Our 2021 Impact with Storiarts

Guest post by our sponsor Storiarts. To learn more about our partnership with Storiarts, click here.

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Words have the power to comfort and inspire change. Our literary-themed products allow booklovers like you to connect to and share the words they love most. But the power of words doesn't end there. Every purchase from Storiarts supports our partnership with LitWorld to make literacy accessible to kids around the globe. 

Last year was a test of worldwide resilience. But despite the obstacles, LitWorld's efforts to promote reading, writing, and storytelling were undeterred. We are grateful to report that you helped make an impact for good!

THANKS TO YOUR PURCHASES IN 2021, WE WERE ABLE TO:

• Support an entire year of programming in and around Nairobi, Kenya with Kenya Education Fund. This allowed the partner organization to run fifteen LitClubs, including boys', girls', teens' clubs and programming for moms. Kenya Education Fund directly serves over 300 children every year.

• Provide materials to the moms' LitClubs in Pakistan, which run together with an entrepreneurship and empowerment program for the moms at the Nanjina Sewing Center. The women receive sewing training, as well as materials for sewing, in order to support their families. This program supported sixty families in 2021.

• Fund our partners in Pakistan, allowing them to deliver books and writing supplies, along with hygiene products and basic provisions, to children and families when they needed it most. Also, supported the moms' LitClub in sewing thousands of masks that were distributed across the communities to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

• Provide much needed program materials and books to our partners in the Philippines, allowing them to deliver LitClub lessons for over 200 children, along with meals and necessities to families in quarantine.

• Supply materials for the World Read Aloud Day celebration in Colombia, where the weekly "Read Aloud" campaign involves over 8000 participants to celebrate the power of reading aloud.

• Sponsor the launch of the Public Library Project in Livingstone, Zambia by holding library staff trainings, purchasing of books for 165 members, and other materials for community and child-friendly environment.

Another Amazing World Read Aloud Day!

Last week marked the 13th annual World Read Aloud Day, and we are blown away by just how huge this year's celebration has been!

From Kenya to Colombia, here's how readers, writers, and storytellers like you joined together to make this World Read Aloud Day one of the most incredible yet.

This year, we asked you to share your stories and you answered in droves! See the results of our 'Build A Story' challenge here, and watch us build a story live with classrooms around the world here.

With #WorldReadAloudDay trending at #10 on Twitter, here are just a few moments from the day that warmed our hearts!

"Ms. Cosentino was caught reading to Class 2-310! PS75 just loves to celebrate World Read Aloud Day! Thanks Ms.Yadira Lopez for organizing this school wide celebration."

- @TheraErickson

(Translated) "Books take you to wonderful places with unique characters... On World Read Aloud Day, I invite you to share your favorite stories with your family!"

@cuentacuentosemma

"Author action shot from World Read Aloud Day! Is it weird that I have as much fun with this as the kids?"

- @sjsubity

"An author visit with @walkerelam felt like 'the kind of hug that wraps around you like a sweater.' Thank you so very much for sharing your story with us on World Read Aloud Day."

- @brawninthebooks

In addition to World Read Aloud Day, LitWorld works year-long to promote the power of stories by supporting our partners around the globe. Check below to see just a few of their celebrations!

To learn more, click here to read our exclusive interview with Publishing Perspectives about our work and how we are creating lasting change in countless communities through our new 'Innovation Partnership' model.

"Seeds of Hope Foundation celebrated World Read Aloud Day in the Bhathna community... The LitClub and community members participated very enthusiastically in the celebration."

- Seeds of Hope, Pakistan

"[We] celebrated World Read Aloud Day in style! Protais read aloud Bwenge n' Utunyugunyugu written by Ndahayo Ferdinand and illustrated by Uwera Perpetue."

- Ready for Reading, Rwanda

(Translated) "With the support of LitWorld, a variety of activities focused on reading were carried out in 9 communities of the Cangrejal River in commemoration of World Read Aloud Day."

- Un Mundo, Honduras

"Teacher Katherine read The Hungry Caterpillar and engaged the students in learning about the lifecycle of the butterfly... Dancing, singing, and reading were all part of the celebration."

- Kenya Connect, Kenya

Want more? Make sure to follow us on social as we continue to shine the spotlight on celebrations near and far!

Guest Post by Abba of Read Aloud with Abba

Guest post by S.B. Goncarova, a.k.a. Abba of Read Aloud with Abba

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Last March, when all non-essential travel ground to a halt, I found myself on the other side of a border from my two nieces, ages 3 and 5. Their mom, my sister, an elementary school teacher herself, decided to homeschool the girls, and I was eager to help anyway I could, however I could, even if that was just entertaining the kids over FaceTime to provide temporary relief so my sister could go sneak in a shower and maybe even wash her hair. The girls and I fell into a routine of calling over FaceTime for a few hours a few times a week.

I’ve been teaching early music to kids pretty much all my adult life, so invariably these calls would turn into some sort of musical game, a hybrid of the games  ‘musical chairs,’ and ‘freeze.’ Of course, these would also involve a leaping over hot lava inexplicably bubbling up through the tiles of the kitchen floor.

Soon our musical games became musical adventures, centered around two heroes, coincidentally aged 3 and 5. And our adventures were not only full of hot lava, but also saber-toothed tigers, pterodactyls, and creepy caves, to the accompaniment of minor seconds, tritones and diminished sevenths and ninths. 

Besides spending some fun quality time with my nieces, I also wanted to sneak in some music lessons on the sly. I myself had a very different first training in music, basically starting with thumbs on middle c and learning outward from there.  But in the years I’ve spent as an adult teaching early music to children, I’ve seen the benefits of exposing kids to different aspects of music through ear training, even without them knowing it. What I’ve learned over the years is that if kids are having fun, laughing, and creating something from their imagination, they’ll spend longer at whatever they’re doing.

And the same goes for reading as it does teaching music; the more engaged kids are, the more fun they’re having, the longer they’ll spend reading and the stronger their reading skills will be. This is why, when I recorded my first set of read-aloud videos, I wanted to make it as fun as possible, with music (of course) but also with fun voices and silly sound effects. I wanted kids to stay with the book as long as possible. 

Then one day, over a FaceTime call, almost a year later, my sister put on one of the chapters of my read-aloud videos on YouTube and I got to see my nieces’ reactions. They giggled, they cackled, they repeated the same chapter over and over again just to hear their favorite line over and over. They had just spent a good 25 minutes reading along with a book and not realizing where the time went.

I was grinning from ear to ear.

And when, a month later, when my sister called to report back that the girls were getting more comfortable with bigger words and more complicated sentence structures, and their everyday vocabulary was improving, I was the one dancing around in the kitchen as if the floor were flowing with hot lava. 

Watch Chapter 5 of ‘The Curious Case of the Creepy Cave.’

Upcoming LitWorld Leadership Transition

Dear LitWorld Friends,

We wanted to share with you some important transitions and updates.

Dorothy Lee, the Executive Director of LitWorld, will be stepping down in September after 12 years with the organization. Dorothy has always been a dedicated and passionate leader for LitWorld, and she leaves big shoes to fill. This is particularly the case given the breadth and depth of experience we seek in this role—spanning literacy and social emotional learning, U.S. and global education, as well as outstanding conceptual, development, and leadership skills. And, of course, someone with a deep personal passion for LitWorld’s work and mission.

We will launch a search for Dorothy’s successor this week. Dorothy will continue to lead until her departure, and we are in the midst of identifying an acting director in case there is an interim period before the new Executive Director is identified.

This is an exciting moment for LitWorld. The work has never been more necessary, and we have a clear path forward to drive even greater impact in the communities that need us most. Still, we are taking this opportunity to engage in active thinking, learning, and dialogue around our programmatic work, and always challenging ourselves on how we can deepen LitWorld’s continued commitment to strengthening kids and communities through the power of stories. We look forward to sharing more updates on this journey with you in the coming weeks and months.

Best,
Samantha, Dorothy,
& LitWorld Leadership

The Importance of LitCamp

Guest post by Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld and author of many acclaimed books for educators and families including ‘Every Child a Super Reader’, co-authored with LitWorld board member Dr. Ernest Morrell.

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This summer more than ever, LitCamp has meant so much to so many children across the country. With its social-emotional learning framework and authentic literacy skill building activities, LitCamp provides a welcoming, caring community of belonging at a time when all of us really need that - especially our nation's kids.

LitCamp began as a seed idea in Harlem, NY and Nairobi, Kenya in 2010. That summer, the LitWorld team co-created a strengths based approach to meet the needs of summertime learning with two of our cherished local partners. Together, we recognized the power of this work when many more children than the original participants started to come, more and more each and every day! It turned out everyone was telling their cousins and friends and neighbors, so everyone wanted to come to LitCamp and we made space for them all! It was the first sign of what would become a sustaining feature of this program: a powerful community of belonging and learning that wraps each and every LitCamper in an environment of serious joy.

Pam Allyn and Dick Robinson

The CEO of Scholastic, Dick Robinson left an extraordinary legacy with his dedication and support of LitCamp. After hearing the story of how much the first of our LitCampers loved their experience, he asked: "How can Scholastic help grow this amazing work?" And with that question, thousands more children were able to join into the power of LitCamp.

Many times, I have LitCampers say to me: "Only 323 days left until LitCamp... Only 12 days left.." Children count down the days. They count them down because they love that their stories matter at LitCamp. They count them because they love improving their reading and writing skills in record time. They count them because they love how LitCamp values and understand matters of the human heart: friendship, joy, optimism and courage.

This year, we see so profoundly the value of a program that intersects social emotional learning and academic development. But most of all, we see how much it matters to connect to others. LitCamp does it all.

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About LitCamp

LitCamp is LitWorld's innovative literacy program that combines engaging, motivational literacy lessons with an interactive summer camp approach for Pre-K through 8th Grade and centers our 7 Strengths. LitCamp, in English and Spanish, and deeply culturally responsive in the LItWorld core values, celebrates and builds on kids’ strengths, helping them reach their full potential as empowered literacy learners across all subject areas.

Together, LitWorld and Scholastic - the world's largest publisher and distributor of children's books - bring LitCamp to thousands of classrooms every summer, reaching over a million kids across the U.S. since 2015!

Celebrating and Supporting Women Who Lead this Mother’s Day!

Mother’s Day is less than a week away, and this year we are celebrating by shining a light on some of the many incredible women in our LitWorld family who help their communities stay strong - through COVID-19 and beyond!

From sewing and distributing face-masks to reading aloud with children and creating a new generation of leaders, we are beyond thankful for these role-models and honored to support their journeys with Moms LitClubs.

Kenya Connect, Kenya

Laughter and chatter filled the room during the last Moms LitClub session at Kenya Connect as LitMoms worked together word-by-word to tell a story, then used book illustrations to create their own stories! Afterwards, each LitMom borrowed a picture book to replicate the activity with their children and grandchildren, passing the knowledge and joy on to the next generation.

According to LitMom Anna, "The skills that I have acquired from LitClub have made me a teacher, and I am very confident that I can now teach my grandchildren... I have gained so much interest in reading. Whenever I go out to graze my cattle, I carry a book with me. What we are doing in Moms LitClub is really helping me a lot."

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Seeds of Hope Foundation, Pakistan

In the wake of COVID-19, LitMoms at Seeds of Hope Foundation took action by starting a friendly sewing competition to make face masks! Safia and Anum won with 230 and 150 masks made respectively, which they distributed to the community for free.

Safia told our partners that "she is really grateful to LitWorld and Seeds of Hope Foundation for giving her this opportunity to use her skills for the betterment of humanity in such a crucial circumstance." She also added that "in this epidemic, everyone needs to be optimistic and to act courageously to fight against this adversity."

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Ready for Reading, Rwanda

When LitClub mentor Sylvie was unable to join other Ready for Reading LitClub members for World Read Aloud Day this February, she did not get discouraged. Instead, she celebrated at her own home and led a read aloud with her family, encouraging a culture of learning and joy!

Like Sylvie, many LitMoms have been working hard to share skills they learned in Moms LitClubs with their families. Check out Josephine, Francoise, and Fortune reading aloud with their kids, instilling in them a love for reading and giving them the tools they need for a brighter future!

Memorable Read Aloud Moments

Guest post by Abigail Calkin, author of The Soul of My Soldier. Read more of her writing by visiting her blogs here or here.

My grandson loves ocean fishing and caught his first salmon and first halibut as a preschooler. However, even as a nine-year-old, he doesn’t love schoolwork and had not brought a book with him for our weekend together. He decided the book I was reading, Crawford’s Mariner’s Weather, reading level probably technical university graduate, would do fine and opened to the first chapter. He slowly read the first two paragraphs to me, then interpreted them to tell me we live on the vast ocean floor of the atmosphere.

At one school where I was principal, we had twenty minutes of silent reading every day after lunch. Occasionally a teacher would read to the classroom during that time. Yes, students reading out loud would have been better but far noisier. In today’s world, perhaps 20 minutes of twenty-five children reading aloud in one room might work, but we didn’t think of it then. In the school, we also had a gallon jar in the office that held all positive tickets any staff member had given a student whether for good learning, good behavior, or a special kindness. By the end of the week, the jar had always filled.

One March during Read Aloud Month, I said if the slightly more than 200 students from very nonacademic homes read 1,000 books, I planned to spend a day doing my work on the roof of the school. The students made lists of books read at school and home. Parents signed for those at home. We vastly exceeded our aim as they collectively read over 5,000. I drew a name from the jar for one student who would get to eat lunch on the roof with me. Ten-year-old Kim climbed the ladder and we had a delightful, chatty lunch in the sunshine. Some 1990s Topeka Capital Journal has a photo and short article of the rooftop event.

Waiting for laundry to finish—two parents, two children, two books.

Another memorable reading moment occurred when I watched my son, daughter-in-law, and their infant daughter cuddle between them to listen to her nightly bedtime story. Reading aloud doesn’t have to occur at bedtime only, though. Laundromats in an Alaska winter are fine.  

When I was a graduate student supervisor, Daisy, in the graduate program, had a high school student who wanted to be on the football team, but his grades were too low. When he came to the university reading clinic, he had a beginning second grade reading level, not high enough to absorb the content of high school texts and pass all courses.

University terms were ten weeks, thus Daisy would work with him for ten weeks. Daisy did one thing I thought was crazy. She had him read Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men. Oral reading fluency is 200 to 250 words per minute. The young man read 40 words a minute. At the end of ten weeks, neither gave up. Daisy volunteered her time for the next six and a half months to continue to teach him to read better. Yes, with the training she had, they did more than just read from the book. She also worked to improve his phonic and comprehension skills. Nine months after they started, the young man finished Of Mice and Men, still at a frequency of 40 to 45 words per minute. He improved his reading scores from beginning second grade to mid-fourth grade level, a two and a half year gain in nine months. He got on the team and graduated from high school.

The benefits of reading aloud are at least twofold—teach the love of reading and teach the habit of reading. Have books in your house. Let your children and others see you read a book or magazine. Let people see you absorbed by the words, pictures, and stories.