Those among us who are readers and believers in reading have always known what reading does for us. However, up to know it has been rather difficult to carry the message across to those others who, for a variety of reasons, do not share our enthusiasm. It is true that the impact and the benefits of reading is hard to prove and measure objectively. However, recent research in neuroscience offers some hard and fast data that can contribute to our argument for reading. This is what the first video is for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=muuWRKYi09s&t=603s&ab_channel=TEDxTalks

I also attach an article about how reading improves math scores for those of you who are interested: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2013/sep/16/reading-improves-childrens-brains

The healing potential of reading is the core element of the second video, see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCKfvxnljYY&ab_channel=TED, and also of bibliotheraphy, developed and practiced in the context of library science and psychotherapy. It is sad that both librarians and therapists successfully use reading to help people feel better about themselves while educators and literary scholars seem to have "missed the boat".

This week, please watch these two TedTalks and add whatever you learnt from them into Worksheet 1. You may also finish Worksheet 2 (instead of copy paste, just write the title of the book and the author). Use inspiration either from your colleagues or my display in class. If you still want to wait, we will have more books in the coming weeks.