Month: October 2016

GRA Gives Back – Meet Ricardo #gra16

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With the news that over $2,000 worth of books have been purchased so far for the community center El Buen Samaritano we are so grateful for the Global read Aloud.  From penny drives to business days, we love what so many kids are doing to support this community center and truly make a difference in the lives of these 60 kids.

Every week, we will feature one of the children that the GRA Gives Back campaign is trying to help with its partnership with Palms & Souls.  We hope that these stories will show you the very real impact that our project can have for these children in Guatemala.  If you missed the partnership announcement or need ideas for how you can help, please see this post. 

Hi, my name is Marlon Ricardo López.

Age: 10 years

Grade: 4th

What I like most about school: Free time to play with my friends!

Favorite books: Histories and legends

Future Job: Architect

Favorite pastime: Soccer

What I like most of the El Buen Samaritano: Reading legends with the volunteers.

Ricardo and his family

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Ricardo’s family all live together in this room.

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The alley that connects Ricardo’s family’s room to other families’ rooms.

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Ricardo’s whole family shares a one-bedroom apartment. They sleep together on the two beds and cook on a camp stove in the corner of the room. Ricardo’s youngest brother has lung problems which are irritated by the smoke from their stove. We asked Ricardo’s parents about their hopes and dreams for their children, and they both responded “We want opportunities for them to continue their education and go to University. If they don’t, they will probably have the same life as they do now.”

Ricardo loves to learn and is hoping for books about history or myths. He and his brothers also love soccer and would enjoy reading about sports. By purchasing books you are helping Ricardo’s parents give these kids a chance at a different life. He is so lucky to have a supportive mother and father at home; many kids don’t. Thank you so much for believing in Ricardo and participating in this book drive!  

Global Read Aloud Gives Back – Meet Fernanda #GRA16

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Every week, we will feature one of the children that the GRA Gives Back campaign is trying to help with its partnership with Palms & Souls.  We hope that these stories will show you the very real impact that our project can have for these children in Guatemala.  If you missed the partnership announcement or need ideas for how you can help,please see this post. 

Meet Fernanda!

Hi, my name is  Fernanda Abigail Luis Quintanilla.

Age: 10 years

Grade: 4th

What I like most about school: Playing with friends.

Favorite books: Stories of princesses

Future Job: Secretary

Favorite pastime: Soccer

What I like most of the El Buen Samaritano: Being with Mr. Magda and the volunteers.

Fernanda with her family at home

Fernanda with her family at home

Fernanda in her kitchen

Fernanda in her kitchen

Fernanda is hoping for princess and fantasy books to read herself and with her sisters. Your donation will directly impact all three girls. Thank you so much for caring about these kids.

GRA Gives Back – Meet Dulce #GRA16

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Every week, we will feature one of the children that the GRA Gives Back campaign is trying to help with its partnership with Palms & Souls.  We hope that these stories will show you the very real impact that our project can have for these children in Guatemala.  If you missed the partnership announcement or need ideas for how you can help, please see this post. 

Meet Dulce!

Hi, my name is  Katherine Dulce María Castellanos Martínez.

Age: 12 years

Grade: 6th

What I like most about school: Music classes

Favorite Book: I love all books and stories.

Future Job: Teacher

Favorite sport or pastime: Reading and helping with the smaller children

What I like to do most: Reading stories to other students at the center.

What I like most of the El Buen Samaritano: I like everything, but especially the volunteers!

Dulce is really hoping for books to read to the smaller children at El Buen Samaritano. She is a great helper and loves to tutor younger students in the afternoon.

We can’t thank you enough for supporting this project!

GRA Gives Back: Meet Jeferson #GRA16

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Every week, we will feature one of the children that the GRA Gives Back campaign is trying to help with its partnership with Palms & Souls.  We hope that these stories will show you the very real impact that our project can have for these children in Guatemala.  If you missed the partnership announcement or need ideas for how you can help, please see this post.  

Jeferson at El Buen Samaritano Community Center

 

 

 

Jeferson at El Buen Samaritano Community Center

 

 

Hi, My name is Jeferson Ariel Enrique Castellanos Martínez.

Age: 8 years

Grade: 2nd

Favorite Book: I like a lot of different books

What I like most about school: Spending free time with friends

Future job: Police

Favorite pastime: Soccer

What I like to do most: Playing sports with my friends

What I like most of the El Buen Samaritano: Being with the fun volunteers and Mr.

Magda, the classes, and food

Jeferson and his brother at home

Jeferson and his brother at home

Jeferson's sister in his kitchen at home

Jeferson’s sister in his kitchen at home

Jeferson's home­­­­

 

Jeferson’s home­­­­

Jeferson is so excited about the potential of having a library at the community center. He

likes to read, but doesn’t get an opportunity to read books very often. He is usually limited

to one page stories printed off the internet. This book drive could be a life-changer for

him. Thank you for believing and investing in Jeferson!

To see the book drive, go here.

Final Information for Global Read Aloud 2016 #GRA16

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I thought a post with all of the pertinent information for this year might be helpful as we get ready to kick off.  With more than 891,000 students signed up, this is again a record breaking year.

If you are new to the GRA, or would just like a refresher, please see
this post https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/06/08/if-you-are-new-to-the-
global-read-aloud-gra16/  It is a great place to start with the basic
information.

To add yourself to the official map go here https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/09/29/official-global-read-aloud-2016-map-gra16/

To see ideas:

I am greatful to those who have shared a few ideas from past years or what
they plan on doing this year.  Go here to see them https://drive.google.com/
open?id=1TxTfQUnyht9cFEMelJt5mczUYUcGcxAVrfDSgsc2r2s

What to read and when:
For the chapter breakdowns for each book and to see which picture books
will be which weeks, go here https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/
07/27/chapter-breakdowns-for-all-global-read-aloud-books-gra16/

Twitter:
The hashtag is very active with ideas shared all of the time, this year’s hashtag on Twitter
is #GRA16

The books also have individual hashtag’s if you would like to use those,
they are

Lauren Castillo – #GRALauren
The BFG – #GRABFG
Pax – #GRAPax
Orbiting Jupiter – #GRAOJ
All American Boys – #GRAAAB

Ideas:
Here is the link to see ideas shared https://docs.google.com/document/d/
1TxTfQUnyht9cFEMelJt5mczUYUcGcxAVrfDSgsc2r2s/edit?usp=sharing

Merchandise:
To get merchandise to show your support, go here  https://shop.
spreadshirt.com/pernilleripp/?noCache=true#

To connect:
To join the Facebook group, go here https://www.facebook

To see how to join Edmodo, go here https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/05/14/edmodo-groups-for-global-read-aloud-2016-gra16/

GRA Gives Back:
If you have not seen the major announcement on how you can help the GRA give back to a community center in Guatemala please see this post https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/08/18/major-announcement-the-global-read-aloud-gives-back-gra16/
Every week we will feature one of the families directly affected by the giving back in order to help you get a feel for what your help will mean.  I am so excited to partner with Palms and Souls to try to make a difference in the life of kids.

Breakout EDU 

We have partnered with Breakout EDU to create games just for GRA.  To see the games (and get your super awesome GRA bookmarks) go here http://www.breakoutedu.com/gra/

Write About Partnership.  

We have once again partnered up with Write About,a blogging platform, to give every participant a year’s free membership.  To read more about it and get signed up, go here   https://theglobalreadaloud.com/2016/09/11/global-read-aloud-welcomes-back-write-about-gra16/

Hopefully this helps you have an incredible project.  Thank you for believing in the project, thank you for believing in me.  May this year be another incredible year.

Global Read Aloud and #TeachersPayTeachers

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It has come to my attention that there are products being sold on Teachers Pay Teachers and other similar sites that are being marketed to those participating in the GRA.  While I have no problem with Teachers Pay Teachers, I do have a problem with the Global Read Aloud being used as a way to profit off of others.

I started this project in 2010 and have spent hundreds of hours without pay since then to keep it free.  The only money I make from the project is if you buy a t-shirt and even that is just a few dollars.  The profits from that go to offset the cost of buying the books I have to buy to keep reading for the project every year, running the website, as well as any legal things such as trademarking the name.  Because yes, the name is trademarked and may not be present on any products not sanctioned by me, and I have not sanctioned any projects besides the items in the official store.

Thank you to those of you who have created beautiful resources and shared them for free; this is the spirit of the project; connecting with others and helping each other out.  I will never make this project one that you have to pay for.  I do not ever plan on making any kind of worthwhile money from this project.  The authors that participate do so for free.

This project is meant to be free, to make the world smaller, to create an incredible reading experience.  Not to make money, so if you are one of the people who has marketed products, please stop, please take them down or at the very least remove the name.  And if you see someone trying to sell something, please let me know or send them to this post.  Thank you.