VATE Publications—SECONDARY
VATE publishes a number of resources to support the teaching of English throughout the school year.
There are three editions of the journal Idiom each year and four e-Newsletters that keep members up-to-date with what’s happening in the profession.
To support the teaching of VCE English/ESL, VATE produces Inside Stories for all new List 1 texts and Inside Contexts for List 2 texts. To support the teaching of Literature, VATE produces Literature Perspectives on all the new List B texts. VATE publishes two textbooks for VCE English Language: Love the Lingo - Units 1&2 and Living Lingo - Units 3&4, which has been updated for the new Study Design 2012-2016.
Sample exams
VATE publishes practice examination papers for VCE English, ESL, Literature and English Language. Orders for the current year’s English, ESL, English Language and Literature practice exams are usually available late August.
VATE PUBLICATIONS—PRIMARY
Members of TEAM:P receive a regular e-Bulletin throughout the school year.
Idiom deadlines for 2012
Volume 1: Finding a Place for Falstaff - National Conference (closed)
Volume 2: Anything but Mockingbird - what texts to study in years 7-10 (18 April)
Two words: Finch's Landing. The longest and most tedious stretch of To Kill A Mockingbird. Yes, okay, it's a classic, a rite of passage even. Yet you have taught other texts that have worked as well, if not better, than Harper's year 10 juggernaut. We at Idiom would like to know two things: the name of the text and what you did with it. A few weeks ago, someone approached me to say that they had once studied Lewis Mumford's The City in History - in year 9! I can also recall the collective shock of a small group of English teachers when one fellow from a country school announced that he had been teaching Titus Andronicus at year 8 'for years'. So what have you got? Give us your wild card, your secret weapon, the book, play, poem, graphic novel, picture book, short story, film, documentary, short film that has become your signature. The time has come to go public, to go STATEWIDE!
Volume 3: OK Computer - using technology in the English classroom (18 April)
How many times have you been teaching a class when - horror of all horrors, the technology lets you down? The data projector won't work, the audio cable is missing, the school internet has gone down...yet again. Who do you call on for help? More often than not, one of the students. The editors aren't capable of solving your hardware or infrastructure issues but they would love to help provide resources that can be utilised in your English classroom and hopefully show students you are embracing the technology as much as them. So, in a style reminiscent of our bumper 'Best Lessons' Idiom, we want to be inundated with lesson ideas. How do you make use of computers, iPads, iPods, Apps, smart phones, blogs, wikis etc? What lessons have you created around great websites? What about online news media? Do you have some favourite websites that would interest English teachers in general? Obscure online bookshops or literary treasures? PS. As a bonus, we would like to print some of your anecdotes about 'When the technology fails'. If you feel this is too negative, by all means tell us about 'When it all works perfectly'. (250 words max)
VATE mail—inserts
Information about dates and rates for inserts in the VATE mail outs can be found here.