Student Reading Group – Recruiting Now!

 

Students can already share their opinions and favourite/most hated reads in the Blog Off and Read! group on Moodle.

BUT

Would you like to meet up with other like-minded students on a regular basis to chat about the ‘read of the week’ and share ideas face to face?

Is that a YES!?!

Well then, you’ll need to contact our Senior Information officer Pat Hebron and she’ll do the rest.

Send an email to p.hebron@llandrillo.ac.uk with your -

Name

ID Number

Course

Preferred Contact Email

Times of the week that would suit you best

Reading Group – The Mammoth Cheese

 

This months title is The Mammoth Cheese by Sheri Holman

 

Click here to learn more about the author

Click here to read reviews about the book

Take a look at the links below to learn more about the setting of the book

 

 

 An article about the original Thomas Jefferson Mammoth Cheese.  The site also has resources that explore the links between religion, liberty, economics and politics in the US.

 

 

 

And after he got the huge cheese, he got huge bread! Imagine the indegestion…

 

 Learn more about the man himself in this comprehensive encyclopedia.

 

 

Read about some of the real issues affecting American small farmers in this forum.  

 

 

 

Virginia is a stunningly beautiful place, but the rural areas of the book’s setting do have their problems.

 

 

 

The issue of large multiple births was also in the news not so long ago and media comment reflects the change in society’s attitude to the family concerned (this very much relates to the book’s narrative)

Blog Off and Read – Rave, Rant, Review!

Calling all Coleg Llandrillo Students!

Image from Flickr.com

You now have your own online book group on Moodle.

Login and follow the links to Blog Off and Read

Here you can get updates on the latest book group news

Take part in special promotions like the current Aur Pur/Pure Gold collection

Rave about what your reading now

Rant about the book you love to hate

If your class is reading a title for group work or you need to write a Review, why not join in the online forum to see what others think of it?

Contact Pat or Gina for more details.

Aur Pur / Pure Gold

 

The Aur Pur/Pure Gold promotion has been running for the last three years in North Wales public libraries but, this year FE and HE colleges are involved, including Coleg Llandrillo library.

The aim of the promotion is to show the wide range of stimulating books available free of charge for readers in libraries in Wales, and has been funded from the Welsh Assembly Government’s National Marketing Strategy for Libraries.

Librarians from Estyn Allan y Gogledd, the reader development network, have chosen twelve books, all from Wales but which take the reader to many different places.

They include:

Back Home, Bethan Darwin
The Schoolboy, Holly Howitt
Mrs D’Silva’s Detective Instincts and the Shaitan of Calcutta, Glen Peters
Tag, Stephen May
My Little Armalite, James Hawes
Flint, Margaret Redfern
Mr Blaidd, Llwyd Owen
Man Esgyrn, Sian Owen
Hi a fi, Eigra Lewis Roberts
Haf o Hyd, Geraint Lewis
Naw Mis, Caryl Lewis
Alias Myth a Jones, Dafydd Huws

Call into the library, Rhos site, to pick up any of the titles above. You can also now write a review of the books for the student online reading group – Blog Off and Read!

World Book Day – Ask A Poet Video Conference

 

 

 

 

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 Coleg Llandrillo Students can take part in an “Ask The Poet” video conference session on the 2nd of March with Gillian Clarke and on the 4th of March with Mererid Hopwood to celebrate World Book Day 2010. Please contact the ITW on ext.349 if you would like your students to attend!

Tuesday 2 March

1000 – 1100 Gillian Clarke

As well as writing poetry Gillian Clarke is a playwright and translator. In 1990 she co-founded Ty Newydd, the writers’ centre in North Wales. She teaches creative writing to children and adults, and gives readings and lectures. Gillian Clarke’s work has been translated into ten languages. Gillian is the national poet of Wales.

Thursday 4 March

1000 – 1100 Mererid Hopwood

Mererid Hopwood shot to prominence in Wales in 2001 when she became the first woman ever to win the prestigious Chair at the National Eisteddfod. She has since won the National Crown and continues to be in great demand as a poet, tutor and television presenter.

6 Book Challenge Winners!

Congratulations to three Coleg Llandrillo Denbigh students for winning the reader development competition. Niame Traore is an ESOL student and used our Oxford Bookworms collection to practice her english reading skills. Mathew Thomas McDonald and Helen Williams are both on the STEPS program and have been reading as part of their classroom activities. Niame and Mathew both won an MP3 video player and Helen has won £20 worth of book tokens!

Niame Traore receiving her challenge prize!

All three students took part in the Six Book Challenge 2010. The challenge was to read and review six books. Students could choose any six books they liked (at any level) to enter the challenge and needed to send in all six reviews to the library. Coleg Llandrillo Rhos winners to be announced shortly!

Over half of adults (56%) have literacy skills below the level of a good GCSE (NAO, Skills for Life: Progress in Improving Adult Literacy and Numeracy, 2008). “Our stubborn national skills problems show we need new ways to tackle literacy issues,” said Miranda McKearney, Director of The Reading Agency. “We launched the Six Book Challenge in 2008, and I wish we’d started it years ago! It’s a deceptively simple, motivational scheme that has a tremendous impact on people’s lives.’

9,000 adults took part in the Six Book Challenge in 2009, up 25% on 2008. 70% of library services across the UK ran the scheme as well as colleges, adult and community education centres, workplaces and prisons. 90% of participants said they feel more confident about reading after taking part, and tutors say that the Challenge improves learners’ confidence, increases their motivation and helps them develop a reading habit.

Author Mike Gayle, who is Patron of the Six Book Challenge and a keen supporter of adult literacy initiatives, said: “Anything that encourages adult learners to get stuck into a good read has got to be a good thing in my book! I’m proud to be involved in this terrific initiative that is making a real difference to those who have felt excluded from the world of books.”

National Book Tokens

So you think you can spell?

Spelling Bee is a highly addictive, but very useful, spelling game hosted on the Visual Thesaurus website. The thesaurus itself is a subscription service, but the spelling game is free to use. You’ll need headphones, then click on the Start button to hear the first word then type in your best guess. You’ll also get a definition and example of how the word is used.

If you’re correct the word will turn green, if not you get three more goes before you can surrender! Points are scored for the number of correct guesses and the number of times you need a hint. You can click on the ‘Play Word’ button at any time. If you are a thesaurus subscriber you can create your own spelling contest or try contest based on other peoples saved favourites. Let the games commence!

Their, there,they’re – we’re all a bit confused

Which is right word for your sentence – affect/effect, capital/capitol, insure/ensure and my personal stumbling block stationary/stationery?????

Type your chosen word into the Confusing Words database and they’ll help you put the meaning of the word into context – all from the privacy of your own PC with no need to ask/arsk embarrassing questions!

UC Berkley webcasts – Video & Podcasts

Berkley university have kindly made available a host of webcasts that cover a number of subject areas that include psychology, biology, computer science and engineering.

Armadillo – Summer 2009 Issue

News, reviews and interviews form the world of children’s and young people’s books………

101 Ways to get your child to read

Diverse Voices Childrens Book Award

Interview with Kaye Umansky