The e (education) - newsletter of The Critical Classroom (www.thecriticalclassroom.blogspot.com)Like to see this newsletter online? Join our mailing list or visit us on www.issuu.com/iscariotmedia

A simple & easy to create Acknowledging Country display for your classroom

NAIDOC and Blak History Month are coming!

Let’s start by wishing you all a great last week or few weeks of school and we hope your report card

writing goes smoothly. It’s definitely coming to the crazy end of the semester and the winter break can’t come quick enough. But, like other parts of life, there is no-rest-for-the-wicked, and it’s time to start getting ready for NAIDOC Week and Blak History Month.

As most schools are on holidays for the bulk of July, many of you will hold your NAIDOC celebrations in the second half of the year around August and September. Because we know this, we’ve prepared a few suggestions for you in case you’re looking for some new and inexpensive ideas to celebrate in 2012. You’ll also find in our newsletter, our selection of recommended resources. These are resources that have been created by others that you may not have come across yet. We also feature our own Cheers, LeesaJune, 2012

Christmas is DeadlyHave you seen our Christmas is Deadly book? We have a full teaching and learning strategy that helps teachers implement a Christmas unit with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. Purchase directly from us. Check out some teaching ideas here.

Click on the links below to find us online -

Facebook Twitter Google+ Delicious Blogger

The Critical Classroom - June 2012

Five ideas for NAIDOC & Blak History Month 2012 .... For much of July, Australian schools are on holidays, so many will hold their NAIDOC celebrations in the second half of the year. We’ve prepared a few suggestions for you in case you’re looking for some new and inexpensive ideas - 1. Gather your resources during July

Depending on where you’re located, there should be a NAIDOC celebration near you. Take a few days out of your holiday to get along to some of these events so that you can collect resources for use in the classroom. Some suggestions:

○ Collect pamphlets, posters, stickers etc from a range of organisations.○ You can also order your free national NAIDOC poster to be mailed to you.○ Where appropriate, take photos. For example, images of flags being raised, dance groups,

tents, stalls and displays, are great resources that can be used in the classroom for a number of years.

2. Make a Great Moments in Blakistory folder

Visit our Blak History Month for teachers website and download the Great Moments in Blak History fact sheets and place each one into its own plastic pocket. Download a Blak History Month poster to be the cover of your folder.

3. Create a display

Create a display for a whole month using the resources you have gathered in July as well as library resources.

4. Hold a Great Moments in Blakistory competitionCreate quiz questions based on the fact sheets in your Blak History Month folder. Hold a competition that goes over a number of weeks. You should try to create a junior, middle and/or senior competition from the fact sheets.

5. Connect with other schools celebrating Blak History Month

Why not connect with other educators around Australia who are celebrating Blak History Month in their classrooms. Feel free to use our Facebook & Twitter contacts to seek out other schools. Depending on where you’re located and what technology you have available, you could consider hosting a Skype classroom, and encourage students from other schools to enter your Great Moments in Blakistory competition.

Our Blak History Month folder gets bigger every year!

The Critical Classroom - June 2012

This month’s recommended resources ... Aboriginal Perspectives Across the Curriculum by the West

Australian Department of Education is a fantastic growing online source of links and resources. While it targets the regions and districts of the West Australian departments, there are some great mind maps that are translatable and easy to use for other regions. It would be great if they had an RSS feed or even a Facebook page so we could keep up with additions, but it’s something we'll be visiting regularly. Website: www.det.wa.edu.au/aboriginaleducation/apac/detcms/portal/

CrackerJack Education is an Australian Aboriginal & Torres

Strait Islander interactive educational website for Primary aged children. There are Individual and school - based memberships. Do yourself a favour and sign up for a free 7-day trial. You can also find CrackerJack Education on Facebook. Website: http://www.crackerjackeducation.com.au/

The Yarning Strong series is now available from Oxford

University Press. Aimed at the Primary School classroom, the Yarning Strong series developed a number of original novels, graphic novels and presentations, by talented Indigenous novelists including Anita Heiss, Bruce Pascoe, Ali Cobby Eckerman, Larissa Behrendt and many others. Structured around four modules - Law, Land, Family, and Identity - the Yarning Strong kit is an excellent cultural and literacy kit. Website: http://www.oup.com.au/primary/literacy/yarning_strong

The Little Black Game Pack is available from Yindi Artz. Named, Product of the Year by Global Kids Oz, the Little Black Game pack is for all ages, and serves as an educational resource which is a perfect tool to learn about Aboriginal culture and symbols. The game pack consists of 36 cards which you use to play an assortment of games such as Hunt, Gather and Catch (memory, fish and snap). Website: http://www.yindiartz.com.au

The Blak History Month poster is a fantastic resource available for sale from Kiss My Blak Arts store on Redbubble. Created in 2008, this grassroots initiative was started by Ms Sam Cook and has steadily grown to be recognised by individuals, communities and institutions around Australia. Celebrate Blak History Month in your classroom by purchasing a beautifully mounted poster. Website: http://www.redbubble.com/people/kissmyblakarts/

The Critical Classroom - June 2012

Our Publications .... The Critical Classroom is a free blog produced by Iscariot team

member Leesa Watego with guest bloggers. The blog is divided into key learning areas, learning stages, and specific topics. There are also categories for professional development resources and free resources. Check it out at www.criticalclassroom.com

Blak History Month is a grassroots movement that is dedicated to building on the success of NAIDOC week to create the whole month of July as a celebration of Australia's Blak History. The Australian Blak History Month for students and teachers website was created by Iscariot Media team member Leesa Watego. It features a number of free resources for teachers. You can download the poster, nearly 100 free fact sheets about Great Moments in Blak History, student workbooks and quizzes.

Easter is Deadly: Teaching and Learning Strategies for the Easter Celebration. Early Years (2010)Easter is Deadly explores the origins of Easter and how we can incorporate new symbols into our celebration that reflect our culture. Easter is deadly is suitable for the early years (0-8) and for middle years. ISBN: 0-9581073-2-7 pp20 pages | Price: $22.50 + postage

Christmas is DeadlyChristmas is Deadly:Teaching and Learning Strategies for the Christmas Celebration. Early Years (2004)Was the first in our new QuickLines range providing teachers with a step-by-step teaching and learning strategies that reflects the diversity of expressions of Christmas. Christmas is deadly is suitable for the early years (0-8) and for middle years. ISBN: 0-9581073-2-7 pp16 pages | Price: $22.50 + postage

Keeping the Connection Keeping the Connection - water, country, spirit. Celebrating the United Nations International Year of Freshwater. Stages Early One - Five (2003)Was developed to assist teachers in designing activities to celebrate the UN's International Year of Freshwater. Written from an Indigenous perspective, the activities are suitable for primary (Stages Early One to Three) and Secondary (Stages Four to Five) schools. ISBN 0-9581073-1-9 pp52 pages | Price: $37.50 + postage

We also sell a limited number of other publications by Aboriginal artist collective ProppaNOW. How to contact us ..... Visit our shop page for details on how to order. *Orders will be sent along with an invoice for payment to be made within 14 days*

The e(education)-newsletter of The Critical Classroom (www.thecriticalclassroom.blogspot.com)Like to see this newsletter online? Join our mailing list or visit us on http://www.issuu.com/iscariotmedia

The Critical Classroom is a project of Iscariot media.

The Critical Classroom - June 2012