest Monkeys,
one of them the King himself. They had made a chair of their hands and
were careful not to hurt her.

“Why do you have to obey the charm of the Golden Cap?” she asked.

“That is a long story,” answered the King, with a Winged laugh; “but as
we have a long journey before us, I will pass the time by telling you
about it, if you wish.”

“I shall be glad to hear it,” she replied.

“Once,” began the leader, “we were a free people, living happily in the
great forest, flying from tree to tree, eating nuts and fruit, and
doing just as we pleased without calling anybody master. Perhaps some
of us were rather too full of mischief at times, flying down to pull
the tails of the animals that had no wings, chasing birds, and throwing
nuts at the people who walked in the forest. But we were careless and
happy and full of fun, and enjoyed every minute of the day. This was
many years ago, long before Oz came out of the clouds to rule over this
land.

“There lived here then, away at the North, a beautiful princess, who
was also a powerful sorceress. All her magic was used to help the
people, and she was never known to hurt anyone who was good. Her name
was Gayelette, and she lived in a handsome palace built from great
blocks of ruby. Everyone loved her, but her greatest sorrow was that
she could find no one to love in return, since all the men were much
too stupid and ugly to mate with one so beautiful and wise. At last,
however, she found a boy who was handsome and manly and wise beyond his
years. Gayelette made up her mind that when he grew to be a man she
would make him her husband, so she took him to her ruby palace and used
all her magic powers to make him as strong and good and lovely as any
woman could wish. When he grew to manhood, Quelala, as he was called,
was said to be the best and wisest man in all the land, while his manly
beauty was so great that Gayelette loved him dearly, and hastened to
make everything ready for the wedding.

“My grandfather was at that time the King of the Winged Monkeys which
lived in the forest near Gayelette’s palace, and the old fellow loved a
joke better than a good dinner. One day, just before the wedding, my
grandfather was flying out with his band when he saw Quelala walking
beside the river. He was dressed in a rich costume of pink silk and
purple velvet, and my grandfather thought he would see what he could
do. At his word the band flew down and seized Quelala, carried him in
their arms until they were over the middle of the river, and then
dropped him into the water.

“`Swim out, my fine fellow,’ cried my grandfather, `and see if the
water has spotted your clothes.’ Quelala was much too wise not to
swim, and he was not in the least spoiled by all his good fortune. He
laughed, when he came to the top of the water, and swam in to shore.
But when Gayelette came running out to him she found his silks and
velvet all ruined by the river.

“The princess was angry, and she knew, of course, who did it. She had
all the Winged Monkeys brought before her, and she said at first that
their wings should be tied and they should be treated as they had
treated Quelala, and dropped in the river. But my grandfather pleaded
hard, for he knew the Monkeys would drown in the river with their wings
tied, and Quelala said a kind word for them also; so that Gayelette
finally spared them, on condition that the Winged Monkeys should ever
after do three times the bidding of the owner of the Golden Cap. This
Cap had been made for a wedding present to Quelala, and it is said to
have cost the princess half her kingdom. Of course my grandfather and
all the other Monkeys at once agreed to the condition, and that is how
it happens that we are three times the slaves of the owner of the
Golden Cap, whosoever he may be.”

“And what became of them?” asked Dorothy, who had been greatly
interested in the story.

“Quelala being the first owner of the Golden Cap,” replied the Monkey,
“he was the first to lay his wishes upon us. As his bride could not
bear the sight of us, he called us all to him in the forest after he
had married her and ordered us always to keep where she could never
again set eyes on a Winged Monkey, which we were glad to do, for we
were all afraid of her.

“This was all we ever had to do until the Golden Cap fell into the
hands of the Wicked Witch of the West, who made us enslave the Winkies,
and afterward drive Oz himself out of the Land of the West. Now the
Golden Cap is yours, and three times you have the right to lay your
wishes upon us.”

As the Monkey King finished his story Dorothy looked down and saw the
green, shining walls of the Emerald City before them. She wondered at
the rapid flight of the Monkeys, but was glad the journey was over.
The strange creatures set the travelers down carefully before the gate
of the City, the King bowed low to Dorothy, and then flew swiftly away,
followed by all his band.

“That was a good ride,” said the little girl.

“Yes, and a quick way out of our troubles,” replied the Lion. “How
lucky it was you brought away that wonderful Cap!”

Questions for Swan Lake

download the audio, right click, save as

Listen to the extract from our story Swan Lake. It is just under four minutes long. You can also read along with the text, and answer the questions at the end.

That evening, he was greeted by mouths that were toothy and grinning, others that were delicate and demure, and still others that were luscious and red. He could choose from eyes that were feline green, chocolate brown, sky blue, or owl grey. There certainly was no shortage of princesses in all shapes sizes and complexions. But the whole situation seemed to him quite unbearable. Even a prince cannot be pressured into falling in love right on cue. As darkness fell, he slipped away from the crowd and retrieved his horse. By the time his birthday fireworks were lighting up the sky, he had reached the edge of the forrest.

Very little light from the stars of the moon came through the canopy of trees, but he and his horse knew the track well. They trod carefully, but he may have taken a different turning from usual, because he soon came across an unfamiliar clearing in the forrest, which, as he soon found, opened up onto a lake. The prince sat down on a tree stump not far from the water?s edge and listened to the gentle lapping of the waves. His thumb stroked the silver handle of his crossbow. When a group of swans came gliding across the moonlit water, he recalled that swans are said to mate for life. That, he thought, is because their love is natural and sincere. No-one tells a swan when he or she is supposed to marry.

One of the swans rose out of the water onto the bank, where she stretched her long neck and flapped her wings. Prince Siegfried raised his crossbow and took aim. His finger felt the trigger, but although hunting was one of the keenest pleasures of his gilded life, he could not bring himself to shoot a creature so peaceful and beautiful. He lowered the weapon and put it on the mossy ground beside him. As he did so, his eyes grew a little misty.

?Dash it. Not tears,? he thought. His finger wiped away a salty drop from the corner of his eye. Now, he saw that that a star was shining directly onto the swan. But she was no longer quite a swan. Her feathers were fading, and she was undergoing some sort of magical moonlit transformation. He stood up and walked towards the remarkable vision. By the time he reached the spot where she stood, she was more woman than a swan, and then she fell gently backwards into his arms.

1) “That evening, he was greeted by mouths that were toothy and grinning, others that were delicate and demure, and still others that were luscious and red.”

What is another word for “demure”?

a) fine
b) modest
c) beautiful
d) soft

2) “Even a prince cannot be pressured X falling in love right on cue.”

What is the missing word?

a) into
b) for
c) toward
d) with

3)”When a group of swans came gliding across the moonlit water, he recalled that swans are said to X for life.”

What is the missing word? (hint: the most correct word for animals and birds)

a) marry
b) mate
c) befriend
d) engage

4) “Although hunting was one of the keenest pleasures of his gilded life, he X not bring himself to shoot a creature so peaceful and beautiful.”

What is the missing word?

a) can
b) could
c) will
d) does

5)”Her feathers were fading, and she was X some sort of magical moonlit transformation.”

What is the missing word?

a) going
b) undergoing
c) over-going
d) through-going

Source: The Kedou News Quicky

New Happenings at The Kedou Kids 15 April 2009

Kedou has been working hard to show his Golden Retriever buddy, Kiyo, how to be a good-mannered doggie. Join them in the "Adventures of Kedou and Kiyo"!

World Animal Day Tribute at The Kedou Kids 4 Oct 2008

Too many pets are abandoned each day, so our little bear would like to help in his tiny way, by sharing how to look after his Golden Retriever buddy, Kiyo. Join them in the on-going "Adventures of Kedou and Kiyo"!

New Adventures at The Kedou Kids 27 Sep 2008

Our little bear's been really busy settling in his new buddy, Kiyo. Read all about their new adventures! Of course, it's not all work and no play for our little bear and his friends. Kedou wishes his friends from around the world, "Happy Children's Day" and "Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri"!

Source: Tales of a 6th Grade Teacher

Long Time No Blog?!

I have been a little out of the blog world, as I am trying to get my room ready for my new 6th graders.  A few of them have been coming through the halls as their parents are registering them for the new year.  I have to be honest that I am excited and a little nervous, this will be my first year teaching general Science (I taught Special Education 6th grade Science for the last 2 years) and my first time teaching Advanced Content Science.  I have been working hard in my room and I am trying to make it as comfortable as possible since I will be spending so much time there this year.  I am going with "Be a Science Rock Star" as my theme and I am incorporating lots of bright colors and a bit of zebra print.  I am going to post some before and after pictures.  I am also going to post some pics on an awesome project I have seen on a few different blogs and on Pinterest (love it!).  We officially go back to work on Monday and I am excited to see what the new year offers.

Happy Teaching!

Ms. Crain

Techie Tuesday!

I am in love with technology!  I love using it at home and in my classroom.  And because I love it so much I am constantly trying to find new ways that I can create activities that connect with my curriculum.  My district has a new response system that we are using and I am constantly looking for ways to use it for formative and summative assessments that may be different from the traditional multiple choice test.  I am excited to really try out the homework feature this year, as a way to alleviate the mounds of papers that I am constantly carrying home to grade. I also want to implement this feature for notebook checks and other organization checkpoints.  I am also in LOVE with my iPad.  It was an amazing gift from my parents and I am totally looking forward to implementing more of it this year in my classroom.  I am always curious about how others use technology in their classrooms and love to read about dynamic ways of teaching with it.

Ms. Crain

Bulletin Board Brain Storm

So I received my room assignment today, that means its about time to move into high gear getting ready for the new school year.  In preparation for that I have been working in print shop on some options for my bulletin board.  I have also been actively looking at fabric I can use to make window curtains and possibly a storage curtain.  When I came up with the idea for my bulletin board I was town between two background concepts I will post them both and hopefully in a future post you will see the winner displayed in my classroom :).  It may come down to the people of FB (or the price of fabric :D).  See and decide for yourself.

There aren't a lot of differences, but enough.  On the second one, the fabric would actually be tie-dye.  I plan on displaying student work on the board and hopefully changing it out for different units.  I am getting more and more excited about this year.

Happy Planning,
Ms. Crain