One Week and Counting

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As the official start of the project approaches, I am getting incredibly excited.  Welcome each and everyone to this project!

I thought it would be fitting if anyone wanted to submit a guest blog or have their class do one to just let me know.  That way this will become our blog and not just mine.  So if before, during, or after the project you want to share your thoughts, experiences, please let me know via email, comment, or twitter and I will put up your post.

Thank you once again for joining me on this adventure.  We plan on doing our first read aloud part next Monday and students will be drawing their own versions of a snake swallowing an elephant to be scanned into the wiki page.  We will also be predicting and sharing those predictions.  Remember no contribution is too little or too big so share whatever you feel like.

Good luck and welcome onboard!

Let’s Get Connected

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Ladies and Gentleman, it is time we start to think about who you may want to reach out and connect with during the project.  While I encourage and hope you will share projects, thoughts, and videos on our wiki, I also hope you will take the time to buddy up with other classes.  I think if we can focus on a couple classes the project will have a deeper meaning to all of the kids.

So suggestions are to leave a comment talking about who you would like to connect with.  Or you can go to our Google sign up document and email someone on the list.  Use Twitter to reach out to people under our hashtag #glread10, or…?

How do you want to connect?

Where are You on the Map?

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Today I received an email from Laura and she writes:


Hello!
I tried posting this to the blog, but was having difficulty this morning with the word verification part not completely showing on my screen.  Weird.  Anyway- about the global read aloud- 
Do you think we could create a Google Map with everyone’s school location and zoom in to street view to see their school? Here is an example on castles I found just so you can see what i mean if you’re not sure. Click on a castle…the while speech bubble looking thing has an option More and then click on Street View. Not every castle has street view so find one that does and you’ll see what I mean.
http://bit.ly/dCVvZn

🙂
Laura Fleming


So that is what I did; here is our very own Google Map, it is up to you if you would like to add your school but I do think it will be a great map to show the students of just how connected we all are and where we all are!


To add your school, click on the link and then do a search for your school.  When your school comes up you should click on the highlighted name and then there should be a “Save to…” button.  Select the Global Read Aloud Map.


Let me know if this works or not.


(I also plan on doing a pushpin map in my classroom)

Where are You From?

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The One thing I forgot to put on the Google Doc was a simple questions; where are you from?  So if you don’t mind either adding it to the google doc or shooting me an email.  That way I can piece together a map of where everyone will be sharing from.

Thank you for making this crazy dream a reality, I cannot wait to do the project with all of you!

Official Timeline for The Little Prince

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To keep engagement and excitement level high we have decided that the book should be read within a 4-week period.  So the start date will be September 20th with a finish date of October 15th.  Please do not feel rushed by this; remember this is supposed to be a great experience and not anything stressful.  Therefore follow along as best as you can and share as much as you feel like.

Week 1:  Sept. 20th -24th
Read chapters 1 through 7

Week 2: Sept. 27th – Oct. 1st
Read chapters 8 through 14

Week 3:  Oct. 4th – Oct 8th
Read chapters 15 – 21

Week 4:  Oct. 11th – Oct. 15th
Finish the book

I will be uploading video from my classroom of my read aloud as well as our post discussion.  My students will blog about their perspective on the book on our kidblog, as well as post on our wikispaces page.

The Global Read Aloud Project

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The book has been selected and the start date set, now all we do is wait and the anticipation is making me excited!  So as you prepare for this project please add to our lesson guide that I have started.  I know about some technology that may be incorporated into the project but I bet there is a lot of other ideas out there.  So please share your thoughts with the world, just as I have been.

The final question I have been pondering is length of the project; would we prefer it to wrap up at the end of October?  That would mean we give ourselves 6 weeks to read the book, since we start September 20th, so about 4 chapters a week – not impossible if you think about it.  What are your thoughts?  Does the end of October sound like a doable finish date?

Shared Lesson Resource

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I have started work on a lesson resource for all of us to add to as we read the book and prepare for our discussion.  This document is meant for sharing so please add your ideas to it; after all, I am by no means an expert on discussion questions.  Please add any ideas you have for incorporating technology into the lesson and ideas of how you can connect with people.

As I continue to re-read chapters and get inspired, I will add more ideas – I hope you will as well.

This is a google document, please let me know if you have any problems accessing or adding to it.

Here is the link:  Little Prince Shared Resource

Our updated hashtag for twitter

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Thanks to Yutaka, an alert member of our group, the old hashtag (#grap) used on Twitter has been scrapped since it would include many other hashtags as well.  Lisa @teachingwithsoul came to the rescue when she suggested the new hashtag #glread10.  So if you are on twitter talking about the project please use this tag instead. 

A timeline and shared resource/idea folder will soon be published, keep your eyes open.

To Drink or Not to Drink?

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There was a moment of recognition and blossoming love in my house last night as I sat down and reread The Little Prince.  I must admit that I am very partial to this book and incredibly excited that it has been picked as a the first ever global read aloud.  My father writes musicals and as a child ,the first musical he ever created was based around this book.  I therefore feel that I grew up with this book and that every time I reread it, a new lesson is given to me.  This is the magic I cannot wait to share with my students and students around the world.

As I reread it though, I got to Chapter XII in which the prince goes to the planet inhabited by the drunkard.  Immediately I was on alert; would this be appropriate for my 4th grade students to hear.  The chapter is very short, only 2 pages, and not essential to the whole story.  However, after more thought I realized that my students have been exposed to much worse language than that and that it is not depicting drinking as something good but instead as a way for adults to become even more inexplicable and confusing to children.  So I will be leaving this part in as I read the story aloud; after all many children do not understand either, why we as adults surround ourselves with alcohol sometimes.  However, you may feel different.  You know your school, your kids and yourself.  So if you do not feel comfortable with the chapter, skip it.  Just don’t let it ruin the experience of the book.

And the Winner is…

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The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery.

After our discussion yesterday, I agree with the comments that this book is a universally appealing and accessible book that many different age levels can read and discuss.

So now the planning begins; I will continue to share resources but please make this a forum to share your ideas. How do you plan on using this book in your room and more importantly how will you share and connect?

The chapters are deliciously short so I think we will be able to do 2 or 3 chapters a week, what do you think? There are 27 altogether.

I am very excited as we choose this first global read aloud book.