How to Stop Killing the Love of Reading

Four Things Students Need to Create Book Trailer Videos This is an update of a blog post that I published about 16 months ago. The concepts are the same, but some of the resources have been updated. Creating book trailer videos is a great alternative to a traditional written book report assignment. 8 Ways to Supercharge Google Docs with Drawings On the 8th day of Tech-Mas my true love gave to me… 8 Docs Drawings. Note: This post is part of my "12 Days of Tech-Mas" series for 2017. You can see all of the posts for each day as they get released in the main post here: "12 Days of Tech-Mas 2017". "You can't do that in Google Docs!" If you have ever made that claim, then you know the frustration of loving all the awesome things you can do in Docs, but still bumping up against limitations.

Statistics About Struggling Readers and Reading Growth Can reading practice help transform struggling readers into successful readers? And by doing so, can we change the trajectory of their long-term educational careers­—perhaps even influence their odds of graduating from high school and attending college? The following ten statistics about struggling readers and reading growth, originally included in a recent article series by Renaissance, show how even a small increase in daily reading practice could make a huge difference for all students. Reading Practice by the Numbers: 1. 6 More Minutes

Circulating Ideas – the librarian interview podcast Steve chats with Stephanie Chase and Hillary Ostlund from Hillsboro (OR) Public Library, about their paths to librarianship, working with a diverse community, going deskless, and blowing up their organizational structure. Read the transcript. Stephanie Chase is the Director of Libraries for the City of Hillsboro, Oregon. With more than twenty years of experience in local and municipal government, serving communities ranging from the small and rural in New England, resort communities, and some of our largest urban centers on both the east and west coasts, Stephanie is an accomplished innovator and change leader, with significant experience leading organizational design and effectiveness and community engagement initiatives. Hillary Ostlund is a Manager for the City of Hillsboro’s Library department. She currently leads the library’s Cultivate team, focused on staff development, training, and employee engagement.

'Escape the Room!' classroom games - ActiveHistory Overview: What is an "Escape Room"? An escape room is, according to Wikipedia, "a physical adventure game in which players solve a series of puzzles using clues, hints and strategy to complete the objectives at hand. Players are given a set time limit to unveil the secret plot which is hidden within the rooms". They are increasingly popular as team-building exercises as well as a fun leisure activity. An ELT Notebook: Giving and Checking Instructions Some of the activities that we use in the classroom are fairly complex in terms of the way they’re organised, and I doubt if there are many teachers who can honestly claim that they’ve never got a class totally confused by the way they’ve given instructions. How can you make sure that your instructions are as clear and comprehensible as possible? Here are some guidelines :

How I Made In-Class Silent Reading Work for Me My second year of teaching, all the English teachers on our campus were given daily 90-minute blocks instead of 45, so I started an in-class silent reading procedure. However, I did it all wrong. My students, 99 percent of whom were not avid readers, were not simply going to sit and read for 10 to 15 minutes without a fight. So, they hid phones behind their books. They read the same two pages over and over again.

Weeding is Fundamental On October 17th, 1989, the Oakland A’s were playing the San Francisco Giants in the World Series, but just as the game was kicking off—the television broadcast cut out. When the signal came back, it was no longer the baseball game. These were the early minutes of the Loma Prieta earthquake, which struck near Santa Cruz. It was the first major earthquake ever to be broadcast live on national TV. Part of the Bay Bridge had been destroyed. There were fires, fallen buildings, and widespread power outages.

I have forgotten how to read Author of Solitude: A Singular Life in a Crowded World and The End of Absence: Reclaiming What We've Lost in an Age of Constant Connection. Turning, one evening, from my phone to a book, I set myself the task of reading a single chapter in one sitting. Simple. But I couldn't. There was nothing wrong with my eyes. No stroke or disease clouded my way. by Jamie Keddie The eye of the bucket This video was created by John Wells from the Southwest Texas Alternative Energy and Sustainable Living Field Laboratory (website here). John created the video by placing a GoPro camera at the bottom of a bucket of water. This Videotelling activity makes use of a story which I have based on the video narrative. Language level: B1+Learner type: Young learners; Teens; AdultsTime: 45 minutesActivity: A Videotelling activityTopic: Water & thirstLanguage: Past perfect continuousMaterials: Video & text

School Library Journal At the St. Croix Elementary School in rural Wisconsin, students earn Book Bucks by meeting academic goals and spend them on gently used items. Student Kelsey Chelberg shops at the Book Boutique. Podcast: Building a school reading culture This podcast is proudly supported by QUT Podclass. A brand new series of free podcasts, hosted by Madonna King, developed for everyone who is passionate about teaching. Exploring topics like managing your career development through to creating greater engagement in the classroom. All with a real world focus. Search QUT Teacher Podclass to listen today.

Arranging library fiction by genre Changes in fiction arrangement or labelling gives you an opportunity to promote and discuss with library users the characteristics of different genres. It also helps identify personal reading preferences, people who share reading preferences, and effective book selection strategies. Promote at sessions with students as they visit the library. Also consider displaying library posters, wordles (word clouds generated using wordle.net) and other displays with genre information and title examples.