Livia Blackburne: Using Pinterest as a Reader, Writer, and Author

Livia Blackburne: Using Pinterest as a Reader, Writer, and Author: First, congratulations to Sam for winning the Near Witch Giveaway. Second, MIT graduation was last Friday. Unfortunately, I wasn't in it. ...

^ I'm sharing Blackburne's blog entry because I think it's worth consideration and because I'm woefully behind in my own posts, so - here - read this!

Book report time!

Please raise your hand if you'd like to share a summary of something you've read recently (or even long ago).

I'm sorry. I don't see any hands.

Contact me here or on Twitter or something, would you? I'm looking forward to reading your reports! And don't worry, I won't even uncap my red pen. :D

Help for struggling new readers (or over-achievers)

Got kids who need a little help with reading? Try some of the suggestions you'll find at Starfall. The site was launched thanks to a former reluctant reader and so effective it made the education section of Time magazine's current  50 best websites list. Visit the site to find free (yes, free!) fun and games and a good shot at reading improvement. Recommended for K-2nd graders.

Got over-achieving readers? You know - the 4th-grader who can handle any adult title, but maybe not the context? Librarians can be your best source of recommendations. Don't overlook those "older" titles, like The Phantom Toll Booth and Stuart Little. Vocabularies have changed a bit over the past few decades - enough to slow down a young (eager) reader and to teach a few new words along the way.

They'll thank you when it's time to take the SAT.
 

The good thing about being a book reviewer...

...is that it forces/allows you to read, a lot. The bad thing about being a book reviewer is the books are often bad. Extraordinarily bad.

Fortunately I enjoyed Primary Colors before diving into my most recent review assignments. (Next time I should plug my nose before taking the plunge!) The not-so-anonymously penned, not-quite-fictional description of an ultimately successful presidential campaign offered some wry laughs and a welcome escape from the current mess that passes for political discourse.

So - what are you reading? Whatever it is, it's gotta be better than the last thing I put down.

Back-to-School Reading Quizzes

These reading quizzes provide a fun challenge for students heading back to school, grownups bent on self-improvement, and anyone looking for a socially redeemable way to waste time on the computer. (e.g., if it's not Facebook or online gambling, it must be OK.)  Put on your thinking caps; good luck.


This one's hard!
http://www.cityu.edu.hk/elc/quiz/reading1.htm

Fun reading comprehension practice
http://www.manatee.k12.fl.us/sites/elementary/samoset/mathlabplanets.htm

Lots here, including vocabulary quizzes, for K-8th graders.
http://www.quiz-tree.com/English_smain.html

Primary panic

Don't look now but it's AUGUST. The month of back-to-school and pool closings and all that nonsense. It's also the month I promised to read Primary Colors. I haven't started yet, but I will. Soon. Trust me. Is anyone with me? Come on, the election is edging closer - and I, for one, would really like to find some more humor in the whole thing. Join me for a wry laugh?

= = = = = = =

September 19, 2012 update ~ I'm happy I read this oldie-but-goodie title. What a game we've made of our political system! Primary Colors paints a very colorful picture of the players, aka the scorps (press),  and in particular the "snuff specialists," whose job it is/was to wait for the candidate to blow up or break down. ("Get it on tape if he breaks down...loses his temper, or cries.") Of course the press knows what the candidates find out soon enough: "Losers spin. Winners grin."

Not only did it offer some levity in an election season that sorely needs it, it also reminded me that we've survived many a foible in  the political arena before. We're likely to survive a few more. My advice: keep reading!

Summer Reading: The best-laid plans

One isn't supposed to work up a sweat reading (I guess it can happen). When the mercury's rising, though, and one has a dozen or so books due at the library tomorrow (this "one" might be hypothetical, of course) there's just no way to read fast enough. To add insult to injury, no matter how fast one flips pages, reading just doesn't pass for aerobic activity.

What to do?

It's July, dear readers. We're all a tad hot and bothered, no? Let's share our must-read lists and tips for getting through them this summer. And please, dear readers, you go first. "One" of us has to go to the library...

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WHAT'S THAT? You don't have too much to read? Well, I'm not going to give you a recommendation, what with my own books piling up around my ears. But you can take a quick quiz to find  just the right book here:
http://justtherightbook.com