LITERACY
At Mooroolbark College, we believe that fostering a love of reading and improving reading skills are essential to allow our students to access a range of opportunities in the future. Reading provides an outlet for students to use their imagination, as well as building transferable skills such as expanding their vocabulary. See the infographic below for more information about the extensive benefits of reading!
Our Independent Reading sessions for Year 7 and 8 students provide an opportunity for students to read books of their choice and engage in reflective activities about what they have read. It has been wonderful to see the variety of books that students are reading this year – from AFL players’ biographies, to graphic novels, to the Percy Jackson adventure series, and everything in between.
In addition to the structured Independent Reading sessions at school, even an extra 15 minutes of reading per day at home can make a significant difference to a child’s literacy development. We encourage you to engage with your child about what they are reading as an additional way for them to develop their critical thinking skills. The prompts below might be useful in starting these conversations:
- Are you enjoying what you are reading at the moment? Why/why not?
- Who is your favourite character? What do you like about them?
- What do you think might happen at the end of your book? What makes you think this?
Sarah Garnaut
Learning Specialist – Literacy
