Penny dreadfuls told real stories of murder and mayhem to 19th-century audiences seeking escape from city life. True crime podcasts have a lot in common with them.
Sue Thomson, Australian Council for Educational Research
Results from the world’s longest running large-scale international assessment of maths and science show Australia has significantly improved in Year 8 maths and science, and Year 4 science.
Trixie Belden wasn’t as pretty as her best friend, or a cool as Nancy Drew. But she had a ‘mental computer’ for solving mysteries and a non-judgmental moral core.
Alice Pung’s family escaped Pol Pot to settle in Australia. In suburban Melbourne, as her mum worked in the dark, back shed, she discovered books — and what the world could be.
During the second world war, people found solace in the formulaic narratives of historical romances and during the pandemic they could once again provide readers comfort.
A study shows there is a lack of ethnic and other diversity in award-winning early childhood picture books. This means our children are still getting a narrow window of the world.
If families embrace reading as fun and routine and teachers work more closely than before with the families of their students, it’s possible that remote learning won’t be a huge obstacle to literacy.
To “warm up” a book, use the K-W-L strategy: Talk with your child about what you both KNOW about the subject, what you WONDER and afterwards, what you’ve LEARNED.
Great stories move and they challenge. They draw attention to diverse social and cultural issues and to the transformative potential of empathy. But they can be difficult too.
A federal court with jurisdiction over Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee found that the state governments have a legal obligation to ensure that children can learn how to read.