reading for pleasureIt is good to see boys reading widely including those students working towards their Premier’s Reading Challenge or Duke of Edinburgh goals.
Small amounts of regular reading build vocabulary, assist creative thinking and understanding of the rhythms of the English language. While there are multitudes of trends in literature, books like Roald Dahl’s fabulous fiction and nonfiction, thrillers such as Young Sherlock Holmes by Andrew Lane, our dozens of Doctor Who titles, traditional and new sci-fi, and fantasy titles such as the wonderful Eragon series by Christopher Paolini are timelessly engaging. The strong dystopian fiction trend started many years ago with novels such as Tomorrow When the War Began by John Marsden. However today it is one of the most common genres incorporating the very popular Hunger Games trilogy and the Maze Runner and I Am Number Four series. Steam Punk with its mixture of anachronistic and futuristic elements is also popular as in the Leviathan trilogy by Scott Westerfeld. We include award winning fiction such as Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall in our collection and students and parents may enjoy looking at this year’s Children’s Book Awards on cbca.org.au/nextyrbkwk.htm. It has been encouraging to see some students borrowing and enjoying classic novels, which exposes them to great writing, famous plots and excellent examples of genre. This part of our collection is also being expanded. |
I strongly encourage students, especially seniors, to use multiple libraries so that they can participate in 24 hour access to information and benefit from many online and print resources. Joining the State Library can be done free and online at www.sl.nsw.gov.au and students can request their library card be posted to their home. This gives access to an extensive range of databases. Many local libraries are not only open at weekends and after school hours but also have excellent HSC collections, host useful seminars and provide homework and/or study facilities including wireless internet access.
seniors
Our HSC related texts are being expanded across a number of formats: DVDs,
picture books, novels and short stories and we are upgrading our referencing so that resources are more accessible. The boys are able to browse and borrow information about computing, cars, current affairs, art, woodwork, geography, cooking, business and science using our magazines and newspapers as well as online. Many boys love the gory details of The Guinness Book of Records; others are inspired by sports biographies or read long and complex fantasy novels. Some senior students are discovering the solid worth of critical studies supporting their study of English texts.
picture books, novels and short stories and we are upgrading our referencing so that resources are more accessible. The boys are able to browse and borrow information about computing, cars, current affairs, art, woodwork, geography, cooking, business and science using our magazines and newspapers as well as online. Many boys love the gory details of The Guinness Book of Records; others are inspired by sports biographies or read long and complex fantasy novels. Some senior students are discovering the solid worth of critical studies supporting their study of English texts.