The Votes are In…

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The poll has closed with more than 60 votes given. The top 3 is an eclectic mix but exciting; Coraline, The Little Prince, and Sideways Stories.

Now the discussions starts; which book should be the first book shared as a read aloud? Keep in mind that this book needs to be accessible outside of the US, so translated into as many languages as possible, it also needs to appeal to a large audience, not just my 4th grade as an example.

I am leaning away from “Wayside Stories” even though I love the book, it simply is not translated into many other languages. This is your chance to add your opinion, if you do not add your voice then the ultimate decision falls on the ones who do. Please join the discussion and spread the word.

So great idea but how will this really work?

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All details are far from ironed out but the ideas are becoming more solid in my head, so here is some additional information that may help as you think about your participation and whether you want to share the idea of this project.

This is what Week 1 will look like in my room:
• 1st chapter is read aloud by teacher, depending on the length of chapter this may be over 1 or 2 days.
• Once chapter has been shared, I will then lead a prediction discussion; What do the students think this story is about? They will be asked to do a wallwisher on their predictions to be placed on the GRAP blog.
• We will then discuss their thoughts on the action of the first chapter and the characters introduced. This will be videotaped and placed on the GRAP blog as well for others to comment on.
• Depending on volunteers I may try to do this as a Skype call with another classroom to start the true connecting/sharing.
• For other chapters I will try these ideas instead: Have students
o Blog their predictions on the set up comments section for Chapter 1 on GRAP blog (will be up by then as a separate page)
o Write their thoughts about the first chapter and what happened on globalreadaloud.wikispaces.com site and encourage others to change/add their voice.
o Retell the story in 60 sec or less using Voki.com and sharing with other classrooms.
o Discuss the story with another classroom using Skype

There are so many possibilities for sharing/connecting but I do not want people to feel overwhelmed or like it is too much work. The idea behind this project is to connect and share! That can be a 5 min Skype call, or a longer student written reflection. You can connect with one classroom or with many; it is really up to you.

My classroom will be the test bunny so I will videotape all read alouds as well as student reflections. I will be open to as much collaboration as people will want.

Picture Book Vs Chapter Book

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The question has been raised whether a picture book would do for the GRA Project?  My initial answer is no since the concept is to share this experience over several weeks, rather than just a single day.  However, this is not just my project so please add your voice to the debate in the comments below.  Thanks!

Timeline

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Here is how it will go:
Inspired by Jeff Howe #1b1t

  • Right now – nominate the book you would like to read aloud.
  • Next – We select the shared read aloud.  The book has to be of general interest, appeal to a large age group of students, be appropriate, hopefully translated into other languages and be freely available.
  • Then – We determine the start date and start reading aloud, blogging, tweeting, skyping, wiki’ing and sharing.

So What is This?

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I have been thinking about the read aloud.  Every day I read a part of a book aloud to my students, usually a book that they would not pick themselves to read and then we discuss what is happening.  Sometimes the book is tied in with curriculum, often times not.  My favorite author happens to be Neil Gaiman, both for children and adult books and so when I saw that his book, American Gods, had been chosen as the first One Book, One Twitter book club (#1b1t) I was excited.  What a great concept; read a chapter a week and then discuss it via Twitter.  That made me think; why not do that with a read aloud book and connect classrooms across the world?

So here is what I propose:  Choose a book, pick a start date,  and read a chapter aloud a week. 
You choose how your students share either via a blog, a wiki, VoiceThread, Skype or other ideas.  The hashtag for this on Twitter will be #GRAP so join in the conversation.

We strive to make connections on a global scale and so the intimacy of a book can do just that for us. 

If you would like to be added to this project, either follow the project here or fill out the  
Google Form for the Global Read Aloud