Welcome Eleven as a New Contender for #GRA16

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Once in awhile, I am gifted a book to consider for the Global Read Aloud.  This the book Eleven by Tom Rogers came to me at my school and I was immediately drawn to it.  The cover told me that the story had something to do with 9/11 and yet I was not sure what to expect.  After all, how do you write about an event that still is so raw in our history and yet do it in a way to capture middle grade readers?

It turns out you do it exactly like Tom Rogers did.  The book follow Alex, a boy whose 11th birthday falls on 9/11, who lives in New York City.  As we follow him throughout the day, we see the story slowly unfold as it dawns on him what is happening in his city.  We also have a dual perspective from the man in the white shirt, which fills in some of the holes that our 11 year old protagonist would not know about.  I cried when I read the book and then I smiled, because I finally found a book that I can hand to the generation of kids that I teach that will offer them a little slice of what it felt like that day.

I should have known that a book that is sold at the 9/11 memorial would be a great read, and it is.  This book is a Global Read Aloud contender for 2016 and should be added to any classroom 3rd grade and up, but I know that my middle schoolers will love it as much as I did as well.

Vote Now for the Early Reader Choice for Global Read Aloud #GRA16

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We continue voting in our first round picks for the Global Read Aloud 2016.  Next up are the amazing choices for our earliest readers.  Voting will run for a week and end on March 9th.  Remember; students may vote too!

Time to Vote for Picture Book Study #GRA16

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It is time….

The very first round of voting begins today for our amazing choices for the picture book author/illustrator for Global read Aloud 2016.  We live in a time where picture books are a vital component of classrooms around the world and I could not be happier to showcase our incredible picture book authors.

Please take a moment to vote – the first round poll will close next Tuesday, March 1st.

Congratulations to all of the authors/illustrators who were chosen as contenders!

The past choices have been:  Eric Carle, Peter H. Reynolds, and Amy Krouse Rosenthal.

 

Another Contender Added – Welcome Raymie Nightingale

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I fell in love with the work of Kate DiCamillo a late summer evening as I read The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane.  who would have thought that a porcelain rabbit who seemed so stuck on himself would bring me to tears ad remind me of my own humanity.  Since then, I have cherished the memories that her writing has provided for my life; the Global Read Aloud falling in love with Edward that year, my own daughter and I listening to the audio book as we drove to school in the early mornings.  When I was asked by Candlewick Press if I would at all be interested in receiving an advanced review copy of her new book Raymie Nightingale I am sure my resounding yes could be heard all the way to their offices.

I abhor book spoilers so I will stick to the official description of the book

Raymie Clarke has come to realize that everything, absolutely everything, depends on her. And she has a plan. If Raymie can win the Little Miss Central Florida Tire competition, then her father, who left town two days ago with a dental hygienist, will see Raymie’s picture in the paper and (maybe) come home. To win, not only does Raymie have to do good deeds and learn how to twirl a baton; she also has to contend with the wispy, frequently fainting Louisiana Elefante, who has a show-business background, and the fiery, stubborn Beverly Tapinski, who’s determined to sabotage the contest. But as the competition approaches, loneliness, loss, and unanswerable questions draw the three girls into an unlikely friendship — and challenge each of them to come to the rescue in unexpected ways.

But what the description does not tell you is how much you will love this book.  How Kate DiCamillo once again has written a tale of unlikely friendship, a journey of souls, that will lead us to question our own.  There were so many parts of the book where I longed for someone else to read what I had just read so that I could talk to them about it.  And that is why I am proud to add Raymie Nightingale as a Global read Aloud contender.  Wonderful, inspiring, and conversation starting describes the book, but why take my word for it?  Read it yourself when it comes out April 12th.

Another Contender for Global Read Aloud 2016 – Pax by Sara Pennypacker

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I don’t really do animal books.  As anyone who has heard me tell the tale of how The One and Only Ivan was selected for GRA 2012, they will know that when a book features an animal I tend to take a very long time to even pick it up.  If a book gets a lot of hype, it sometimes takes me much longer.  So when Pax by Sara Pennypacker, yes, the Sara Pennypacker of Clementine amazingness, was brought to my attention I gladly put it in my to-be-read pile.  And then promptly avoided it for a month.  After all, a book about a fox and boy –  wasn’t that just a new version of Where the Red Fern Grows?

Yet last night, after finishing Touching Spirit Bear, I figured I may as well keep this animal trend going and I settled in to this tale of a boy and his fox and the world that separates them.  And I read for 3 hours.  And I stayed up too late.  And this morning I slipped it in my school bag so I could read during my prep, and then I read during my lunch, and then I read after school.  And tonight, I finished it and it is so wonderful. So magical. So heart-wrenching. So deep.  And all I want to do is to talk about others with it.

And that is why this book is the newest contender for the Global Read Aloud 2016.  This book is meant to be read aloud.  This book is meant to be shared, to be discussed, to be read to a silent room where students just want you to read just one more page.  This book is magic, pure and simple.

So order it now, it comes out February 2, 2016.  Read it, hold it close, and then pass it on to as many people as you can.  While this is a book that asks you to reflect, it is also a book that begs to be shared.  For 4th grade and up, I have a feeling Pax will be a book we remember for a long time to come.

 

Global Read Aloud in the New National Education Technology Plan

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I really don’t have a lot of words for this other than; wow.  Today The White House released their new National Education Technology Plan which encapsulates their hopes for how we use technology in education.  And lo and behold, one of the 5 ways that technology can improve and enhance learning is through a project like the Global Read Aloud!

Here is what was said

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3. Technology can help learning move beyond the classroom and take advantage of learning opportunities available in museums, libraries, and other out-of-school settings.Coordinated events such as the Global Read Aloud allow classrooms from all over the world to come together through literacy. One book is chosen, and participating classrooms have six weeks in which teachers read the book aloud to students and then connect their classrooms to other participants across the world. Although the book is the same for each student, the interpretation, thoughts, and connections are different. This setting helps support learners through the shared experience of reading and builds a perception of learners as existing within a world of readers. The shared experience of connecting globally to read can lead to deeper understanding of not only the literature but also of their peers with whom students are learning.

I don’t know what else to say, other than, how would have thought that a little idea like this could grow so big?

Sign Up for the 2016 Global Read Aloud

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Although the 2015 Global Read Aloud has just finished, the sign up for 2016 is now open.  Why sign up early?  You get to get in on the contender updates and latest news.  And you even get to vote for the finalists!  This year as a new feature when you sign up you will automatically be added to the Google group to stay in the know.  Why is this awesome?  Because that way you won’t miss out on anything.

So sign up now, stay tuned for next year, and until then; happy reading!

The Worth of You

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Cross-posted from my blog

Lynda Mullaly Hunt made me cry yesterday.  Right in the middle of a panel session on the community of the Global Read Aloud.  I had held my tears back all throughout as the authors had shared what it means to have their book read and loved by so many children on a global scale.  I had held my tears back as they had talked about the ways that their books had changed the lives of others, how children had found hope, courage, and determination through their pages.  Yet when Lynda told me that the slide showing a globe was for me because I had changed the world. I cried.  And then Lynda cried, and I sat there in awe because I  never set out to make a difference, I simply wanted to read a book aloud to my students and have them share their thoughts.

So I write this post not to gloat in the Global Read Aloud glory.  Nor to say that I am anything special, but more so to tell people that your ideas have worth.  That your ideas may make a difference to someone else.  That those ideas you carry inside need to be spoken because you will never know what type of difference they may make.

And yes, it is scary to speak a dream aloud.  And yes, it is scary to let others in .  And yes, it is scary to be proud of what you have created.  But it is worth it.  Even if your idea changes the course for one other person, or even if just changes yours, it will never change anything if you do not speak out loud.  If you do not share.

I never set out to make a difference, I wish I could say I had.  But it happened, if even just for my own students as they fell in love with a book year after year and wanted to make the world a better place.  Because I dared to speak aloud.  I dared to think that perhaps someone somewhere would see the beauty in this so simple idea.  And so the Global Read Aloud will continue to make a difference for so many kids, for so many teachers, as we gather in this time of terrorism, uncertainty and a world determined to be dark at times.  We need books to connect us because the world seems to be trying to tear us apart at times.  We need books to remind us that we are more alike than different.  We need books and experiences and emotions so that we can remember that we are humans first and that whatever difference we may have can be overcome.

I never set out to change the world, and I am not even sure that I have.  But I had an idea that I dared speak aloud and now cannot imagine a world without it.  Share yours; change the world.