Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print | Books Readers committed to physical books can give a sigh of relief, as new figures reveal that ebook sales are falling while sales of paper books are growing – and the shift is being driven by younger generations. More than 360m books were sold in 2016 – a 2% jump in a year that saw UK consumers spend an extra 6%, or £100m, on books in print and ebook formats, according to findings by the industry research group Nielsen in its annual books and consumer survey. The data also revealed good news for bricks-and-mortar bookshops, with a 4% rise in purchases across the UK. While sales through shops increased 7% in 2016, ebook sales declined by 4%. In 2015, the Publishers Association found that digital content sales had fallen from £563m in 2014 to £554m, while physical book sales HAD increased from £2.74bn to £2.76bn. But Nielsen’s survey of 2016 attributed the increase in print sales to children’s fiction and to younger generations preferring physical books to e-readers.
Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens There is a common perception that children are more likely to read if it is on a device such as an iPad or Kindles. But new research shows that this is not necessarily the case. In a study of children in Year 4 and 6, those who had regular access to devices with eReading capability (such as Kindles, iPads and mobile phones) did not tend to use their devices for reading - and this was the case even when they were daily book readers. Research also found that the more devices a child had access to, the less they read in general. It suggests that providing children with eReading devices can actually inhibit their reading, and that paper books are often still preferred by young people. These findings match previous research which looked at how teenagers prefer to read. Why do we think children prefer to read on screens? There is a popular assumption that young people prefer to read on screens. The drivers toward screen-based recreational book reading are strong, but they are not well-founded.
theconversation The sign on the public car park in the tiny Tasmanian town of Wynyard reads, Egress from this carpark is to be via the access lane in the rear. “Egress?” As my 21-year-old son quipped, perhaps the council had called in the local duke to write its signs. I could say all the words on the sign with very little effort, and with impressive fluency. That is called decoding. I had to work a little harder to understand what the sign was saying. That is called comprehending. The aim of reading is, of course, comprehension. In essence, debates around how to best teach reading have been about which comes first, the decoding or the comprehending. Research concludes these debates are redundant because comprehension and decoding are codependent. The federal government’s recent proposal, however, for a Year 1 Phonics Screening test – which tests a child’s ability to decode made-up words – appears to support the view that decoding comes before comprehension. So who is right? Tackling unknown words
How Audiobooks Can Help Kids Who Struggle with Reading | MindShift | KQED News School librarian Mary Ann Scheuer remembers a second grader who couldn’t keep up with the class during reading time. The child was a grade-level behind in reading, and while the rest of the class could sit quietly for 30 minutes, engrossed in Horrible Harry, this child began to act out after ten frustrating minutes with the book. On Scheuer’s recommendation, the teacher introduced the student to the same story via an audiobook; he listened to the story, and then sat alone with the book to read on his own. Scheuer recalls the boy saying, “I read it so much faster by myself after I listened to it!.” Teachers and parents who read aloud to children have long known that good stories have the power to captivate the most restless of kids. Research underscores the link between listening and literacy. For Ashley Alicea, a third grade teacher at W.J. Audiobooks and podcasts are popular ways of bringing stories to students, and each mode brings something unique to the class. Audiobooks Podcasts
theconversation If you are a parent or a teacher, you most probably read stories to young children. Together, you laugh and point at the pictures. You engage them with a few simple questions. And they respond. So what happens to children when they participate in shared reading? Does it make a difference to their learning? Shared reading for language development British researcher Don Holdaway was the first to point out the benefits of shared reading. Since then a number of studies have been conducted showing the value of shared reading in children’s language development, especially in vocabulary and concept development. Early childhood researcher Vivian Paley, for example, during her work in the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, found that kindergarten children learned when a story was dramatized in shared reading. Other research found that shared reading was related to the development of expressive vocabulary. Connecting words to emotions Why home matters Shared reading in a digital world
Stop telling people to love libraries – Rebecca Stavick – Medium A common complaint I’ve heard among librarians is that some people, especially community leaders and elected officials, just don’t get libraries. They don’t understand the value of public libraries… or what resources libraries offer… or what librarians actually do for a living. Librarians get frustrated because if only these tragically uninformed people knew about our amazing resources, they would fall in love with libraries, and support libraries at every opportunity. The problem with this attitude is that it puts the responsibility of understanding libraries on the community rather than on the library itself. It’s the responsibility of librarians to communicate the value of libraries, and if people don’t get it, then we need to try a different approach. 1) Talk about why libraries exist, not what they offer If you’re looking to create real library advocates — people who will take action and get vocal about supporting the library — then stop talking about your library resources.
Reading for pleasure — a door to success The benefits of reading for pleasure are far reaching. Aside from the sheer joy of exercising the imagination, evidence indicates reading for pleasure improves literacy, social skills, health and learning outcomes. It also gives people access to culture and heritage and empowers them to become active citizens, who can contribute to economic and social development. Contents Reading for pleasure — a definitionThe importance of reading for pleasureEngaging children with readingReferences Reading for pleasure — a definition Reading for pleasure is also referred to as independent reading, voluntary reading, leisure reading, or recreational reading. “Reading we do of our own free will, anticipating the satisfaction we will get from the act of reading”. It is also defined by the same group as reading which began at someone else’s request, that we continue because we are interested in it. The importance of reading for pleasure Increased engagement with learning Positive impact on reading achievement
How To Read A Book: 3 Strategies For Critical Reading How To Read A Book: 3 Strategies For Critical Reading by Terry Heick If you’re not familiar with Adler and Van Doren’s How To Read A Book, it is worth, well, reading. As you might’ve guessed, these have less to do with decoding, and more to do with comprehension. Which is where the following sketch note from livinganawesomelife.com comes in. 3 Strategies & Questions For Critical Reading For most of us, reading strategies aren’t new, nor is reading through a critical lens. Inspectional Reading: Reading with a focus on grasping the book as a “whole thing”–what Adler & Doren call ‘Systematic skimming’ Example question: Why is this book important and/or worth reading? Analytical Reading: Reading with a focus on close examination and analysis of the text in and of itself Example question: How does the Thomas Merton use setting to establish and develop the theme of ‘Seven Story Mountain’? Syntopical Reading: Reading with a focus on the relationships between texts Now go read the book. ; ^ )
Library surveys Library surveys are a useful way to align your library resources and services to meet teacher and student needs. Contents Purpose of your survey: what you want to find outDeciding on who to survey - and whyTips on how to create a good surveyCollection development surveysInformation literacy surveysLibrary use and environment surveysTeacher surveysSurvey methods Purpose of your survey: what you want to find out Have specific goals and purposes in mind before you create your survey. What data do you want to collect? For example, information on favourite genres and authors could be used to: Develop your collection (fiction, non-fiction, magazines, online resources)Engage reluctant readers by shoulder-tapping them with a selection of books they may enjoyInspire displays and shelving decisions Surveying students on their attitudes toward reading at the beginning and end of a year / unit can be a useful way to: Deciding on who to survey - and why What information do I want to collect? Teacher surveys
4 Rules of Library Advocacy AASL has just release a collection of advocacy materials for school librarians. While I am pleased to see these materials made available, like any tool, they aren't much good unless you know how to use them and realize that a brochure alone will not save your bacon. Here are some basic rules of advocacy. I am sure you've heard me fuss about them before. Johnson's 1st Rule of Advocacy: Don't depend on national studies, statistics or publications.My cynical side says that if one looks hard enough, one can find a study to support almost any educational program, strategy or theory, no matter how crack pot. And a lot of administrators have a cynical skeptical side. Johnson's 2nd Rule of Advocacy: Build relationships and inform so others will advocate for you.One parent telling a school board how important he thinks the library program is to his child is more powerful than a dozen AASL brochures. Any other rules you care to add?
NAPLAN, Reading and Teacher Librarians October 30, 2016 by NovaNews So can there be a link between reading achievement scores as measured by NAPLAN testing and the presence or absence of Teacher Librarians in schools? Sue McKerracher, Chief Executive Officer of ALIA (Australian Library and Information Association) seems to think there most definitely is an impact to be had, particularly when she states the obvious in a recent release on the ALIA website: ‘School libraries and teacher librarians are well placed to contribute to improving student skills in reading, digital literacy, critical thinking and research skills. However we see only a small number of teacher librarians on staff compared to other specialist teachers in schools.’ McKerracher goes on to quote research completed by Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) to back up her claim: ….. in 2013 only 4-5% of primary teachers and 2-3% of secondary teachers were working in a library role. Take the time to read her post. Like this: Like Loading...