Stories don't just help kids develop language literacy. They help them develop life literacy too. Morris Gleitzman, Australian Children's Laureate talks about the power of literature to help students deal with life's challenges.
"The importance of infographics in literacy education is essential. Literacy is more than just reading and writing. Literate people can infer meaning, communicate with others, and capture ideas in many different ways. With infographics, I hope that educators can broaden our students' visual literacy."
"Margaret Kristin Merga outlines her compelling research into this area.
Of particular interest is the role of librarians in schools in supporting struggling readers, as these students may be increasingly disadvantaged as they move through the years of schooling. Teacher librarians provided support by identifying struggling readers, providing them with age and skill-appropriate materials, undertaking skill scaffolding supporting choice, supporting students with special needs, providing one-to-one matching, promoting access to books, enhancing the social position of books and reading, reading aloud to students, facilitating silent reading, and preparing students for high-stakes literacy testing."
"This article draws attention to recent research about the benefits of listening. These benefits include ones of mental and physical health, academic engagement, and pure relaxation and wonder-feeding. " Links to three studies provided.
"At a boys' secondary school in New South Wales, an annual student reading survey revealed many students say they don't like reading because 'reading is something girls do'. Linda Roden, Head of Library at St Joseph's College in Hunters Hill, knew she needed to come up with some initiatives to change these attitudes and engage students in reading."
"Duyvis recommended that educators, librarians and parents seek out books by disabled people. Duyvis and two librarians talked with MindShift about what else educators and caregivers should look for when selecting children's literature that represents disability and what conversations with kids about these books and about disabilities can look like. They also offered recommendations of inclusive, affirming books for kids from preschool to high school. "
"To help build an appreciation of reading, I strongly advocate for wide and diverse text curation, including authentic experiences that students can relate to and/or learn from."
Fewer Australian children are reading for pleasure and almost one in four are now spending at least 20 hours a week on screens, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows.
Education experts say the figures reveal a concerning trend, given reading is linked to success at school and in later life.