Together with Scholastic and Ralph Lauren Kids, School of Rock the Musical is supporting World Read Aloud Day, and donating a portion of ticket sales to LitWorld for performances from February 24th through March 31st! Purchasers must use code SCRLN126 when reserving tickets by phone, at the box office, or at telechargeoffers.com. Join School of Rock the Musical for a live reading with members of the cast after the February 24th matinee.
The Benefits of Reading Aloud: Join LitWorld & ILA for an On-Air Hangout
On the eve of World Read Aloud Day, LitWorld's Jennifer Estrada will join the International Literacy Association and fellow literacy experts Steven Layne and Pernille Ripp to talk about the benefits of reading aloud. The discussion will air live on February 23rd at 8pm EST on the ILA YouTube channel. Jennifer is the Director of the LitWorld and Global G.L.O.W. HerStory Initiative, and was named to the ILA's inaugural "30 Under 30" list of innovative young professionals in the field of literacy and education.
Why Our World Needs a World Read Aloud Day
By Torrey Maldonado, author, teacher and WRADvocate
When LitWorld told me about its February 24th World Read Aloud Day, I jumped to help spotlight the power of reading. Why? Reading showed me that my world was bigger than my zip code. Reading was my magic carpet ride out of poverty.
It was tough growing up where I did. When I was a boy, Life magazine called my Brooklyn housing projects one of the “worst neighborhoods” in New York. Living there while trying to navigate a community and family that were both torn apart, I felt alone and the raw absence of togetherness.
Whenever someone admitted to sharing feelings or life experiences with me, I clung to our common ground. Hearing how they worked through relatable issues strengthened me.
When I was a boy, my mother told me, “I read out loud to you when you were in my belly”. I believe it because throughout my life she has taken me by the hand so we could sit side-by-side to hear authors read. Getting lost in distant places described in books lifted my sights from my block to the universe.
As a boy, I loved to watch my mother’s eyes smile as read-alouds gave us access to things we needed—things that all humans need.
Her pouring her love for reading into me bubbled up a desire in me to see the worlds in books that were beyond my zip code. I wanted to rewrite my story into one where I wouldn’t stay poor and living in a cycle of poverty. The love of reading instilled by my mother helped inspire me to want to teach and write. Today, I do both.
This year marks my fifteenth year as a teacher. The New York City Chancellor of schools visited my classroom and honored me as a top educator. Secret Saturdays, my Middle Grade and Young Adult novel, is now used in schools across the U.S.A. to excite a new generation of readers.
When I read aloud now, I always see smiling eyes like my mother's in my listeners. I love pausing to ask, “Do you want me to stop reading?” They adamantly chorus, “NO!” I then test the power of a read aloud and joke, “You’re just being kind.” That’s where I’ve seen tweens to senior citizens beg that I “read just one more page”. Why? Interestingly, most tend to be like me. Maybe they had different upbringings. Maybe they didn’t need a magic carpet ride out of poverty. But, when listeners demand that I keep reading, their eyes say that they feel what I felt growing up: a hunger to hold onto togetherness, a need for validation and a space to feel things, and a desire to work through issues with others in ways that leaves us strengthened.
Torrey Maldonado was voted a "Top 10 Latino Author" and best Middle Grade and Young Adult novelist for African Americans and Latinos. He was recently honored as a top teacher by NYC’s schools Chancellor. His work builds boys into multidimensional males and youth into global, caring citizens. Before teaching, he trained schools to implement Conflict Resolution programs through the U.S.'s largest victim-services agency. His acclaimed novel, Secret Saturdays, made states’ reading lists and is assigned alongside classics and in anti-bullying initiatives.
Plan a Scholastic Book Fairs Family Event for World Read Aloud Day
World Read Aloud Day on February 24th is a perfect time to reflect on family and classroom reading routines, and commit to setting aside time each day to gather as a family or classroom for a story shared aloud.
It takes a strong partnership between home, school and community to nurture children’s reading lives year-round. With our official World Read Aloud Day sponsor, Scholastic, we are celebrating the magic that is happening at Scholastic Book Fairs in schools countrywide to enroll families in the read aloud movement.
During World Read Aloud Day season, over 1,000 Book Fairs will be held all across the US, providing children with an abundance of inspiring reading choices, and providing schools with new resources for inviting families to embrace the practice of daily read alouds.
LitWorld and Scholastic Book Fairs created a special World Read Aloud Day kit full of activities and discussion guides centered on books that make captivating read alouds. The kit also has simple templates that teachers can print and use to organize a read aloud celebration that unites families and classrooms together in the mission to immerse children in year-round read alouds.
The Scholastic Book Fairs World Read Aloud Day kit can be downloaded here. To find a Book Fair near you, follow Scholastic Book Fairs on Facebook, or visit the Scholastic website.
LitWorld & VoiceThread: Share Your Favorite Read Aloud!
Do you have a favorite passage, poem or picture book that you wish everyone in the world could hear? LitWorld and VoiceThread invite you and your students to create short read aloud videos to add your voice and story to the World Read Aloud Day movement.
Submit your video to the ThreadBox below, and leave comments on the videos that have already been created by teachers and students. Any teacher new to VoiceThread who creates and submits a video to the World Read Aloud Day ThreadBox will win a free one year VoiceThread license for their school! Click here for detailed instructions on how to register for VoiceThread, and how to create your own content or comment on existing VoiceThread videos.
To be eligible for your free VoiceThread license, please enter your name and email below after you submit your thread to the ThreadBox, and your free trial account will be automatically upgraded!
A Very WRAD Giveaway: How to Read a Story
World Read Aloud Day gathers a global community of readers to celebrate the magic that happens when reading becomes much more than words on a page. Kate Messner captures this important relationship between reader and story perfectly in her book "How to Read a Story" which inspires kids to embrace the playfulness of reading, and to explore the layers of discovery that readers experience.
We are beyond excited to announce that in honor of World Read Aloud Day, Kate Messner and Chronicle Books are giving away a classroom (or library) set of "How to Read a Story." The lucky winner will receive 30 signed copies of the book, which Kate has generously offered to personalize.
How to Enter
The giveaway is open to residents of the continental United States. To be eligible to win, register your World Read Aloud Day participation on the LitWorld website (litworld.org/register). World Read Aloud Day participants who have registered prior to this giveaway announcement will automatically be entered to win, no need to re-submit your registration. The giveaway closes February 19th at midnight Eastern Time (EST). A winner will be chosen at random and will be notified by email.
Please join us in thanking Kate and Chronicle Books for their generosity and World Read Aloud Day advocacy! Visit Kate at katemessner.com where she is organizing another wonderful World Read Aloud Initiative — author Skype read alouds! Browse the list of authors who are available to read to your students for World Read Aloud Day. Together we will make World Read Aloud Day 2016 the best and biggest celebration yet!
January News for You: An Invitation to Celebrate World Read Aloud Day, and More
We Exceeded our Annual Appeal Goal. Jump for Joy!
We welcome 2016 with the joyful news that we surpassed our $500,000 Annual Appeal fundraising goal! Your support, friendship and advocacy for LitKids across the country and around the world empowers us to ring in 2016 as the year of the LitKid, when thousands more children will experience the profound joy of belonging to a LitClub community. Read on for a special tour of LitWorld stories that are in full swing for the new year.
Join the Countdown to World Read Aloud Day
World Read Aloud Day on February 24th calls attention to the power of reading aloud, and connects the world as a community of readers. World Read Aloud Day is proudly sponsored by Scholastic, and we are honored to join together to bring the power of the read aloud to many more children in the United States and around the world. Join our global movement of over one million people: Register your participation. Count down on social media. Download our classroom and community activity kits. Schedule a virtual read aloud with an author, another classroom, or family and friends. Share this post with your friends and followers.
Photo credit: Monet Izabeth Eliastam
The LitWorld Way
LitWorld is a first responder, bringing urgently needed literacy programs to people who have experienced trauma or natural disasters. But the power of LitWorld is that we stay for the long term, cultivating sustainable learning structures with community partners to support children through to high school, college and beyond. Our team is in Nepal and Haiti this week with graduate students from the Wagner School of Public Service. We will work with our local partners to illuminate the impact of our innovative approach of empowering local leaders to deliver responsive literacy programs, and to deepen and grow our replicable, resilience-building model.
Listen Up: Every Child a Super Reader
LitWorld Founder Pam Allyn and Board Member Dr. Ernest Morrell, Macy Professor of Education at Columbia University’s Teachers College, are the featured guests on the latest Scholastic Reads podcast! Pam and Ernest talk about their new book Every Child a Super Reader and how we can us the inherent strength and brilliance of each child to get them excited and inspired to read. Listen to the podcast here.