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Best of Book Riot: The Joy of Rediscovery: An Ode to the Library
Book Riot: 12.28.2012 by Jodi Chromey
For my 40th birthday back in June, I got myself a library card thanks to some gentle shaming from Book Riot commenter InfoMissionary. Also an iPad.
These two gifts are related for the purposes of this post. I’ll get to it in a minute.
This brand new library card was the first library card I’d gotten since the mid-90s. After college, I had ceased using the library. I was at a point in my life where, due to living at home, I had a ridiculous amount of disposable income and would spend most of it on books. As my income grew, so did my book collection. I bought a lot of books. It was a privilege I didn’t even recognize.
So let’s fast forward a little. The things you need to know: mortgage, layoffs, freelancer, single woman, blah, blah, blah.
Now back to the library card. Somehow during most of the Aughts and Twenty-tweens, I had forgotten about the magic that is the library. I don’t know how this happened, but I am here to tell you the library has gotten even more magical.
It is the magicest place in all the land. I’m not even exaggerating with made-up words.
Back during my first library love affair, you had to go to a building that had books in it, and librarians would stamp due dates into the books with their hands. As I got older, they’d put stickers onto the books so you knew when they were due.
Now, you can check yourself out and the librarian never really needs to touch your books. This frees them up to help you find stuff. As my nephews, The Tibbles, discovered when librarians helped them find books about werewolves and penguins and how to speak Urdu. READ MORE !
Finland has the best schools in the world, again
This time the British education publisher Pearson made Finland top dog in education, with South Korea in second and Hong Kong third.
yle UUTISET: 11.28.2012
The study, written by the Economist Intelligence Unit, found that the top two performers develop high-quality teachers, value accountability and have a moral mission that underlies education efforts. The report compared literacy rates, school attendance and university graduation rates.
“[In Finland] kids start school later; school hours are shorter than most others; they don’t assign homework; their teachers are in front of kids less. By one estimate, Italians go to school three years longer,” said Robert Schwartz from the Harvard Graduate School of Education of the Finnish system.
. . . . .
According to Schwartz, the PISA data (the OECD's world education ranking) shows that very few Finns take prep lessons. "Those who do typically do worse on standardised tests, suggesting that this is largely remedial help," he said.
Mexico, Brazil and Indonesia ranked at the lowest end of the table of 40 countries. But while income matters, culture may matter more—that is the level of support for education. READ MORE !
Top 10 [ US: 17th ]
Finland
South Korea
Hong Kong
Japan
Singapore
UK
Netherlands
New Zealand
Switzerland
Canada
An Election Day literacy story
Star News Online: 11.06.2012 by Ben Stellman
James Tremble, 65, began tutoring through the Cape Fear Literacy Council three years ago. This year, the Wilmington resident voted for the first time in his life.
Tremble, who’s been working with volunteer tutor Cathy Webb, cast an absentee ballot, so he would have more time to navigate the printed form.
Tremble — better known as the local DJ Jimmy Jam — had spent a lifetime of ingenuity working to navigate in the printed word. He labeled his records with a complex letter-and-color code so he could tell them apart. He waited by the restrooms until another man walked in or out, so he’d know which door to use. And he never voted.
Now he can, thanks to Webb and all the other folks at the Cape Fear Literacy Council, a tiny non-profit that manages on a shoestring budget. READ MORE ! (includes a video).
National Family Literacy Day
November 1
National Center for Family Literacy
Cultivating Readers is a parent guide to building reading skills in children ages birth to eight. The guide gives tangible tips for parents to implement and also includes a calendar of monthly language activities to stimulate learning throughout the year.
Available: November 12.
Can download or be ordered free of charge for a limited time (in English and Spanish).
Wonderopolis:
Create. Laugh. Imagine. Explore. Learn. Smile.
A place where wonder and learning are nurtured through the power of discovery, creativity and imagination. Learning is happening everywhere, all the time! Learn something new, try out an idea, create a masterpiece, imagine possibilities. It’s easy. It’s fun.
The Big Picture: Rethinking Dyslexia
James Redford, Director
Oct 29 @ 7pm on HBO
By conservative estimates, one in five people are dyslexic. Although very bright and often highly creative, they have a difficult time making sense of written language. I know a little about this. My son, Dylan, is dyslexic.
Like many dyslexics, Dylan is intelligent, thoughtful and intellectually curious – a “big picture” thinker. But at the age of ten, he was barely able to read and write. To say that school was difficult for him is beyond understatement. Now that he is grown and thriving, there are many things that I wish I had known about dyslexia at that time – things that would have helped me understand that his struggle in lower and middle school was not the final verdict on his academic or intellectual ability or ambition. When I was given the extraordinary opportunity to make a film about understanding dyslexia, the mission was simple: make the movie I wish my family could have seen when Dylan was functionally illiterate in 4th grade.
. . . . . . .
The film also shares some of the more practical – and occasionally humorous – tips on how to deal with dyslexia on a daily basis. Hopefully, this film will help dyslexics and their families realize that the challenges of early education will be behind them one day, and that the future can – and should – be brighter for dyslexics.
Drs. Salley and Bennett Shaywitz, co-directors of the Yale Center for Dyslexia and Creativity, discuss how scientific advances illuminate the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia. Dr. Bennett Shaywitz explains how advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging has made visible what previously was a hidden disability. Dr. Sally Shaywitz explains the "Sea of Strengths" model of dyslexia which emphasizes a sea of strengths of higher critical thinking and creativity surrounding the encapsulated weakness found in children and adults who are dyslexic.
Super-achieving dyslexics revered in their fields – from Sir Richard Branson and financier Charles Schwab to politician Gavin Newsom and attorney David Boies – confirm what the children, experts and families suggest: dyslexia carries with it as many rewards as frustrations. READ MORE !
Other HBO Dates:
Nov 4 @ 1:00 pm
Nov 8 @ 10:00 am
Nov 13 @ 3:30 pm
HBO2
Oct 31 @ 4:30 pm
Nov 7 @ 8:30 pm
Nov 11 @ 6:00 am
Digital Health Literacy: Separating Fact From Fiction
Health Ed: 10.2012
Do people with limited literacy skills use the Web and/or other electronic means to access health information? Even if they want to, do they have the skills to do so? And can anything be done to help improve their experience?
Some of the following statements* are factual, and others are fictional. See if you know which are which. You may be surprised by what you learn.
Fact or fiction:
~ People with limited literacy skills are generally unwilling to use the Web to access health information.
~ People with limited literacy skills avoid searching.
~ People with limited literacy skills tend to view screen content in a random, erratic pattern.
~ Many Web users with limited literacy skills prefer reading from printouts of pages from a Web site to reading text on a computer screen.
~ Offering information in multiple formats—such as audio clips, video clips, and slide shows—often overwhelms Web users with limited literacy skills.
~ People with limited literacy skills will probably be intimidated by new media such as text messaging, blogs, Twitter, and webcasts.
READ MORE !
October: National Book Month
National Book Foundation
Book a trip this October
Embark on the journey of a lifetime, travel to exotic places, mythical lands
and experience adventure beyond imagination. Or escape to another era
altogether. All without luggage, tickets, a passport or leaving home. All you
need is an open mind. And an open book.
You've already discovered the ultimate book lover's destination for great
ideas on how to bring the power of reading into your life.
Simply click on the categories below and our on-line National Book Month
brochure will provide suggestions for enjoying a memorable month and making
books part of your life all year long.
GETTING
YOUR SCHOOL OR LIBRARY INVOLVED
GETTING YOUR
FAMILY INVOLVED
SUGGESTED READING LISTS
TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF MODERN AMERICAN LITERATURE
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