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Let's talk about literacy
By John Parsons
Issue 95, Term 4 2015
Search for 'literacy standards' on the web, and your first ten pages will be articles about plunging standards, woeful skills and a slippery slide towards becoming a nation of illiterates. Plough onwards for a bewildering array of cutting-edge initiatives, ambitious policies, and funding demands, a
Lending an ear for literacy
By Leah Sheldon, Janine Sigley
Issue 94, Term 3 2015
The mission of Story Dogs is 'To make reading fun for children, so they become confident lifelong readers. No child should be left behind in literacy.' Earlier this year Connections approached Janine and Leah to share how their organisation is helping to address the issue of literacy in Australi
Promoting literature to students
By Bob Docherty
Issue 94, Term 3 2015
I have always believed that one of the best qualities of human beings is their ability to take an emotion, an experience, a fantasy, or a fact and write it in a way that only real experience can surpass. Taking good literature to students in schools is not only essential but also the best way to ge
Reading like a girl
By Bec Kavanagh
Issue 93, Term 2 2015
You've probably seen it, the 'Always' advertisement that sparked the #likeagirl hashtag across social media, and inspired a wave of debate following its viewing at the Superbowl in 2015. For anyone that hasn't, let me just recap. Young women are stood in front of a camera, and asked to do a seri
Building a buzz with book snaps
By Susan Stephenson
Issue 104, Term 1 2018
What is a book snap? Essentially, a book snap is about grabbing a short quote from a book and creating a shareable image about it. Typically, people take a quick snap or screenshot (if the text is digital) of something they are reading. Once it is an image, they add to it other images and text, t
1,000 reasons to support Australian book creators
By Jackie French
Issue 97, Term 2 2016
Dear Jackie French, What I have learned from your book is to be wary of anyone who tries to make you angry. Love James James was 14, and Hitler’s Daughter was the first book he had ever read. Yet he had found the truth behind a question I had been hunting for ever since I was ten years old: h
To inspire or to instruct
By Ta'afuli Andrew Fiu
Issue 91, Term 4 2014
During May and June this year, I travelled Australia as part of the Positive Schools Initiative to speak and network with teachers and educators. Doing so provided an insightful introduction to what teachers are thinking and drew thousands to Fremantle, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney. The convent
Read, respond, celebrate: engaging with the CBCA short list
By Josephine Laretive
Issue 102, Term 3 2017
Each year The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) promotes and celebrates children’s books with the major event of Children’s Book Week during August. The five CBCA short list book categories offer schools an abundance of opportunities to engage with reading, responding to, and celebrating
Stories make us: in conversation with Morris Gleitzman
By Nicole Richardson
Issue 105, Term 2 2018
In February, award-winning children’s author Morris Gleitzman was named the new Australian Children’s Laureate for 2018–19. As laureate, he will join his predecessors, Leigh Hobbs, Jackie French, Alison Lester and Boori Monty Pryor in promoting the importance of reading. Morris kindly shared hi
A national celebration of storytime
By Brendan Eichholzer
Issue 105, Term 2 2018
ools, preschools, childcare centres, family homes, and bookshops. Now in its 18th year, NSS is a fun, vibrant event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children’s book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the Australian Cur
The cathartic experience: understanding grief through the written word
By Nicole Richardson
Issue 106, Term 3 2018
Eliza Henry Jones is well-acquainted with the power of the written word. Her literary work is an achingly beautiful exploration of grief, loss and trauma — themes that she understands are capable of helping readers make sense of their own experiences. Indeed, the writing experience itself has had
Dyslexia: can we read with our ears?
By Sarah Asome
Issue 106, Term 3 2018
‘Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities,’ according to the International Dyslexia Association . It is estimated that one in five childr
Stories that matter
By Helen Stower, Krystal Gagen-Spriggs
Issue 107, Term 4 2018
Contemporary realistic fiction is a trend in the current young adult (YA) book scene. Some of these books provide insight into issues such as gender and sexual identity, mental health, grief, drugs, suicide and violence. These issues present new horizons for those involved in the care and education
Promoting reading for pleasure in school libraries
By Emma Suffield
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
I have been a school librarian for five years now and what a journey it has been. The reason I applied for this role was to promote reading for pleasure and share my love of reading with young learners; there is nothing more satisfying than turning a reluctant reader into an avid one. When I star
Emily Rodda on treasured stories
By Nicole Richardson
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
Emily Rodda’s life has been a whirlwind of stories. Her family's bond formed not between the pages of books, but between the silences and laughter of their own storytelling. At a young age, Emily taught herself to read by absorbing the words from the books borrowed from her school and municipal
So, you have established a reading culture: now what?
By Catherine Barnes
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
‘Fortunate’ is a word I use to describe my school. We are fortunate to be in an environment where we have a full-time teacher librarian and library technician. We are fortunate to be located within walking distance of a public library and a university library. We are fortunate that we have adequate
Supporting Australian book creators
By Aaron Blabey
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
When I began writing books professionally in 2006, I had never heard of the Australian Lending Right Schemes. My publisher just handed me a form, which I blithely filled out and promptly forgot all about. Then, after a hair-raising period filled with newborn children, an elephantine mortgage, and
The appropriateness of age-appropriate reading levels
By Eric Neuman
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
As an educator, especially one who works with books and literacy, it feels taboo to not use or appreciate the value of reading levels, but we have chosen not to apply them in our library. For those not familiar with what they are, reading levels are a measure used by teachers to see how well thei
Leading whole school literacy from the library
By Dr Margaret Merga
Issue 124, Term 1 2023
Literacy is a general capability to be taught across all learning areas in Australian schools. Students use literacy skills to learn and demonstrate their learning across the curriculum, and they need to learn both cross-disciplinary and discipline-specific literacy skills to achieve their academic
Tonight … I’ll be reading! a novel approach to holiday reading
By Siobhan James
Issue 130, Term 3, 2024
How do you get boys reading in the holidays for fun? Sometimes, you have to take an old classic, and serve it up as something new. Books-to-Go was inspired by initiatives playing on the theme of food delivery services, blended with the idea of a ‘Blind date with a book’. Students place their ‘ord