Tag Archives: World Read Aloud Day

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Celebrating World Read Aloud Day 2019

We’ve been celebrating World Read Aloud Day for several years now. In fact, World Read Aloud Day was my first venture into Skyping with other classrooms around the world, and it helped me make connections to so many teachers and librarians that I continue to collaborate with today.

World Read Aloud Day was established by LitWorld as a way for us to celebrate our freedom and right to read aloud. Stories connect us, and when we read aloud together, we make connections between places, cultures, and so much more.

Back in November, I started getting teachers in my school to sign up for World Read Aloud Skype sessions via a Google Doc. I took those time slots and added them to the World Read Aloud Doc that was shared by me and Shannon McClintock Miller. Every year, that massive doc helps teachers and librarians connect classes across multiple time zones around the world to share stories.

As we found connections, I made a plan with each connecting author or educator so that we knew what story we would share. As usual, when the week of World Read Aloud arrived, we had to be prepared for technical difficulties, school closings, and sick children. Even with some barriers in our way, we made many connections this week. Here are a few of the highlights.

Monday 1/28/19

We kicked off the week with Donna MacDonald and her students reading Snappsy the Alligator. I love how this book is perfect for two voices to read aloud.

Ingrid Mayyasi’s students read Be Quiet to my Kindergarten students. It was so great to hear a group of 4th graders become the characters in the story. It really made us see how much this story could become a reader’s theater in the classroom.

Tuesday 1/29/19

Kelly Hincks and I shared Narwhal & Jelly with 2 PreK classes. Kelly’s students sang the Narwhal & Jelly song by Emily Arrow. It was so much fun to see how a story and music could connect us together. It didn’t take long for my students to start singing along and doing the motions to the song.

Kristen Mogavero’s AP English students read aloud a chapter book to our 4th graders. They shared a lot of information about their high school which was a great connection to our College and Career Week coming up next week.

Author Deborah Freedman read the book Shy to our 4th graders. They prepared questions in advance to ask her and learned a lot about why has written several stories about animals and where she gets her ideas.

Our 5th graders did a mystery hangout with April Wathen and her students in Maryland. Since we had older readers, we took turns reading aloud favorite poetry.

Wednesday 1/30/19

We were hit with several weather cancellations this day, but we were able to connect with a very fun class in Texas thanks to Nancy Jo Lambert. Our students read selections from the book Can I Touch Your Hair? This book features poems about race, friendship, and mistakes. Our students had a great time reading together and lots of laughs as we asked each other questions. I think our favorite question from them was “Do you like to eat Mexican food?” We all took a turn to share some of our favorite foods. We hope we can connect together again sometime.

Thursday 1/31/19

One of our connections on this day was with Nikki Robertson in Leader, TX. We both had 1st graders and read the book The Rabbit Listened. This was such a fun story to share for WRAD because it gave us a chance to talk about our emotions and the importance of listening to someone and giving them space when they need it. Students in both places had so many insights on why the rabbit was the one who helped Taylor the most in the story.

Friday 2/1/19

On the official day of World Read Aloud, we connected with 3 different authors. Phil Bildner gave us a sneak peek of one of his upcoming books by reading the first chapter. Anne Marie Pace shared her book Groundhug Day. Angela DiTerilizzi shared her newest book Just Add Glitter.

Each of these amazing authors also answered questions from students about writing (and a few other random things). Getting to step up to the camera and speak directly to an author is such a powerful moment for students. It makes a deep connection between the book we hold in our hands and an actual person in the world.

Every year, I make a Google Tour Builder map of our connections. After each class connects, we add a pin to the map and type in what book we read together. I love seeing the visual of all of our pins connected together because every story we share connects us across the miles with new friends. We learn about what connects us together and also what makes us all unique. These Skype connections remind us that we are not alone in the world and that in every town there are people doing some of the same things we are.

Thank you to every author, illustrator, classroom, and library who made connections this week. Your voices and stories made an impact this week. We look forward to connecting again next year.

 

 

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It’s Time to Plan for World Read Aloud Day 2019

It’s time for us all to start making plans and building excitement for World Read Aloud Day 2019 with Litworld.  This year, World Read Aloud Day takes place on February 1, 2019, but many of us will celebrate the entire week of January 28-February 1, 2019.

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World Read Aloud Day “calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories.”  When we connect our students through Skype, Google Hangouts, or other web tools, they experience the power of the read aloud and realize that they are connected with a bigger world that is both the same and different from them.  By connecting our voices through reading aloud, we are reading on behalf of the 758 million people who cannot read.

Shannon McClintock Miller, Matthew Winner, and I invite you to start posting your schedules on our shared Google Doc.

World Read Aloud Day 2019 Planning Document

This year, we’ve tried to organize the document by time zones to make it easier to find connections that work for you.  If you don’t see your time zone listed, please add it as a heading.

When you share your schedule, be sure to include:

  • Your name
  • Your contact info such as social media, Skype, and/or email
  • Your role
  • Your school and grade levels
  • Your location
  • List your time zone when posting your available dates and times

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After you post your own schedule, take a look at the other schedules and sign up on someone’s schedule to connect your students.  We’ve found that it doesn’t matter if same grade levels connect with one another. Often times, an older grade can read aloud to a younger grade or younger grades can find parts of a books that they can read aloud to an older grade.  There’s not just one way to connect.  Part of the fun is meeting new friends, planning your read alouds, and seeing what magical things happen during your connection that you weren’t even expecting.

We have many ideas from previous years on our blogs.  You can read more about previous World Read Aloud Day connections on Expect the Miraculous and The Library Voice.  Litworld also has several resources for you to use in your planning and connections including:

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Please let us know if you have any questions.  Happy connecting!

Shannon McClintock Miller @shannonmmiller Matthew Winner @matthewwinner & Andy Plemmons @plemmonsa

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It’s Time to Plan World Read Aloud Week 2018

It’s time for us all to start making plans and building excitement for World Read Aloud Day 2018 with Litworld.  This year, World Read Aloud Day takes place on February 1, 2018, but many of us will celebrate the entire week of January 29-February 2, 2018.

wrad15-day-3-15

World Read Aloud Day “calls global attention to the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories.”  When we connect our students through Skype, Google Hangouts, or other web tools, they experience the power of the read aloud and realize that they are connected with a bigger world that is both the same and different from them.  By connecting our voices through reading aloud, we are reading on behalf of the 758 million people who cannot read.

Shannon McClintock Miller, Matthew Winner, and I invite you to start posting your schedules on our shared Google Doc.

World Read Aloud Day 2018 Planning Document

This year, we’ve tried to organize the document by time zones to make it easier to find connections that work for you.  If you don’t see your time zone listed, please add it as a heading.

When you share your schedule, be sure to include:

  • Your name
  • Your contact info such as social media, Skype, and/or email
  • Your role
  • Your school and grade levels
  • Your location
  • List your time zone when posting your available dates and times

wrad-map

After you post your own schedule, take a look at the other schedules and sign up on someone’s schedule to connect your students.  We’ve found that it doesn’t matter if same grade levels connect with one another. Often times, an older grade can read aloud to a younger grade or younger grades can find parts of a books that they can read aloud to an older grade.  There’s not just one way to connect.  Part of the fun is meeting new friends, planning your read alouds, and seeing what magical things happen during your connection that you weren’t even expecting.

We have many ideas from previous years on our blogs.  You can read more about previous World Read Aloud Day connections on Expect the Miraculous and The Library Voice.  Litworld also has several resources for you to use in your planning and connections including:

wrad16-5

Please let us know if you have any questions.  Happy connecting!

Shannon McClintock Miller @shannonmmiller Matthew Winner @matthewwinner & Andy Plemmons @plemmonsa

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World Read Aloud Day 2017

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Each year we looking forward to celebrating the joy of reading aloud during LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day.  This year’s official date was February 16, but we celebrated the entire week.

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It takes a lot of organization to pull off a week full of Skypes and Google Hangouts.  Planning began back in December.  Shannon Miller and I created a Google doc where people could share their World Read Aloud schedules.  Kate Messner also did a great blog post with a list of authors willing to do Skypes during the week.

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I got my teachers to sign up for slots, and then I started looking for connections on the Google doc.  Other librarians also signed up on my schedule.  Once all of the slots were full, our connecting authors and schools started communicating to decide which books to read.  I made a separate spreadsheet for myself to keep times, books, Skype names, and email addresses organized.

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Of course, weather and illness was a factor and caused a few cancellations during the week. Even with some cancellations, we still had a full week of connections.

We also experienced many technical difficulties with our internet filter and I had to communicate with our technology director on a daily basis to make sure that Skype and Google Hangouts was not being blocked by the filter.  A growth mindset and perseverance really helped push through the issues.

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Over the course of the week, we connected with schools in Georgia, Washington state, Missouri, Vermont, Connecticut, Michigan, New Jersey, Maryland, South Carolina, Kansas, Texas, and Illinois.  We also connected with authors Dee Garretson (Boxcar Children), Hannah Barnaby (Bad Guy), Paul Fleischman (Seedfolks & Joyful Noise), and Jason Chin (Gravity & Grand Canyon).

The week was filled with many special moments.  Students were able to ask one another questions about their lives and make connections to students in another location.  Each connection helps us realize we are all part of the same world and have more in common than we realize.

We wove in a lot of map skills my looking at Google maps to see distances from Athens, Georgia to our connecting schools.  Students were able to talk directly with authors and ask them questions about the writing process.

Authors like Paul Fleischman turned around and open his filing cabinets to show us the original version of poems like Whirligig Beetles.  We had fun performing stories with students in two schools and hearing special songs performed by PreK students.

We were entertained by middle school students reading Ballet Cat and chanting out the text of Yo! Yes! with students in Seattle.  We also got to connect with Caitlin Ramseyer who was a teacher at our school last year and moved to Maryland.  It was fun to reconnect with her and her Kindergarten students.

If you’ve never tried Skype or Google connections, I highly encourage you to do it.  These events lead you to collaborative partners around the world and help our students step outside the bubble of their everyday lives.

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Celebrating Read Across America, Dr. Seuss, and Our Community

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March 2nd is always a special day for our school. We have a long tradition of having guest readers for all classrooms in honor of Read Across America and the birthday of Dr. Seuss.  The goal is to have two readers for every classroom. This allows more connections to the community, more books to be heard, and also more people in case we have people who are unable to come.

Courtney Tobin is a parent volunteer at our school who organizes my library volunteers. She also creates a Signup Genius for events like this one.  She puts 2 slots for every class, and we start sending it out asking for readers. The link is put in my library newsletter, library facebook page, and grade level parent representatives send it out to lists of parents.  I invite district leadership including our superintendent, public relations, and board of education members.

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As the event nears, we always have empty spaces still left, so we repeat sending out the link and send it to additional places like the UGA Athletic Association. Usually be the day of the event, the list is full and we have people who show up who didn’t even get to sign up.

It takes a whole community to pull off 2 readers in every class.

We gather in the library, and readers check in with Kim Ness, another wonderful parent volunteer. She does this while I’m helping with morning broadcast. Readers select a Seuss book from our library collection and my personal collection and socialize and practice reading. We gather for a group picture and a huge thank you for taking time to celebrate reading with our students.

Seuss Readers Crop

It’s always fun to race around the school to try to catch a glimpse of the smiling faces in every class and the community readers having such a great time sharing stories.

For the remainder of the day, we continue our Skype connections with other schools around the country. This is a continuation of our World Read Aloud Skypes.

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Today, we connected with:

  • Shannon Hyman in Glen Allen, VA and her 3rd grade students to read Be a Friend and Mother Bruce. Their teacher was a big UGA fan!
  • Lisa Lindeman in Babylon, NY and her 5th grade students to read Snappsy the Alligator
  • Terry Freyou in Coppell, TX and her 5th grade students to read Be a Friend
  • Sarah Staudt in Mason City, IA to read Mother Bruce
  • Donna MacDonald in South Burlington, VT and her 1st grade to read Snappsy the Alligator
  • Dana Susko in Santa Barbara, CA and her Prek to read The Day the Crayons Came Home
  • Carol Scrimgeour in Essex, VT and her Kindergarten to read Snappsy the Alligator

It is always a magical day connecting on Skype because the kids share a story across the miles and make connections with another school. I love pulling up a map and talking about how technology not only lets us see and talk to people in other places, but it helps us literally connect the dots between our locations and know in real-time how long it would take us to get there. We’ve talked about tolls, traffic accidents, construction zones, megabus, and alternative routes along with our celebration of great stories.

We’ve also encountered technical difficulties.  One school had to cancel due to the internet being out in their school, but it was a life lesson that when something doesn’t work, you just carry on.  When we connected with Lisa Lindeman, we could not get Skype to connect us.  We tried multiple times but communicated in the chat. We finally decided to give Google Hangouts a try.  She had never used it, but she was willing to try.  It worked like a charm, but more importantly it showed our students and teachers in both states that we weren’t afraid to fail, back up, and try something else. Life isn’t smooth, and things don’t always work out, but we can’t just give up easily when something is frustrating or hard.

Thank you to everyone who read in our classrooms and connected with us. Happy Read Across America Week and Happy Connecting!

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Happy World Read Aloud Week!

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We have been planning and building excitement for World Read Aloud Day for the past 2 months, and it is finally here!  It’s just too much fum to pack into one day, so we connect with classes around the world on several days.  Monday and Tuesday of this week, we had 8 connections via Skype and Google Hangouts.

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On Monday, Ms. Haley’s 3rd grade class connected with Ms. Word’s 2nd grade class at Episcopal School in Baton Rouge.  We read the book Snappsy the Alligator. We learned that they wear uniforms at their school and have a salad bar at lunch.

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Ms Em’s 3rd grade class connected with Ms. Dickerson’s 6th grade students in Missouri. We read aloud The Day the Crayons Came Home. Ms. Dickerson’s students took turns reading the voices of the different crayons.  We learned that they have unpredictable weather in the winter.  We also learned that their school only has 300 students and only 6th grade.  We had a great time sharing weird places we have found our own crayons including an underwear drawer, the pantry, and melted in the car cup holder.

Mr. Weaver’s 4th grade connected with Ms. McCoy’s 1st graders in Kansas.  We shared the books Snappsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be in This Book.  We learned that they start school much later than us at 8:40AM.

Ms. Brink’s 2nd grade class connected with Ms. Potter’s 3rd grade class in Maine to read Snappsy the Alligator.

On Tuesday, Ms. Kelly’s Kindergarten connected with Ms. Mendrinos and her Kindergarten in North Carolina to read the book Snappsy the Alligator. We had fun learning that there school has science and computers as specials.

Ms. Wisz’s PreK connect with Ms. Dawson and her 2nd grade in Maryland to read Same Same but Different.  They greated us in multiple languages. After reading, we made some connections to what is the same but different about our schools. For example, we both have breakfast but we had yogurt and granola and they had chocolate bars and juice.

5th grade ELT class connected with Ms. Stepp’s 1st grade class in South Carolina to read Snappsy the Alligator.

Ms. Ramseyer’s 2nd grade class connected with Ms. Cook’s 1st grade class in Missouri to read How to Read a Story. We loved sharing some of our own strategies for choosing stories and reading them. We even had a chance to share some favorite titles of books in the hopes of finding some new reads.

Snappsy the Alligator has been our favorite read aloud of this year’s World Read Aloud. It is fun to have one of the schools be Snappsy and the other be the narrator. I particularly liked being Snappsy because of his humorous personality.  If you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to try it out for one of your own Skype’s.

As we connected, we made a map and summary of our connections in Google Tour Builder so we can revisit all of the places that we connected with.

We have many more connections to go this week and next.  Happy World Read Aloud Week and Read Across America.

 

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What Are Your Stories of Hope? Add Your Voice to Our #WRAD16 Flipgrid

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Each week leading up to World Read Aloud Day (February 24th) we want to join our voices around the world to celebrate one of the strengths of reading aloud.  During the week of February 14-21, we celebrate how reading helps us foster hope for our world. Many students have already contributed their voices to talk about Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, Confidence, and Courage.

LitWorld 7 Strengths

We have created a Flipgrid for you to share your responses to the following question:

If you could share a message of hope, what would you read aloud to the whole world?

We hope you will share this Flipgrid with other educators, students, and families around the world and record your responses which can last up to 90 seconds.  Wouldn’t this be a great way to practice some informational writing in classrooms?  Wouldn’t you love to hear stories from the families that you serve?  Aren’t you curious about the perspectives on this question from around the world?  Let’s join our voices and contribute responses all week long.  By sharing our stories of hope, we are inspiring one another to find inspiration in the pages of books and share those pages with the world.

http://flipgrid.com/#2177f37e

In addition, you might also consider coming up with your own posts in response to this week’s theme on your own blog or site.  You might post about books you hope for this year or characters you would love to meet.  You might post a picture of yourself with a book that gives you hope and encourage others to do the same. Whatever additional ways you choose to celebrate “Hope Week”, please tag your posts with #wrad16 and #hopeweek as well as mention @litworldsays (Twitter) and @litworld (Instagram, Facebook).

Litworld WRAD16

At our school, we’ll be sharing many stories of hope. A few of our picks will be Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez by Kathleen Krull, Barack Obama: Son of Promise, Child of Hope by Nikki Grimes, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo, and many more.  What books will you share?

It’s not too late to share your schedule for World Read Aloud Week on our shared Google Doc and find someone to connect with around the world.

WRAD 16 Doc

Let’s encourage one another this week with stories of hope throughout our global community.

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Be Courageous and Share Your Voice on our Courage Week Flipgrid

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Each week leading up to World Read Aloud Day (February 24th) we want to join our voices around the world to celebrate one of the strengths of reading aloud.  During the week of February 7-13, we celebrate how reading helps us have the courage to stand up for our beliefs. Many students have already contributed their voices to talk about Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, Kindness, and Confidence.

LitWorld 7 Strengths

We have created a Flipgrid for you to share your responses to the following question:

When did reading give you the courage to stand up for something you believe in?

We hope you will share this Flipgrid with other educators, students, and families around the world and record your responses which can last up to 90 seconds.  Wouldn’t this be a great way to practice some informational writing in classrooms?  Wouldn’t you love to hear stories from the families that you serve?  Aren’t you curious about the perspectives on this question from around the world?  Let’s join our voices and contribute responses all week long.  By sharing our stories of courage, we are supporting one another’s courage to read aloud the books we love all around the world

http://flipgrid.com/#d0034566

In addition, you might also consider coming up with your own posts in response to this week’s theme on your own blog or site.  You might have the courage to speak up this week and share something that you believe in with your followers and ask them to do the same. You might post a video of yourself talking about a character who gives you courage. You might be courageous enough to dress as a character for a day and share the experience through social media.  Whatever additional ways you choose to celebrate “Courage Week”, please tag your posts with #wrad16 and #courageweek as well as mention @litworldsays (Twitter) and @litworld (Instagram, Facebook).

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At our school, we’ll be sharing many stories that demonstrate courage. A few of our picks will be Testing the Ice by Sharon Robinson, Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds, Max the Brave by Ed Vere, Precious and the Boo Hag by Patricia McKissak, and Nana in the City by Laura Castillo.

It’s not too late to share your schedule for World Read Aloud Week on our shared Google Doc and find someone to connect with around the world.

Let’s empower one another this week by having the courage to stand up for our reading beliefs throughout our global community.

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Join Your Voices for Confidence Week Leading Up to #WRAD16

Each week leading up to World Read Aloud Day (February 24th) we want to join our voices around the world to celebrate one of the strengths of reading aloud.  Many students have already contributed their voices to talk about Belonging, Curiosity, Friendship, and Kindness.

LitWorld 7 Strengths

During the week of January 31-February 6, we celebrate how reading helps us be confident and proud to be who we are. Reading the world empowers us to own our strengths.

We have created a Flipgrid for you to share your responses to the following question:

What stories make you confident and proud to be you?

FireShot Capture 10 - Flipgrid. Relax and discuss. - http___flipgrid.com_#d6716a6b

We hope you will share this Flipgrid with other educators, students, and families around the world and record your responses which can last up to 90 seconds.  Wouldn’t this be a great way to practice some informational writing in classrooms?  Wouldn’t you love to hear stories from the families that you serve?  Aren’t you curious about the perspectives on this question from around the world?  Let’s join our voices and contribute responses all week long.  By sharing our stories of confidence, we are supporting one another’s confidence in the power to read aloud.

http://flipgrid.com/#d6716a6b

In addition, you might also consider coming up with your own posts in response to this week’s theme on your own blog or site.  You might write or record about a book or character that feels personal to you.  You might strike a confident pose with a book that gives you strength and post that picture to social media. You might read in a place that you normally wouldn’t and take a picture to share.  You could dare others to do the same.  Whatever additional ways you choose to celebrate “Confidence Week”, please tag your posts with #wrad16 and #confidenceweek as well as mention @litworldsays (Twitter) and @litworld (Instagram, Facebook).

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At our school, we’ll be sharing many stories that demonstrate confidence. A few of our picks will be One Green Apple by Eve Bunting, Ish by Peter Reynolds, Star of the Week by Barney Saltzberg, Dancing in the Wings by Debbie Allen, Firebird by Misty Copeland, and Bridget’s Beret by Tom Lichtenheld.

It’s not too late to share your schedule for World Read Aloud Week on our shared Google Doc and find someone to connect with around the world.

Let’s empower one another’s confidence this week throughout our global community.

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Add Your Voice to the Friendship Week Flipgrid for World Read Aloud

LitWorld 7 Strengths

Each week leading up to World Read Aloud Day (February 24th) we want to join our voices around the world to celebrate one of the strengths of reading aloud.  During the week of January 17-24, we celebrate how reading connects us and makes the world a friendlier place

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We have created a Flipgrid for you to share your responses to the following question:

How does reading help us connect and make the world friendlier?

We hope you will share this Flipgrid with other educators, students, and families around the world and record your responses which can last up to 90 seconds.  Wouldn’t this be a great way to practice some informational writing in classrooms?  Wouldn’t you love to hear stories from the families that you serve?  Aren’t you curious about the perspectives on this question from around the world?  Let’s join our voices and contribute responses all week long.  Can we find a new friend by contributing our voice?

http://flipgrid.com/#25c255a6

In addition, you might also consider coming up with your own posts in response to this week’s theme on your own blog or site.  You might read aloud a book with a friend and post about it on your blog or other social media. You might post a book of your best book friends which might be actual people or covers of books. Whatever additional ways you choose to celebrate “Friendship Week”, please tag your posts with #wrad16 and #friendshipweek as well as mention @litworldsays (Twitter) and @litworld (Instagram, Facebook).

I know one of the stories we will read during Friendship Week is Leo: A Ghost Story by Mac Barnett, but we will read many other friendship stories during the week as well.

It’s not too late to share your schedule for World Read Aloud Week on our shared Google Doc and find someone to connect with around the world.

Let’s share how we are all friends who are part of a global community.