Book discussion questions for THE SWIMMER by Julie Otsuka

One of the best adult fiction books published in 2022 is Julie Otsuka's THE SWIMMER.  "Julie Otsuka's first novel in 10 years is a quiet and startling masterpiece about  memory, aging and the indelible experiences that define a life ... THE SWIMMERS seems to continually reinvent itself as each section reframes everything that came before it." - Laura Sackton, BookPage

When we selected this book to discuss, nowhere on the Web were there any suggestions for discussion questions.

Here are some we used:

1. What metaphors can you think of regarding the crack in the pool?
   
   
2. How does the novel's changing perspective influence the story?
   
   
3. On page 99, Ms. Otsuka writes, "From now on you will never have to worry about losing your way again.  Because even if you don't know where you are, we know where you are."  How does this make you feel?
   
   
4. How does Ms. Otsuka's spare writing style influence the novel?

Now this website has some good discussion questions:

https://justleafing.com/the-swimmers-book-club-questions/

Two great recorded webinars

Technology to Aid the Struggling Reader - sponsored by SLJ and ISTE.  Three panelists:  Michele Haiken - Rye MS English teacher, K.C. Boyd - Lead Librarian East St. Louis (IL) School District, and Cynthia Merrill   - Literacy Consultant.  Michele talked about using gaming to engage students in reading.  K.C. talked about and showed some databases for student engagement in literacy (some that are in NOVELNY:  KIDS INFOBITS  and OPPOSING VIEWPOINTS).  Cynthia talked about and showed how she has been working with school districts to create selfie stations where students singly and in pairs create short videos to answer questions and talk about their engagement in reading.

Promoting Inclusion, Social Equity, and Diversity in Your Library - sponsored by Follett but not related to anything specific to Follett.   Three panelists: K.C. Boyd - Lead Librarian East St. Louis (IL) School District,  Michelle Martin - Beverly Cleary Professor of Children and Youth Services in the Information School at the University of Washington, Craig Seasholes - Teacher-Librarian Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, WA, and author Lynda Mullaly Hunt. 

Updated Bloom’s Taxonomy for the Digital Age

This Common Sense Media 5-minute video explains how the updated version of Bloom’s Taxonomy applies to digital tools: https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/blooms-digital-taxonomy?utm_source=Edu_Newsletter_2017_03_28&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly  .  Mind candy to think about making activities in your library.  

UNESCO Releases Five Laws of Media and Information Literacy (MIL)

See full article:  http://blogs.slj.com/neverendingsearch/2017/02/20/unesco-launches-five-laws-of-media-and-information-literacy-mil/

How to counter fake news

http://www.slj.com/2017/01/industry-news/the-smell-test-educators-can-counter-fake-news-with-information-literacy-heres-how/#_

Video: We Need Librarians More Than Ever Before

Evaluating a News Article Graphic

Evaluating a News Article