Category: SSR

Drop Everything and Read on Canadian School Library Day

The BC Teacher Librarians’ Association, in conjunction with the BCTF, challenge you to join people all over our province as they “Drop Everything and Read” for at least 15 minutes today.

Put away the phone, turn off the TV, pause the video game or whatever else you are doing. If you are at school put away the textbooks and the homework. Even if you are at work, we challenge your employers to give you 15 minutes to enjoy some silent reading.

People who read for pleasure benefit in so many ways. Obviously, the primary benefit of reading for pleasure, is, wait for it… pleasure. However, there are so many more reasons how reading for pleasure if beneficial for you as an individual, and even for all of us as a society.

Why should schools give you time for reading? Students who read for pleasure do better in school. Why should your work care if you read? People who read for pleasure bring a multitude of skills and abilities to the workplace, including greater capacity for concentration and focus, along with more obvious benefits such as improved reading, writing and other forms of communication. Why should society care if you read? Readers are better prepared for responsible citizenship. Readers of non-fiction are better informed to effectively participate in our democracy, while readers of fiction develop understanding and empathy and a greater sense of our common needs as fellow citizens of our communities, our nations and our world.

These are just some of the reasons why reading for pleasure is good for you and good for all of us. Enjoy some reading today, and every day.

Coming Soon: Drop Everything and Read

Monday, October 24 is Canadian School Library Day, BC School Library Day, and the day for the BCTLA/BCTF Annual “Drop Everything and Read” Challenge. All students and staff at LTSS are challenged to use the Tutorial Block on Monday to read for pleasure.

source: BCTLA

Put away the homework and the text books. Shut down your phone and the computer. Ignore the marking and the lesson planning. Pick up a book and read for recreation. Read for pleasure. Read to learn something you are interested in (outside of school!). Read to escape. Read for fun.

Be sure to have some good reading material ready for Monday. Come down to the School Library where that is our number one job, helping you to get good reading material into your hands.

The DEAR Challenge is extended to all the citizens of our province! So pass on the word to your family and friends. Challenge them to take some time on October 24 to “Drop Everything and Read!”

March Madness: Vote!

Voting continues in the opening round of March Madness. Go HERE to cast your votes as 64 YA novels compete in 1-on-1 matchups to advance to the Round of 32. Get your vote in for this round before the polls close at 2:30 on Thursday.

March Madness is open to all Lord Tweedsmuir students and staff, as well to “friends of the School Library” from the wider community!

Go here for more information on March Madness


Tutorial Time is READING TIME

Read to learn. Read to escape. Read to find out more about something you are interested in. Read to laugh. Read to cry. Read to see life through the eyes of different people in different times and places. Read for the sake of reading.

Tutorial time takes place from 9:24 to 9:57, everyday, across the school. In many classrooms around the building students will take time to get extra help from teachers, or to study for tests, or to read just for the sake of reading!

Come down to the school library to find something good to read. We have something for everybody. Fiction or non-fiction. A wide range of genres. Books for different reading abilities. Old classics and brand-new bestsellers. We have Manga. Sports books. Young Adult fiction. Science fiction. Biography. Graphic novels. Fantasy. And so much more.

The school library is also a great place to read during tutorial time! We have comfy chairs spread around the library, including the super-silent “Zen Den.” You can count on a quiet and comfortable environment to enjoy some reading.

Drop Everything and Read on BC School Library Day

The BC Teacher Librarians’ Association, in conjunction with the BCTF, challenge you to join people all over our province as they “Drop Everything and Read” for at least 15 minutes today.

Put away the phone, turn off the TV, pause the video game or whatever else you are doing. If you are at school put away the textbooks and the homework. Even if you are at work, we challenge your employers to give you 15 minutes to enjoy some silent reading.

People who read for pleasure benefit in so many ways. Obviously, the primary benefit of reading for pleasure, is, wait for it… pleasure. However, there are so many more reasons how reading for pleasure if beneficial for you as an individual, and even for all of us as a society.

Why should schools give you time for reading? Students who read for pleasure do better in school. Why should your work care if you read? People who read for pleasure bring a multitude of skills and abilities to the workplace, including greater capacity for concentration and focus, along with more obvious benefits such as improved reading, writing and other forms of communication. Why should society care if you read? Readers are better prepared for responsible citizenship. Readers of non-fiction are better informed to effectively participate in our democracy, while readers of fiction develop understanding and empathy and a greater sense of our common needs as fellow citizens of our communities, our nations and our world.

These are just some of the reasons why reading for pleasure is good for you and good for all of us. Enjoy some reading today, and every day.

Bring a good book on Monday

Monday, October 25 is BC School Library Day and the day of the annual DEAR Challenge. Every student and staff member in the school, along with all British Columbians all over the province, are challenged to “Drop Everything and Read.”

Make sure that you are prepared for 15-20 minutes of glorious silent reading. Read something that you have chosen, something that you are interested in for your own reasons, outside of required reading assigned by a teacher.

Read to escape. Read to learn. Read for fun. Read to experience new things. Read to be entertained. Read to find out more about things you are interested in. Read to laugh or to cry or to be scared. Read for joy of reading.

If you need help finding something good to read, you have many options, not least of which is coming down to your school library!

Drop Everything and Read for BC School Library Day

Today is BC School Library Day. Help celebrate the day, and more importantly the power and joy of reading, by rising up to the “Drop Everything and Read” Challenge.

Students, teachers and all staff at Lord Tweedsmuir are challenged to take at least 20 minutes during Block A this morning for recreational reading. That means put away the textbooks, take a break from the lessons, set aside the homework, end the conversations, put your phone in your backpack, and sit back for some silent, uninterrupted reading.

Read for fun, read to escape, read to be scared, or to laugh, or to learn something you want to learn about. Read something you choose because you will enjoy it. Read for reading’s sake.

If parents or somebody asks you why you were reading for fun instead of doing school work, you can tell them, you were doing both. Students who read more for fun do better in school.

Why should schools care about recreational reading?

Should teachers set aside time during the school day for kids to read for pleasure?

Yes.

Should schools do more to encourage kids to become recreational readers?

Yes.

Will there be enough of a payoff for our education system even if it means less time spent on other things?

Yes.

The answer to all these questions is most certainly yes.

Reading for pleasure, recreational reading, free voluntary reading, personal reading– whatever  you want to call it–  is built upon the intrinsic goal of reading because it directly benefits the reader: Reading for the sake of reading.  Yet there are myriad indirect benefits that come from recreational reading, many of which lead to profoundly positive educational outcomes.

Source: Freepik

A teacher should care that a student reads for pleasure, because reading brings pleasure to the student!  However, more than that, a teacher can also point to so many other benefits that come from recreational reading that will pay off in terms of academic achievement, social learning and character education.

If teachers (or parents, or administrators) are worried that the kids are missing out on valuable educational lessons, please remember this: Students who read more for pleasure will do better in school.  Recreational reading has many, many indirect educational benefits to students. Students who do more recreational reading will see improvements in vocabulary, writing skills, grammar, spelling, comprehension, critical thinking, concentration and so many other skills that are essential to one’s overall education.

Moreover, students who read more for pleasure will grow in social and emotional learning, as students can share in the experiences of different people, growing in empathy and understanding for people all backgrounds, ages, genders, orientations, beliefs and cultures.

As if those weren’t enough reasons for reading, here are some more. Reading books can help mitigate against the harmful effects of too much time spent on phones and in front of other screens. One simple and yet important example of this is that studies show that people who read from books or magazines before bed will sleep better than those who are looking at screens before trying to fall asleep.

There are so many reasons to read.

Schools need to do more to encourage kids to read for reading’s sake.  In doing so, the school will reap the rewards of having kids who do better in school.

October is International School Library Month
and Canadian Library Month.

Drop Everything and Read

Today you have been challenged by the BCTF and BCTLA to Drop Everything and Read!   The DEAR Challenge is issued every year for BC School Library Day, in conjunction with Canadian Library Month and International School Library Month.

Every person in British Columbia, including every student and every teacher, is challenged to drop everything else and read a book.  Read for pleasure. Read for entertainment. Read for knowledge. Read for escape. Read for experiencing other places, other times, other lives. Read for the joy of it.

There are so many reasons to read.

Drop Everything and Read!

School Library Day AND Drop Everything and Read

School Library Day and the annual DEAR Challenge are coming up in a few weeks time. Start planning the party!

 

Monday, October 28, 2019
BC School Library Day
Canada School Library Day
Drop Everything and Read

 

Drop Everything and Read

Drop Everything and Read on October 23

The BCTLA, in conjunction with the BCTF, has again challenged YOU and all the people of British Columbia to take time on Monday to “Drop Everything and Read.”  Set aside your studies, your work, your social media feeds and everything else that keeps you from spending some time reading. Read for at least 20 minutes on Monday. Read for at least 20 minutes EVERY DAY.

Read for fun. Read to learn something you are interested in. Read to escape.  Read to laugh. Read to be scared.  Read for inspiration. Read because you are interested. Read to know more. Read for your own reasons.

Turn off the phone for a while. Texts, emails, Snapchat, Facebook, Twitter– all that can wait.  Find somewhere quiet and comfortable. Concentrate.  Stick with it.  Read deeply.  Think. Enjoy.