Every Other Thursday, you’ll get this short, fun, relevant
newsletter. It will contain a quote or
smile about the library and those who love it, an idea you can use to promote
your library or reading in general, a Common Core implementation idea and a
shameless plug for the programs I offer.
Enjoy!
If you are new to EOT or have missed any previous issues,
you can read them all at http://smartlibrarians.blogspot.com/.
And please tell your friends about it!
In this issue:
- It’s our anniversary!
- Author Neil Gaiman on the importance of reading fiction!
- Promote Reading with Readalike lists
- Common Core – Imagination and critical thinking
- Shameless Plug – GaETC next week and a NEW evening program!
It’s Our Anniversary!
On November 1, 2012, the first issue of Every Other Thursday was sent to 126 media specialists, and 9 of
them immediately unsubscribed! In the past year, the number of subscribers has
risen to over 300 and it’s still growing! Thank you for the referrals and kind
comments. I have learned a lot in the past year and am looking forward to
continuing to learn together!
Now, where’s the cake?
Library Quote/Smile –
“Fiction has two uses.
Firstly, it's a gateway drug to reading. The drive to know what happens next,
to want to turn the page, the need to keep going, even if it's hard, because
someone's in trouble and you have to know how it's all going to end … that's a
very real drive. And it forces you to learn new words, to think new thoughts,
to keep going. To discover that reading per se is pleasurable. Once you learn
that, you're on the road to reading everything.”
Author Neil Gaiman talks about fiction
To read Mr. Gaiman’s full speech (which is wonderful!), click
here. Expect to see excerpts from the speech here several times in future
issues!
Promote (From the “Encouraging Readers and Non-Readers to Read”
Section of 45 Ideas in 45 Minutes)
15. Make a list of Readalikes. Amazon does it. Barnes & Noble does it.
Why shouldn’t you? If you look up a book on the aforementioned booksellers’
sites, they will always provide you with a “You might also like…” list. Your
media center can use this as an effective way to encourage students to discover
some of the hidden treasures buried in your collection. Use flyers,
brochures, posters, or the media center webpage to publish the list.
Several samples of suggested “readalikes” can be found
online, but a more valuable resource may be for you to get YOUR READERS to
suggest the books to be listed. Readalike lists can be book specific (If you
liked Hunger Games, you might like The Maze Runner by James Dasher) or thematic
(Girl Power!, Gamers Rule!, etc.) I especially like readalike flow charts, like
the ones you would see here.
Common Core Connection
One of the key ideas in Common Core is encouraging critical
thinking skills. One way to do this is through reading. Again from Neil Gaiman’s
speech:
“I was in China in 2007, at the first party-approved science
fiction and fantasy convention in Chinese history. And at one point I took a
top official aside and asked him Why? SF had been disapproved of for a long
time. What had changed?
“It's simple, he told me. The Chinese were brilliant at making
things if other people brought them the plans. But they did not innovate and
they did not invent. They did not imagine. So they sent a delegation to the US,
to Apple, to Microsoft, to Google, and they asked the people there who were
inventing the future about themselves. And they found that all of them had read
science fiction when they were boys or girls.
“Fiction can show you a different world. It can take you somewhere
you've never been. Once you've visited other worlds, like those who ate fairy
fruit, you can never be entirely content with the world that you grew up in.
Discontent is a good thing: discontented people can modify and improve their
worlds, leave them better, leave them different.
“And while we're on the subject, I'd like to say a few words about
escapism. I hear the term bandied about as if it's a bad thing. As if
"escapist" fiction is a cheap opiate used by the muddled and the
foolish and the deluded, and the only fiction that is worthy, for adults or for
children, is mimetic fiction, mirroring the worst of the world the reader finds
herself in.
“If you were trapped in an impossible situation, in an unpleasant
place, with people who meant you ill, and someone offered you a temporary escape,
why wouldn't you take it? And escapist fiction is just that: fiction that opens
a door, shows the sunlight outside, gives you a place to go where you are in
control, are with people you want to be with (and books are real places, make
no mistake about that); and more importantly, during your escape, books can
also give you knowledge about the world and your predicament, give you weapons,
give you armor: real things you can take back into your prison. Skills and
knowledge and tools you can use to escape for real.
“As JRR Tolkien reminded us, the only people who inveigh against
escape are jailers.”
Hooray for fiction reading!
Shameless Plug
Two things:
1.
I will be at the Georgia Educational Technology
Conference (GaETC) next week in the Bound to Stay Bound booth. We will be
giving away a half day of assembly programs, so stop by and register to WIN!
2.
Last week I had the pleasure of leading
a Family Literacy Night program at Mimosa Elementary in Roswell, GA. This is
the school my kids went to and where I performed my first educational assembly program.
My presentation was a 60 minute workshop for parents and kids that included a
little bit of magic, a couple of puppets and a TON of ideas about how to
encourage your child to read. It went really well, and I am happy to offer it
to other schools. Let me know if you are interested and I’ll send more
information!
Here’s
what one of your colleagues had to say about having a TJP program at her
school:
"Go Wild makes learning FUN - the students recall
words from the presentation for weeks following. This is the BEST
educational show I have ever seen thus far. The students were learning
plus entertained. Well worth the cost!"
Sue Ensley, Media Specialist, Morris ES, Lake Worth
Let me know how I can help! See you in two weeks!
Encouraging kids to read, I am
Tommy Johns
Educational Entertainment Specialist
Call (770) 640-6509 or Toll Free at (866) 490-READ
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