LRC Reading Group

LRC Reading Group Update

What we have read so far...

Our Reading Group met on Wednesday 29th January, where we discussed Alex L Harrow’s debut novel ‘The ten thousand doors of January’ and ‘Paper Towns by John Green.

The group had mixed views about ‘The ten thousand doors of January’. Half of the group found that it was a difficult story to get into with a lot of information given to you all at once. Whereas the other half found that after a couple of chapters you flew through the book as you wanted to know what happened next and became thoroughly invested in the characters. Though the book would fall into the fantasy genre, it is a book that I believe would appeal to a wider audience. Give it a go, borrow ‘The thousand doors of January’ next time you visit the LRC

‘Paper Towns’ by John Green was hit for us all. We thoroughly enjoyed the story of Quentin, Margo, Ben and Radar, as we went with them on their journey as they solved the cryptic clues, which following her disappearance Margo had left behind. The plot was brilliant and very well written. We recommend this book.

Both books were fantastic books for a Reading Group to read as there were a wealth of topics which you could bring into the group discussion. I look forward to discussing our next book. 

Next meeting

For our next meeting on Wednesday 26th February 12.30 -1pm, we will be reading ‘Doctor Sleep’ by Stephen King. 

Front cover of Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Before the summer holidays we will be reading:

To all the boys I’ve loved before by Jenny Han and How to be happy by Eva Woods.

If you would like to join the group please speak to a member of staff in the LRC. You will be given a copy of the book which will be yours to keep.

If you enjoy reading why not join our Reading Group today. 

Book Bus visit to PRC

The Book Bus Visit

This week Browns Books for Students Book Bus visited Peterborough Regional College. 

Browns Books for Students Book Bus at PRC

Inside the Book Bus

Image leading up to the second floor

Students and staff from English, Science, Photography, Childcare, Youth Centre, Jobsmart & the Learning Resource Centre, chose books on a range of topics from the selection of books on board.

Our on site Nursery brought over a group of children to listen to the story Goat’s Coat by Tom Percival on the upstairs deck of the bus.

Book cover of Goat's Coat by Tom Percival 

It was a fantastic day. Students and staff chose a great selection of books for the LRC.

A big thank you to everyone involved.

December celebrations in the LRC

December celebrations in the LRC

This month in the LRC we are celebrating the season with colourful displays and competitions.

‘Twas the Night before Christmas’

The poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ is our overall display theme. Through different displays we have depicted parts of the poem, including a Christmas tree, fireplace decorated up for Christmas, children sleeping in their beds and a winter scene. We chose the poem as it is probably one of the most well-known of the Christmas verses.

Alongside the display we are running a competition asking students who wrote ‘Twas the night before Christmas’?

LRC Christmas Tree

Find the Reindeer Competition

We have hidden 8 of Father Christmas’s Reindeers, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen around the LRC, our second competition is for students to discover where the reindeers are located.

Gift for Christmas

Would you like to give a student the gift of a book this Christmas?

If you have a book at home which you have read and would like to donate to another student. Please bring it into the LRC for us to wrap up and place under the LRC Christmas tree.

LRC Loyalty Card

I hope that you have been enjoying reading books from the LRC this term. Students who return a book as a part of the LRC Loyalty Card Scheme in December will receive a small gift.

Have you renewed your books?

Please remember to renew your library books before the Christmas holidays.

Happy Christmas from the Learning Resource Centre

LRC Reading Group Update

The Reading Group Books

Our Reading Group met for the first time in October and chose the books that we will be reading as a group this year. 

The books are:

Paper Towns by John Green
The ten thousand doors of January by Alex L Harrow
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
To all the boys I’ve loved before by Jenny Han
How to be happy by Eva Woods

Our students have chosen a good mix of books and I for one am looking forward to reading them.

Girl reading in a library.
https://www.publicdomainpictures.net/en/view-image.php?image=261862&picture=books-library-book-old-library

Next meeting

For our next meeting on Wednesday 27th November 12.30 -1pm, we will be reading John Green’s Paper Towns. If you would like to join the Reading Group please speak to a member of staff in the LRC, you will be given a copy of the book which will be yours to keep.

If you enjoy reading why not join our Reading Group today.

LRC Loyalty card and reading

Do you enjoy reading or want to read more?

The LRC is running a loyalty card scheme again this year to encourage as many students as possible to borrow and read 6 books throughout the year.

Reading can be enjoyable, relaxing and sometimes challenging. However, did you know that reading fiction particularly helps you improve your English. You start to absorb new words and ways of writing which can't easily be taught. There is also research that reading helps improve your empathy and social skills as well as your creativity.

Loyalty Card poster
Copyright Peterborough Regional College

To take part, come in to the LRC, speak to a member of staff at the desk and sign up. As you read a book (which has to be fiction or a biography), we stamp your card. After 3 books you can collect a free tote bag and once you've read 6 you are entered into a prize draw and invited to a special Loyalty Card event towards the end of the academic year.

Tips for getting better at reading.

Towards the end of last week, the BBC Ideas website released a short video called "How to get seriously good at reading" https://www.bbc.com/ideas/videos/how-to-get-seriously-good-at-reading/p07n3xmv . Even if you love reading, there are some interesting facts in the video that you may not know.

Be Healthy Stay Safe Be Green event

Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green

Yesterday was the College's annual Be Healthy, Stay Safe, Be Green event and the LRC had a stall at this. We enjoyed talking to students who came to our table and asked them what their prescription for a healthier life would be. Here are some of the suggestions:

Stay healthy

Love yourself

Love life

Be positive

Enthusiasm

Physical exercise (football)

Eat healthy food

Drink water

Stop smoking

Eat less fast food!!!

Smile and have fun

Always make the most of everything

Friendship

Read more

Less stress, less worry!

Eating better!

No drugs

Work hard, relax, exercise

Eat fruit and vegetables - 5 a day.

Student prescriptions for a healthier life
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

National Wellbeing Statistics

Statistics are useful sources of information and the Office of National Statistics website is a good place to start for all sorts of UK statistics (crime, population, employment etc.). Each year they report on the nation's wellbeing. Follow the link to read the latest report which covers happiness, life satisfaction and anxiety levels.

If you want to take your own Happiness Survey the Oxford happiness survey is available to print here  or you can take it online.

At the Be Healthy Stay Safe event, LRC staff enjoyed meeting Wendy, the College's new Counsellor. If you need someone to talk to, you can contact her and she will help you. In the LRC we have a collection of Reading Well Books on Prescription which GPs have recommended (set up by the Reading Agency) including some especially for young people. Books cover topics such as overcoming anxiety, overcoming depression, self esteem, stress and OCD. We also have a number of the mood-boosting books which are feel-good, uplifting fiction reads.

Anti-bullying Week

Finally, this week has also been Anti-bullying week and we had our own display with socks coloured in by students (as recommended by the national campaign).

Anti-bullying Week display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College

Book Boxes

Book Boxes

Did you know that the LRC can put together a book box for tutors/lecturers to use in their lessons?

Ideally we like a week's notice of the topic (but we can do this quicker) and we do need to be sure that we have stock on the particular subject.

Please contact the LRC in person, by phone or email and let us know the topic, when you need it and how many students there are in the group. We will have the box ready for you to collect before your lesson and then you can return it at the end. We can also suggest other resources such as e-books. If you would like a librarian to come to your class and do an activity with your group using the box, then we can help with this also.

Pile of 5 books
https://www.pexels.com/photo/pile-of-five-books-51342/

5 things to do with a book box

1) Introduce books as a way to research

    a) Give each student a book and ask them to find a topic

    b) After 5 minutes ask students to then say how they found the information.

    c) Talk about the index and the contents pages. (Tip: go to the sections where there are the most 

        pages first before the individual pages e.g. 33-37).

    d) Discuss other ways students can know whether a book is useful for their research

        i.e. blurb on the back, author, how old it is, which country it's published in

2) Use a box of books to practice Harvard Referencing

    a) Ask students to use the plagiarism and referencing blended learning activity on the LRC 24/7             page to learn about how to reference.

    b) Then give out books and ask students to reference them either in teams or individually.

3) Use the box of books to help introduce a topic by asking the students to research it themselves

     a) Set some questions

     b) Ask students to research the answers using the books from the box (with or instead of   

         websites) either individually or as teams.

4) Use the books to inspire students when they are choosing what to do for an assignment. e.g. an art  

     assignment/ project or make up/ hair activity.

    (One of our most challenging book boxes was for an art assignment on "Containment". We had to

      find images which portrayed the idea of being contained, imprisoned, caged etc.).   

5) Use a box of fiction to encourage students to look at books to read for pleasure or to introduce 

     them to poetry. One lecturer who worked at the college in the past read with/to his students in
     their tutorials!

    

LRC Halloween book display
Photo: Peterborough Regional College