Friday is the tenth annual World Read Aloud Day! Each year the past few years I want to do something for WRAD, and each year it has passed me by. Not this year! I was determined to make something work. So I started brainstorming, I don't have a ton of time or resources, but what can I do? Planning a school wide event? Not enough notice/time. Read to the classes that happen to be in the library that day? Not the reach I want. Spreading the word and encouraging teachers to participate in their rooms? I want to be involved...hmmm.... But then I got an idea to "check out" the librarian for the day. (Sidenote - I'm guessing this isn't an original idea and that others have done it, but it was a new idea to me, and I was excited!) I went over to SignUpGenius and made a sign up. (I have a free account. If you haven't noticed with me yet, I typically have free accounts unless it's something provided by my school or a library. I'm frugal, and typically the free version of things do enough that I need. If not, I find another tool that does.) I made the time slots 20 minutes long. I could've made them shorter, but this being my first year, I wanted to allow wiggle room for timing, moving rooms, etc. I wasn't sure how much time it would take. Also for the rooms that I'm doing picture books in, I want to read at least 2 picture books. Even though I was excited, doubt started to creep in. Will middle school teachers go for this? Is this too elementary/young? But I'm willing to read anything, and picture books are good for all ages... So time to stop listening to the negative thoughts and jump! So then I needed to start brainstorming books. I already had some favorites and some I'd been meaning to try, but I needed more. I thought about books I'd seen recommended on social media and browsed some read aloud lists. Then I went to the library with a rough draft list and went through a big stack of picture books before narrowing it down. For some of the 5th Humanities classes that didn't give distinct preferences, I found the Word Collector almost by chance and instantly fell in love with the story about the power of words. For some classes that will be coupled with A Perfectly Messed up Story, which is one of my faves about how things do not always go as planned, but if you keep going along, it'll turn out alright but in a hilarious style. For some that will be coupled with The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors, which I had been meaning to read and heard great things about but hadn't. It's hilarious! And the tone, the repetition, the storytelling, etc. could all model some things talked about in class. One STEM teacher requested something related to engineering and growth mindset. For her classes, I plan to read Rosie Revere, Engineer and After the Fall. Another STEM teacher has requested Papa's Mechanical Fish which I plan to partner with Ada Twist, Scientist. And another Humanities teacher has requested I read a few of my favorite poems. I fell in love with Frost when I first discovered poetry, so I chose The Road Not Taken. (My favorite is Birches, but that may be too lengthy to hold their attention.) Then I thought of Picture Puzzle Piece by Silverstein, which I found and fell in love with during student teaching, but I also wanted a contemporary poem by Jason Reynolds, who's my current favorite writer. I found a great poem by him called "A Talkin'-To" in We Rise, We Resist, We Raise our Voices. I also have two spares if needed or if time allows. We're All Wonders, which I heard great things about on social media and a lot of our kids love Wonder, and The Cow who Climbed a Tree. My daughter and I picked out that book at the book store years ago by chance and love it! She's not afraid of trying new things, dreaming big dreams, and ignoring those who won't try to see things differently. And if a few more sign up today or tomorrow, I'll be tweaking the plans accordingly! I've also been using my kids as guinea pigs. I brought home the front runners that I didn't own, and then for the final test to get to the above group, I read it aloud to them to see how it sounded as a read aloud and to give me practice at the pacing, inflection, etc. I've done practice reads of each one twice, which I'm sure isn't a requirement, but I wanted to be confident that I understood the emotions, rhythm, etc. on the pages. Okay, great, but what are other people doing for WRAD?Here are some cool ideas/events I've seen:
In closingBut at the end of the day, just try to find a way to read aloud and encourage others to as well. It's not a day to stress about. It's a day to find something that will get you and your group excited about reading and give an opportunity to read aloud together! Or worse case scenario put it in your calendar for next year and plan something for that as it gets closer!
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