Dear readers.

Latham, Gloria ; Jessica, Mantei ; Kervin, Lisa 等

Reading to Keep Warm

What is reading? How do we read? Why do we read? What should we read? What's the best way to teach reading? What's the best way to assess reading?

These are just a few of the questions that students, parents, literacy teachers, principals, government stakeholders, and book publishers debate each year. This issue of Practically Primary is devoted to the warmth of reading; exploring the process, the product and the vast quantity of possibilities.

Spring Cleaning

This October Edition might give you cause to clean up, discard some of your current reading practices and adopt new ones. When teacher/researcher Nancie Atwell's methods of teaching reading were no longer effective, she decided to match her own reading practices with the reading she enforced in her classroom and realised it was not a close fit. Like many of us, Atwell had acquired a set of reading rituals for herself. She had the choice of what to read, she made time to read, and best of all she had a space to talk about authors, and writing with others. Realising the disparity between how she enjoyed reading and how she taught reading changed her practice forever. Atwell admits it was hard work as it meant letting go of the past but it was also necessary.

What new inspirations can you glean from this edition? The many and varied authors (children, parents, teachers, academics) have brought together an eclectic mix of ideas and theories to dip into. There are also our 10 Ways I hook children into reading and new texts reviewed and discovered.

Jessica, Lisa and I would like to thank those of you who have been contributors to Practically Primary and encourage others to put pen to paper and send us your ideas. As of 2010 the journal will be in the capable hands of Jessica Mantei as Managing Editor and Lisa Kervin and I will assist.

Warm regards,

Gloria Latham, Jessica Mantei and Lisa Kervin