Because communities across the country are more diverse than ever, and becoming more so, it’s really important for librarians to spend time and effort building relationships with those in the community.
Read MoreEnglish has more phonemes than many languages, with around 44, depending on which variety of English you speak. It has an unusually large set of vowel sounds – there are around 11. According to WALS, most spoken languages only have between five to six vowel sounds.
Read MorePeople across the world describe their thoughts and emotions, share experiences and spread ideas through the use of thousands of distinct languages. These languages form a fundamental part of our humanity. They determine whom we communicate with and how we express ourselves.
Read MoreA video series featuring Steven Nelson, former head of Calhoun School and author of the book, First, Do No Harm: Progressive Education in a Time of Existential Risk (Garn Press).
Read MoreStylistics is a broad term to cover the 'how' texts are put together. Into this 'bag' we can put any of the following and others you might think of.
Read MoreSpoken word encompasses elements of rap, hip-hop, storytelling, theater and more. It is characterized by rhyme, repetition, word play and improvisation. It often touches on issues of social justice, politics, race and community. It holds the promise of helping young people to connect with ideas as well as providing a means to deepen comprehension and develop understanding and empathy.
Read MoreCultivating and sustaining hope, then, requires that we gather evidence from our own lives, history and the world at large and use that evidence to guide our plans, pathways and actions. Hope also requires that we learn to use this data to effectively calibrate progress – no matter how small.
Read MoreMartin Luther King Jr.‘s understanding of the role of love in engaging individuals and communities in conflict is crucial today. For King, love was not sentimental. It demanded that individuals tell their oppressors what they were doing was wrong.
Read MoreResearchers have shown how creative thinking can be cultivated by simple habits like exercise, sleep, and reading. But another catalyst is unplanned interactions with close friends, casual acquaintances, and complete strangers. With the closure of coffee shops – not to mention places like bars, libraries, gyms, and museums – these opportunities vanish.
Read MoreAmusement and pleasant surprises – and the laughter they can trigger – add texture to the fabric of daily life. Those giggles and guffaws can seem like just silly throwaways. But laughter, in response to funny events, actually takes a lot of work, because it activates many areas of the brain: areas that control motor, emotional, cognitive and social processing.
Read MoreSometimes papers have to be long. But often they don't, and the problem is usually long introductions and conclusions that go far beyond the needs of the paper.
Read MoreIn April, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary did something unusual. For the previous 20 years, they had issued quarterly updates to announce new words and meanings selected for inclusion. These updates have typically been made available in March, June, September and December.
Read MoreWhy is it that humans speak so many languages? And why are they so unevenly spread across the planet? As it turns out, we have few clear answers to these fundamental questions about how humanity communicates.
Read MoreChildren’s social worlds have been upended by the suspension of school and extracurricular activities due to the pandemic. Many older children and adolescents have been able to maintain their friendships over social media. But, for younger children, this approach is less likely to be available to them and less likely to meet their social needs
Read MoreI don’t consider myself to be an artist, or an art teacher. Yet, when I am teaching in the classroom, it is my habit to ask myself, “Where are the arts?”
Read MoreHuman societies are so prosperous mostly because of how altruistic we are. Unlike other animals, people cooperate even with complete strangers.
Read MoreMy colleagues and I at the University of British Columbia studied over 110,000 public school students. We learned that students involved in extended music engagement (between grades 8 - 12) do one full year better academically than non-music peers, particularly when engaged in instrumental music sustained over years of schooling.
Read MoreAs never before, we are required to think about the nature of solitude, the quality of our relationships, whether we enjoy social contact, and what kinds. We must consider what belonging and community means to us.
Read MoreTrump’s incessant (pathological) lying has invigorated the fact-checking business exponentially, but the free market has also allowed a partisan fact-checking backlash that uses the label of “fact check” to legitimize fake news and outright lies.
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