Disaster by Choice

A new forthcoming unit written by Kit Marie Rackley is part of a new project by Mary Myatt. 

Mary is a consultant and speaker and wrote the book 'The Curriculum: Gallimaufry to coherence'. Details here in a video - subscription is required to view some of the resources, but some are free to access.

Login to see these resources, although not all of the download links seems to work. 

They can be read online at the moment...

Provide a school email address and you will have access to the booklets as they go live.

At the moment, there's also one based on the Tim Marshall book 'Prisoners of Geography' and also one from Daryl Sinclair - who I worked with on the forthcoming 'Discover Geography' series - on 'Geographies of Hope'.

KS3 Bitesize Geography

Thanks to Helen Young from Geography Geek for letting me know about the launch of a new project she's been working on.

KS3 Bitesize Geography contains a lot of new content, including animations by Aardman. Check the ACTIVITY option for each section to play fun interactive games. Explore the patterns of Crime in Noseyford, or the coastal processes at Sleepton Regis...

There are 6 sections to the new site.

Places 

Antarctica, Awesome areas, Extreme environments, Geography of Europe, Contrasts within a continent

Spaces

Rural areas and farming, Settlement in urban areas, Geography of crime

Interdependence 

Population and migration, Globalisation and global trade, Development

Physical processes 

Glaciation, Plate tectonics, Rivers and flooding, Coasts, Weather and climate

Human processes 

Changing shopping patterns, Sustainable futures, Tourism, Geography of sport

Geographical enquiry 

Geographical skills

Well worth checking out. 
Why not set your students the task of reviewing a section, and selecting their favourite(s) ?

KS3 Geography Resources Survey

Head here to take part in a KS3 Geography resources survey by Hodder. There is a free prize draw for those who enter....

Teachers TV

The three programmes that I recently consulted on for Teachers TV were added to the website on Friday...
There are 3 programmes in the series.

Each was developed by Beth Newell and colleagues at Brook Lapping from original ideas which we discussed in an Italian cafe in Cambridge last year...

Each programmes last for 15 minutes

The first one: Today's Forecast, follows a line across the country from east to west and interviews a number of people whose jobs are dependent on the weather...

The second: The Great Storm tells the story of the 1987 Great Storm, but from the perspective of the storm itself...

The third: Degrees of Change is based on a specially commissioned poem by Mark Cowan and explores the possible impacts of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 degrees of warming in the future...

I'd love any feedback if you watch them, and particularly if you use them in the classroom....

Assessment at KS3 - what do we think of it so far ?

Rubbish... as Eric Morecambe used to say...

Have been preparing a session on ASSESSMENT at KS3 for a CfBT event in Norfolk Heritage Park in Sheffield.

A timely report in the newspapers laments the "poor quality of exams" in the UK compared to other locations. At least at KS3, students should be having a more positive experience, so that they don't equate assessments with 'TESTS' and lots of writing...

The Telegraph article has more detail...

Below is an edited version of the presentation I am using..

Creative Assessments for KS3

View more presentations from GeoBlogs.

Update: Many thanks to John Lyon for stepping in to run the session for me at the last minute