Lockdown Reading Resources and Activities

We’re encouraging everyone to keep reading during lockdown. Reading not only provides educational support but emotional too and is a great way to relax and to take a break from a screen.  Research has shown that reading for just 15 minutes a day can increase children’s vocabulary by 80% over a year. Whilst our Libraries are closed, below are some suggestions for engaging with books - just click on the links for additional information:

Free e-books and audiobooks

A list of Bromley Libraries online resources are available at: https://capitadiscovery.co.uk/bromley-sandbox/assets/-/24hourLibrary.html.

Other free books are available via Project Gutenberg, BBC Sounds, Audible and World Book Day’s World of stories. 

The brilliant The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse by Charlie Mackesy is currently available to listen to on BBC Sounds for a limited time.

The Book of Hope edited by Katherine Rundell’s is currently free to read on the National Literacy Trust website and contains a fantastic collection of short stories, poems, essays and pictures by authors and illustrators including Lauren Child, Anthony Horowitz, Michael Morpurgo and Liz Pichon.

EPHS students are also able to access thousands of fiction and non-fiction digital books via myON®.  

Reading and Creative Writing Activities:

• World Book Day author & illustrator videos for schools - Creative writing masterclasses from authors and illustrators 
• 10 Minute Challenges - authorfy - quick, fun and creative challenges set by best-selling authors. 
• Discovering Children's Books: Themes - The British Library (bl.uk) - brilliant book themed creative activities. 

If poetry is your thing, check out Poetry by Heart, with poems by age or topic and you can view performance poetry at the brilliant Apples and Snakes on Youtube. We are hoping to offer our Year 9 and 10 students the opportunity to see the fabulous Adisa The Verbaliser as part of our programme of Virtual Author Visits later this term.

During lockdown, many authors are reading and talking about their own books online, including Neil Gaiman who reads The Graveyard Book and Coraline.  Marcus Sedgwick, the acclaimed author who virtually visited our Year 10 students last October, is reading his award winning favourite Floodland. The video of the first chapter appears below.

 

You may also like to check out Chris Bradford on YouTube, who virtually visited EPHS in December.  As well as author readings and marshal art masterclasses, you can watch the trailer for the first book in Chris's electrifying new Soul Prophesy series 'The Soul Hunters'.

Online Reading Groups:

Bromley Libraries run two online teenage reading groups - one 

for 11-13s and the other for 14-19s.

The EPHS Harry Potter Club run by Ms Rodgerson takes place every Tuesday lunchtime, 12.00 to 12.30 and is open to all years.  Currently the club is meeting on Microsoft Teams to keep discussing and enjoying Harry Potter.

The Library will also be running an online lunch time Reading Group via Teams.  Open to all year groups, more information to follow.

With thanks to Librarian Karen Hans of Forest Hill School for some of these suggestions.