I introduced my gang to Voki yesterday. I hadn’t really used it before and thought that it was high time we tried it out to see what curricular possibilities it could have. Voki is a website that allows the pupil to create a customised avatar. There are many options to personalise the avatar that will instantly engage the pupils – they can change all the physical attributes of the avatar as well as its appearance and background. You can also include an image from your computer as a background.

You can then give the Voki a voice in a number of ways – however the easiest is to type in what you want it to say or record using the computer microphone. The voice can then be altered either by adding effects or by changing its accent. The Voki can then be uploaded to a website or blog. Something to bear in mind is that you need to ensure that you are running the latest version of Flash Player in order to be able to play the Voki properly.

You can choose to set up a Voki account by giving an email address and a password, but this is not necessary. However, if you want to save your Vokis and return to them to edit them, you will have to set up a free account. There is also the option of setting up “Voki Classroom” which I haven’t yet explored. It costs $29.95 a year and allows the teacher to manage a classroom set of accounts.

We were talking about smoking in our SPHE lessons this week, so as a demonstration, we created this Voki as a class together to show the pupils how it works. We are now going to explore how the pupils can create their own Vokis this week, possibly using our class novel or our history work on World War 2 as a stimulus. I think that Voki has great possibilities to enhance classroom learning and I recommend that teachers give it a try. Visit the site at Voki.com

If you are teaching Road Safety lessons in SPHE, you might like to teach the Safe Cross Code song and dance. I think kids might enjoy this!

Mystery Math Town is a newly-released maths app for iPad from Art Gig Apps, the same company that released Shake a Phrase. Filled with great graphics and moody background music, this app will take pupils on an adventure through the houses of a Gothic-looking town where they will practise their maths skills on an almost incidental level.

I have previously reviewed the app HERE on this site, which also includes a demo video. Artgig Apps, the developers of the Mystery Math Town app based in New York, have kindly given me two free Promo Codes for the app – this will allow you to download the app for free. So to enter the competition to win one of the Promo Codes for yourself or your class/school, simply fill in the form below with your details, answer the simple question and submit the form before 8pm Wednesday May 22nd. Winners will be announced on Twitter after this time. One entry per teacher please! Once again, many thanks to Artgig Apps for sponsoring the free Promo Codes.

This is a handy, bookmark-sized, resource for pupils who are learning about the circle in maths. It explains the terminology radius, diameter, area, circumference, arc and sector. There are two bookmarks per page. If you find that the bookmarks are too large, set your printer preferences to print two to a page.

(.pdf file 5.84KB)

Download File

This is a handy, bookmark-sized, resource for pupils who are learning about averages. It explains the terminology mean, median, mode and range. There are two bookmarks per page. If you find that the bookmarks are too large, set your printer preferences to print two to a page.

(.pdf file 5.84KB)

Download File

Tír na nÓg – Ceacht 06: Bád a D’imigh; cuid de chúrsa comhrá Gaeilge le haghaidh Rang IV, á chur le chéile ag an Roinn Oideachais blianta ó shin. Obair digiteach déanta ag Seomra Ranga i mbliana. B’fhéidir go bhfuil cuid den acmhainn seo “as dáta”, ach bain úsáid as in aon slí más mian leat.

Is féidir leat féachaint ar an an gcur i láthair sa Slideshare thíos, nó is féidir é a híoslódáil ón suíomh Slideshare ANSEO

(Comhad .pdf 1.04MB)

Íoslódáil Nótaí an Mhúinteora

Tír na nÓg – Ceacht 04: An Bád; cuid de chúrsa comhrá Gaeilge le haghaidh Rang IV, á chur le chéile ag an Roinn Oideachais blianta ó shin. Obair digiteach déanta ag Seomra Ranga i mbliana. B’fhéidir go bhfuil cuid den acmhainn seo “as dáta”, ach bain úsáid as in aon slí más mian leat.

Is féidir leat féachaint ar an an gcur i láthair sa Slideshare thíos, nó is féidir é a híoslódáil ón suíomh Slideshare ANSEO

(Comhad .pdf 962KB)

Íoslódáil Nótaí an Mhúinteora

Shake a Phrase is a language app for the development of reading, vocabulary, grammar and writing. The app presents the content under five different themes – Animals, Fairytale, Monsters, Sports and Shake Starter. Using these themes, there are three sections to the app – Shake It, Story Starter and Quiz Me.

I have previously reviewed the app HERE on this site, which also includes a demo video. Artgig Apps, the developers of the Shake a Phrase app based in New York, have kindly given me five free Promo Codes for the app – this will allow you to download the app for free. So to enter the competition to win one of the Promo Codes for yourself or your class/school, simply fill in the form below with your details, answer the simple question and submit the form before 5pm tomorrow Wednesday May 15th. Winners will be announced on Twitter after this time. One entry per teacher please! Once again, many thanks to Artgig Apps for sponsoring the free Promo Codes.

This competition has now closed. The winners of the promo codes were:

• Brian Carolan, Co. Cavan
• Angela Arnott, Co. Kilkenny
• Gráinne Keating, Co. Dublin
• Kate Keaveny, UK
• Ciara Hickey, Co. Cork

The Century Ireland project is an online historical newspaper that tells the story of the events of Irish life a century ago. Century Ireland is published on a fortnightly basis, beginning in May 2013, and is the main online portal for the Irish decade of commemorations, 1912-23.

News reporting on life in Ireland 100 years ago is supported by a wealth of visual, archival and contextual material to facilitate an understanding of the complexities of Irish life in the years between 1912 and 1923. Century Ireland is produced by a team of researchers at Boston College Ireland and the project is funded by the Department of the Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht.

Century Ireland is hosted by RTÉ and the site is complimented by their broadcast schedule and material from the RTÉ archives. At the core of Century Ireland is a collaborative partnership between the major cultural and educational institutions in Ireland. By working so fruitfully together, the various partners are making a range of rarely (or never) seen material available that will bring the events of a century ago to life.

This has great possibilities as a historical resource for teachers and should prove to be well worth a visit to compliment any topic of Irish history from 100 years ago.

To coincide with the publication on this website of the Study Guide for “The Sleeping Baobab Tree” by Paula Leyden, the author and her publisher, Walker Books, have given us four copies of the book to give away on the site. “The Sleeping Baobab Tree”, like its predecessor The Butterfly Heart, is set in Zambia. One morning twelve-year-old Fred wakes up with an unaccountable sense of foreboding, which his friend Bul-Boo, one of the twins from next door, insists is just his imagination. However, the feeling persists – and grows stronger when Fred’s scary and extremely eccentric great-granny, Nokokulu, asks him to accompany her on a trip to an ancient burial site called Ng’ombe Ilede, a place described by their teacher, Sister Leonisa, as the Place of Death. The book has been endorsed by Amnesty International UK as contributing to a better understanding of human rights and the values that underpin them. The book can be purchased on the Kennys Bookshop website or on Walker Books website.

To enter the competition to win a copy of “The Sleeping Baobab Tree” for yourself or your class/school library, simply fill in the form below with your details, answer the questions and submit the form before 5pm on Thursday May 16th. Winners will be announced on Twitter after this time. One entry per teacher please! The questions are all related to the book and the author. They can be easily answered by a doing Google search, by downloading the Study Guide for the book  or by visiting The Butterfly Heart. Hopefully they aren’t too difficult! Go n-éirí an t-ádh libh.

This competition has now closed. The winners were:

• Orla Mahon, Co. Meath
• Celina Buckley, Co. Cork
• Stephen Hayes, Co. Wexford
• Ciara Dollard, Co. Limerick