For+Middle+Readers

Parents, teachers and librarians will find that there is a wealth of quality literature and reading resouces to cater for students as they enter the school system and continue their reading journey throughout their primary school years.

With advances in Web 2.0 technologies, students will in many cases have access to the creators of the books they most enjoy, and the reading of a book can become a journey of discovery which may take them to author sites, blogs, interactive sites, and to online chats with other readers of the same ilk.

Educators keen to foster a love of reading in middle years students will be keen to incorporate the latest technologies into their reading programs, and provide a technology and literature rich environment for their students.

The [|Children's Book Council of Australia] site is a great place to find listings of author and illustrator sites.

Author and illustrator sites are an excellent place to start when seeking to engage students with books. Thanks to ever developing ICTs, books come alive online with students able to explore links such as;

Snippets of audio books such as Morris Gleitzman's new books 'Grace' The world of Carole Wilkinson with her blog 

A video interview of author Kate DiCamillo



As students' independent reading develops, so too does their list of favourite authors and genres, and as educators it can be a challenge to encourage students to read widely! Projects such as the [|Indigenous Literacy Project], The Premiers Literary Challenges in each state, The [|MS Read-a-Thon], The Children's Book Council of Australia [|Junior Judges Project,] and the [|Pyjama Foundation Reading Frenzy] are all excellent ways to encourage wide reading.

The Pyjama Foundation Reading Frenzy is a 'new kid on the block' in terms of reading projects and it will have your students blogging about books, emailing their families for sponsorship for this worthy cause, learning about net safety and online etiquette and responding to friends blogs posts in a safe online environment. A great ICT project for the middle years of primary school!