Daily Reading Challenge

Research a topic that interests you and read an article about it online. Share a fascinating fact from your research with a friend or family member. Hint: try to avoid using Wikipedia.

I am interested in Scottish pre-history and am especially fascinated by brochs. Brochs are huge stone towers that were built mainly on Orkney and the Western Isles some 2000 years ago. Archaeologists are still not exactly sure who built them and why.
My ancestors, the Morrisons on the Isle of Lewis, back in the 1500s were discovered stealing cattle from a rival clan, the MacAulays. The Morrisons fled and took refuge in Dun Carloway broch. Unfortunately Donald Cam MacAulay managed to scale the outer wall of the broch and threw burning heather down on the Morrisons smoking them out to meet their fate.
If you found this interesting find out more about broch building here Find out more about Dun Carloway

Brochs also feature in Minecraft:

Quick Reading Challenge

Another art challenge today. Look for a description of your all time favourite character in the book(s) they appear in. From THAT description draw a picture of the character. Or look for an image of the actor who you link would be able to play that character.
 If you have been following these challenges you may have worked out that King Arthur is one of my favourite characters. Unfortunately I cannot draw to save myself. However my ideal image of King Arthur does exist in the form of the actor Bradley James who played Arthur in the BBC TV series 'Merlin'. I have MANY issues with their interpretation of some of the myths however I cannot fault their imagining of the once and future king!

I

Daily Reading Challenge

It's Friday, so let's do another craft challenge. This time reuse old books to create a book sculpture. The picture below shows some amazing examples of book sculptures. If you would like to make something slightly simpler (to begin with anyway) then watch this video It is just one of many available on You Tube. Watch this to see a book sculptor at work - incredible! For further inspiration simply search 'book sculptures' on You Tube, Pinterest or Google.

Quick reading challenge

This afternoon or this evening why not  'Drop everything and read' (DEAR) for twenty minutes with everyone in your family? Organise it however best suits your family. You could all read individually, or someone could read a story while everyone else listens. How and when you do it is up to you, just make sure everyone can be together for 20 minutes. Then make it a weekly occasion. Enjoy!

Daily Reading Challenge

Read something that was one of my favourites when I was younger and which inspired my lifelong love of Arthurian legend. Read 'The once and future king' by T.H. White. You will find it free to read at Project Gutenburg  and Google Books

And, a cute still from my favourite Disney movie based on the books by T.H. White: 'The sword in the stone', just because!

Quick Reading Challenge

Read a book for twenty minutes before you go to sleep. Try to switch off all your devices - phone, tablet, computer. Get comfortable and relax in your. Then simply read for twenty minutes!

Did you know that reading for just twenty minutes a day for a year is the same as reading non-stop for five whole days!!!

Quick Reading Challenge

An art and craft challenge today. Do you have any old books that you no longer read but which are not in a good enough condition to pass on? Then why not use a page or two and do some blackout poetry. You could use a newspaper or magazine instead, anything with text.Your result can be as artistic as you want or as pathetic as my own (the one in the middle of the pic below!) Read through the page you have selected and pick out words which form a poem or story on their own. Then use a marker pen to blackout the words you don't want.
 Have fun.
Be inspired.

Quick Reading Challenge

Find your favourite book. Settle somewhere warm and comfortable. Skim through the book and find your favourite scene or chapter. Then phone a friend and read them your chosen section. Or record yourself reading from the book and share it with your friends. Ask them to return the favour and share their favourite book with you.

#ReadForEmpathy

Tuesday 9th of June is Empathy Day.  For information

Empathy is the ability to understand and share someone else's feelings. It is an essential life skill, especially in these difficult times. Empathy is a skill which can be taught and which we can improve.

Reading enables us to identify with the characters in the story and helps us see the world through the eyes of different fictional characters. From this we can learn about the way others view the world and begin to empathize with their point of view.

The books listed below are just a few examples:

The goldfish boy by Lisa Thomson

Running on empty by S.E.Durrant

Auggie and me by R.J. Palacio

Mars Evacuees by Sophia McDougall

Boy 87 by Ele Fountain

Charlotte's web by E.B. White

Turtles all the way down by John Green

Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman

The curious incident of the dog in the night-time by Mark Haddon

Literacy Leads

Further to this morning's Literacy Leads meeting on Teams below is an image with just a few of the many books available in the School Library for you to use with your reading partner once we are back in school.

The angel of Venice by Mary Hoffman

Bullet catcher by Chris Bradford

Six hours by Pete Johnson

Soccer squad:stars by Bali Rai

The mystery of the man with the black beard by Gillian Cross

Twocking by Eric Brown

One shot by Tanya Landman

The last soldier by Keith Gray

Combat zone by Tom Palmer

#Black lives matter

Read books by authors of colour:
Children of Blood and bone by Toni Adeyemi
All American boys by Jason Reynolds
Buffalo soldier by Tanya Landman
Noughts and crosses by Malorie Blackman
The poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo
Dear Martin by Nic Stone
Rebound by Kwame Alexander
The sun is also a star by Nicola Yoon
The hate u give by Angie Thomas

Daily reading Challenge

Read a poem today. If you do not have a poetry book nearby you could access The Scottish Poetry Library  to find one. Why not try and learn a poem off by heart? Or write one of your own?