It’s time once again for the World Read Aloud Day blogging challenge as we count down the days to this special week-long event of sharing stories with one another across the miles.  My friend and super librarian, Matthew Winner, has outlined the challenge on his blog.

The World Read Aloud Day “Speak Your Story” Blogging Challenge begins February 9 and runs through March 8. If you choose to take the challenge, each week you will be asked to write a post in response to a prompt or question (outlined below), for a total of 4 posts counting down to World Read Aloud Day.

Each of the prompts addresses the WRAD theme “Speak Your Story.” Speak Your Story encapsulates that simple yet effective way that we connect with others by sharing our stories aloud. Your voice is powerful and when a story is shared a bond is made.

For week 2, we have been exploring these stems:

Pick a question to answer with a partner. 1. If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me it would be…2. I think everyone should read… 3. My favorite part about reading aloud or being read to is…

Barrow students used Flipgrid to respond to this question:

Week 2 WRAD Challenge

For this week’s challenge, I interviewed my Facebook friends to see what they would say about these stems.  I love the idea of crowdsourcing content and how technology can pull together so many voices. This has been especially helpful since I’ve been sick most of this week and losing my voice by the end of the week.  It was so interesting to see various friends take time to respond to these stems and learn something new about them that I didn’t know before.  Thank you to all who responded or paused to reflect!

I think everyone in the world should read…

Me:  Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo.  I love that this story is about making connections in your community, listening to each person’s story, and finding the magic in your everday life.  Each time I read this book, it makes me feel good and makes me want to go out and explore my community.

Facebook:

• El Deafo by CeCe Bell (Matthew Winner)
• The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo (Kaycie Rogers)
• Wonder by R J Palacio (Julie Moon)
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo (Shannon Thompson)
• Austin Kleon (Carolyn Foote)
• Anything that sets your imagination on fire! (Amy Fowler James)
• Whatever, whenever, and wherever they can! (Diane Cordell & Judy Serritella)
• As many books as you can (Lee Rogers)
• Anything, everything! (Frances Hensley)
• Everyday (Em Tendo)

If I could listen to anyone in the world read aloud to me, it would be:

Me:  My daughter.  She is just now learning how to read, so it is truly amazing to see how she has gone from a baby staring up at my face reading aloud to her to a reader who is working hard to figure out those letter and picture combinations on the page.

On a celebrity note though, it would have to be Jessica Tandy.  There is something about her voice that is calming and peaceful to me.  Listening to her characters in Driving Miss Daisy and Fried Green Tomatoes makes me want to hang out with her all day and just listen to stories.  Her voice and her way of bringing stories to life through spoken word exemplify what it means for me to get lost in a story and suspend time.

Facebook:

• Alec Baldwin (Lizzie Faville Payne)
• Morgan Freeman (Jennifer Biddle)
• My Grandmother (Ashlee Hembree)
• My Grandchildren (Sherry Horton Jones)
• Christopher Walken (Matthew Winner)  Read Matthew’s post on the Busy Librarian
• Anthony Hopkins (Dera Weaver)
• Shelby Foote (Amber Dawn Suman)
• Andy Plemmons (my mom!)  She says that I make the story come to life 🙂
• Hemingway (Beverly Hembree)
• Sarah Koenig (Amy Fowler James)
• Maya Angelou, Lauren Bacall, William Hurt, Antonio Banderas…(Deborah Bambino)
• The struggling reader with a good fit book. (Em Tendo)
• Morgan Freeman, Meryl Streep, Billy Collins (Frances Hensley)
• James Earl Jones and Mel Blanc together (George Webber)

When I read aloud my favorite character to impersonate is:

Me:  I absolutely love to read aloud Epposumondas.  I love making the southern voices in the story and watching kids’ reactions to the voice changes.  Sometimes I struggle to find the right voice for certain characters, but the characters in that book just come to life for me.

Facebook:

• Skippyjon Jones and Pigeon (Frannie McClester)
• Eeyore (Lizze Faville Payne
• The Giant from Jack and the Beanstalk and the Big Bad Wolf from Three Little Pigs (Amy Fowler James)
• Emma from a made up story (Cindy Plemmons)
• The Dump Truck from Little Blue Truck (Amber Dawn Suman)
• Junie B. Jones (Amber Pace)
• Pruella the Boo Hag (Dera Weaver)
• Violet Beauregard (Laura Smith)
• Veruca Salt (Holly Wolfe)
• Pigeon (Donna Carney)
• Any villain (Em Tendo)

The genre or author that takes up most of my bookshelf is:

Me:  It’s no surprise to people who know me that it’s Kate DiCamillo.  I have every book she has written and most of them are autographed.

Facebook:

• Stephen King (Lizzie Faville Payne)
• Poetry (Dera Weaver)
• Harry Potter and Kathy Reichs (Frannie McClester)
• Female authors Toni Morrison & Anne Pachett (Frances Hensley)
• Cookbooks & Crafts (Em Tendo)
• mo willems and michel foucault (Sarah Bridges-Rhoads)

My favorite part about reading aloud or being read to is:

Me:  I love reading aloud because it brings the story to life in a different way.  When a story is spoken into the air and heard by an audience, we all experience it together in many different ways.  We laugh.  We gasp, We question. We discuss.  Reading alone is fun, but when you read aloud, the story comes to life.

Facebook:

• Listening to how my daughter’s R sound evolves and becomes more developed. I can listen to her mature, and it’s amazing! (Dawn Jameson)
• Getting to share the private experience of a story with someone else. (Lizzie Faville Payne)
• Watching the faces of my first graders as I read to them, and then watching THEIR faces as they read to me! (Laura Smith)
• I loved working with first graders @ the beginning they could not read then by the end they were reading a book! I miss those days! I love for Jacob to read to us! Read the Christmas story out of his bible Christmas Eve (Sandra Williams)
• Seeing the expressions on the faces of my students when they get lost in a story…all kids deserve to be read to…even the older ones! (Tiffany Whitehead)
• moving all around and acting out the characters! (Sarah Bridges-Rhoads)
• My favorite part of reading aloud is doing funny voices. (Shannon Thompson)
• The students’ interactions with the story and disappointment when the story is over that can be replaced with excitement when another is read. (Frannie McClester)
• Becoming part of the story and “reeling” the kids in. I believe reading to children is the first step to helping them love to read. (Amber Pace)
• Getting lost in a story, whether I’m reader or listener. (Dera Weaver)

Join me and countless others as we celebrate LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day on March 4th, 2015 and throughout that entire week.  Check out the shared Google Doc to find a connecting class or post your own schedule.