Reading Makes You Smarter

The New York Times summarizes the National Endowment for the Arts lengthy November 2007 report (To Read or Not to Read) on our nation's reading habits. Research shows Americans are reading less and less, even though having a habit of reading earns you better standardized test scores and higher wages later in life. Why aren't schools doing more to cultivate a culture of reading for pleasure? Read the NYT summary or the report (if you have time!) and then come back to PR Howl to comment.

Novels You Wish a Teacher Would Assign

From NPR - listen to this high school student's reviews of the finalists for the National Book Award and her choice for the winner. Included in this year's finalists are Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Brian Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

Write for Wikipedia

Some teachers don't want students using Wikipedia as a resource because the way the pages can be edited means credibility can be undermined. But at least one college teacher has mandated that students contribute to Wikipedia - read the news story here. Would you write an article for Wikipedia? How would you feel as that entry changed when other people edited and revised it?

PW's Best Books of 2007

Publishers Weekly posted a Best of 2007 by different genres - if you've read any of these titles, please submit a comment to this post.