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Helping literacy learners: the vital role of librarians
By Kerrie Shanahan
Issue 122, Term 3 2022
sed in a novel or an interesting biography. As educators it’s also wonderful to see children immersed in books when they too have developed a love of reading. For this to happen, it’s essential that students develop the skills needed to become independent readers in their early years. Teaching th
Let's talk about literacy
By John Parsons
Issue 95, Term 4 2015
s not teaching practices or the curriculum that should be under the spotlight. I firmly believe it is the levelling, nature, and quality of classroom reading resources we need to examine. Here's why. I'd like to share my watershed moment. Like most of my classmates, our school's traditional reader
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
rience can surpass. Taking good literature to students in schools is not only essential but also the best way to get children interested in books and reading. They need to know what they can read and that reading is worthwhile. This is especially true for boys, but not exclusively as girls are dropp
Reading like a girl
By Bec Kavanagh
Issue 93, Term 2 2015
girls, or with pink covers, or about love, because these are 'small' subjects. When we talk about and to girls, we tell them that although they like reading, they have to be more open to compromise and coming second. We tell them by fictional example that they will often have to settle as the sidek
Building a buzz with book snaps
By Susan Stephenson
Issue 104, Term 1 2018
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, then save and share it. While Snapchat has often been used for the sharing aspect,
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
many students find life at school tough and often lonely. Some students are having their own 'midlife' crises. The very least we can do is to provide reading materials that have some bearing on what is happening today. If you are finding it hard to influence reading or to increase student literacy,
Read, respond, celebrate: engaging with the CBCA short list
By Josephine Laretive
Issue 102, Term 3 2017
ajor 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 literature. Exploring the short list books aligns with the Australian Curriculum and provides important opport
Stories make us: in conversation with Morris Gleitzman
By Nicole Richardson
Issue 105, Term 2 2018
r 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 his time with us to discuss the laureateship; why the need for stories is more important now than ever; how he will ad
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
t her writing novels since she was 14 — along with the love of the craft. Eliza’s debut novel, In the Quiet , landed her on the shortlist for the Readings Prize for New Australian Fiction and the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards, and on the longlist for the Indie Awards and ABIA Awards. Eliza’s fir
Dyslexia: can we read with our ears?
By Sarah Asome
Issue 106, Term 3 2018
xic students get lost in the sea of words, but it doesn’t have to be this way. The Five from Five website explains why the following five keys to reading are needed every day for all children from the age of five, and offers activities for parents and teachers, and resources for principals and p
Stories that matter
By Helen Stower, Krystal Gagen-Spriggs
Issue 107, Term 4 2018
ng of their story and this clarifies both societal attitudes and the personal experience of being transgender. The glossary, resources, and suggested reading also provide wonderful tools for those wishing to better understand gender fluidity. Conclusion The power of YA fiction is that young read
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
elop their own love of stories. His Name Was Walter Emily’s most recent book His Name Was Walter explores the power of stories, of shared reading experiences, and of long-ago hidden books as sacred as buried treasure. Weaving together fairytale and historical fiction, entwined with the m
So, you have established a reading culture: now what?
By Catherine Barnes
Issue 108, Term 1 2019
ffect on students, with the majority of them being enthusiastic readers. For a secondary school, we have an amazing completion rate for the Premier’s Reading Challenge, with some classes achieving 100 per cent. We are well aware that in some areas of our community there is not so much good fortune
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