Dear amazing, incredible Global Read Aloud community, we need to talk.  Because while this week has been amazing to be a witness to; the connections, the sharing, the love for the books and the stories that connect us all, it has behind the scenes been really hard for me.  I thought a letter might be nice in order to help whoever needs to hear this remember a few things….

This is all run by me, Pernille Ripp, one person, who has a full-time job as a 7th-grade teacher, as well as speaks, trains, and writes outside of that.  Who is the mother to four kids ten and under and the wife to Brandon.  Who cannot always email you back right away or get you approved the moment you ask.  I wish I could, but I can’t.

I am one person reading as many books as I possibly can, who every year tries to pick books that will speak to the experience of people around the world, not just the United States.  That tries to pick books that will spark deep conversations around hard topics that are age-appropriate but may need some unpacking from the adults reading them aloud.  I rely on others to nominate books as much as possible so that I can read widely, I rely on others to vote and let their voices be heard.  Many kids live in hard situations that some adults say are too hard to read about, even when they are written in delicate ways, and yet the world could use a lot more understanding and empathy.  The books that are chosen can be tools for building bridges; we can help kids understand the lives of others in many degrees, even if they don’t understand all of the nuances of something.

You should always read the books beforehand and select the one that will work for you, for your kids, and for your community.  While I have also loved discovering a book alongside students, I would highly discourage doing that with a book that you are investing many weeks into it.  What if it is not a good fit?  What if it doesn’t work for your purpose?  What if you need to prepare extra resources in order to unwrap something?

If you don’t like the book, no problem.  I try to select books that I love and that will start conversations.  Please do remember, though, that every time something is posted about how the books chosen are the wrong choices, how other choices would be better, how they won’t fit your needs, how this year is the year you quit the project, that I read those comments.  That they make their way into my feed and I sit there with a heavy heart reading every single one of them.  And I try really hard to make this work on a global scale.  I try really hard to make this project as easily accessible for all.  To make this work, but that I am only human and those comments hurt, even though I wish they didn’t but I am working on that.

The GRA is free.  I don’t make any money from it but instead spend my own money to send books to people who cannot get them otherwise, to keep the blog running, to pay for lawyers for trademarking and protecting the name.  I will never charge anyone to participate in the GRA.  The premise has always been that all you need is the one book to read aloud, not class sets, not fancy anything, just a book and a way to share it.  This is why I ask everyone to please not sell anything using the project or the people in it.  It goes against the spirit of everything it stands for, and when I ask you to please stop, please be gracious.  Telling me that you are disappointed that I don’t understand that you are just trying to make a living or other negative things does not change my mind, it only cements me asking you to stop further.

That I realize that this year I picked a start date that coincided with Rosh Hashanah and for that I am sorry.  I apologized publicly for it a little while ago but will gladly state it again; I am sorry, it was an oversight and I will do better.  As someone who does not live by any religious calendars, I am at times not clued into major holidays and celebrations, I try but sometimes I fail.  I also know that every year the start date will naturally collide with other holidays, school breaks, or crazy weather.  There simply is no great start date that works for the whole world.  The date I pick every year doesn’t ever work for my own students, we always start two weeks late but rather than push it further in the year, I keep the same and make it work.  Please make it work for you as well if you want, just don’t read ahead, or if you do, don’t spoil it.

That I wish this project could be everything you wanted it to be.  I try, the community tries, but sometimes it won’t work, and that’s ok too.  No need to announce your departure or slam the doors, just do what you need to do and know you will always be welcomed back.

I never set out to create a global project but it is what I have created.  I love this project like a fifth child, and this year in its tenth year, it still floors me that so many of you show up every year.  I am one person and so as one person I can only give you my deepest appreciation for the love you have shown this project and for the love you have shown me.  I hope this year’s project is amazing for you, I know I cannot wait to get started myself.

With all my best,

Pernille

One of the most common questions, I receive in regard to the Global Read Aloud is how, and whether, it integrates into a pre-existing literacy curriculum. Is this project merely a fun add-on or is there actual academic value in it that can be defended in case it needs to be?

While there would be little wrong with the program if it was “just” a fun add-on, the answer is that; yes, the Global Read Aloud has academic value, and not just for the students, but for the teachers themselves as well. So let’s break it down a bit.

Because the program centers around a read aloud, that means you have a mentor text. Many participants use the text as their central text while they work through lessons on story development and analysis. Examples of this include: character analysis, inferring, theme analysis, working through challenging words. In fact, in looking through the Common Core Reading standards most are covered:

“Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.” Because the text is not only read aloud but also discussed with a worldwide audience, students are not only expected to understand the text but also be able to infer and formulate their opinions about the text in a way to effectively communicate with others.

“Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas.” The whole notion of the read aloud is to understand the story, to predict what will happen, to discuss and share with others, and be able to hold the whole text in your mind while you continue to listen to the read aloud.

“Analyze how and why individuals, events, or ideas develop and interact over the course of a text.” Tracking the characters along with the story allows us to work on stamina, to work on long-term predictions, and to get to know the characters and story on a deeper level.

“Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone.” In order to convey nuance, the read aloud often lends itself well to studying the craft of writing as seen through word choice and figurative meaning.

“Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text.” One of the main points of the GRA is to dive into perspective, this does not only include the perspective of the narrators but also how our own perspective and lens impacts our understanding and experience with the text.

“Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words.” Because there are additional tools layered in with the Global Read Aloud, such as author videos, student presentations, and other content created by students around the world, this is a natural extension of the learning.

“Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence.” I love having my students discuss with others what they believe will happen in the story, as well as what the characters should do in order to stay within character. Diving deep into a character and then being able to articulate and argue one’s opinion is a vital skill.

“Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take.” I always add in other sources and use the Global Read Aloud as a springboard into inquiry. Because the books chosen are often set in unfamiliar places or center around unfamiliar events, students naturally have a lot of questions. This is why the resource sharing is an incredibly powerful tool of the GRA.

This is just discussing the reading component, but the beauty of the GRA is that it is so much more than “just” reading. Coupling it with the collaborative global aspect offers us the opportunity for students to work on writing, on speaking and listening, on the act of collaboration itself, as well as meaningful technology integration. It allows us to focus on building an understanding of others, of developing empathy and activism. This is at the center of what great 21st-century learning looks like; providing authentic and meaningful ways to engage in a worldwide dialogue around relevant topics.

And for the teachers involved, it allows for new tools to be introduced, new connections to be forged that will bolster their teaching, as well as a meaningful way to dive into literacy that will model what literacy experiences should look like.

But don’t just take my word on it. I asked educators who have done the GRA to share how they integrated the project into their curriculum and here is what they said.

My district encourages the SAMR model for technology integration. Using technology to share ideas and collaborate with students from other parts of the country/world is a task that falls under the highest level of the SAMR model.

I use FlipGrid as a way to respond to the text while assessing speaking and listening standards, come to discussions prepared and adding to the discussion. I also assess postcards for adding media to support text. In addition to literacy, GRA really fits into our S.S. theme of world regions and cultures.

GRA works across all levels, promotes excellent collaboration, learning styles, communication, technology integration and global connections. The teacher has the flexibility to incorporate using standards/skills that he/she sees fit. I’ve shared about it only positively.

Refugee was a huge addition to my 7/8 curriculum last fall, and I’d wager that it was an experience that would be at the top of the list for what kids will remember from my class. We use a workshop model, largely, and so the chapters would be built in as model texts for minilessons in reading and writing workshop. We’d do quickwrites about character development, inferences, vocabulary in context, to name a few . . . Most important to me, however, was just the chance to share a terrific story and know it was also happening in classrooms around the world – so powerful!

We were asked this year to use a read aloud to model fluency and what a reader is thinking while they read. Our 6th graders seem to think letting the words pass through the eyeballs without going to the brain is sufficient, and we are trying to change that perception. Two of us could attest to its effectiveness due to GRA. We did Refugee this year and it opened up all sorts of thinking and discussion.

At the end of Refugee, I had them create one pagers, and I met individually to discuss questions related to the book and standards. For instance, what was the theme, how do you know, how did it develop through the story. What was your favorite scene and why was it important to the whole story. Really just took a look at State standards and created questions. Then, we followed up with self-selected research topics related to the story. Also, brought in non-fiction pairings to add to depth of topics.

It’s the epitome of 21st century skills – the kids have to communicate and collaborate with others around the world; they think critically about meaningful issues that impact their peers; they come up with creative projects and responses. They’re also highly engaged with a great text.all great things!! 

It lends itself SO well to standards and curriculum!! I teach 1-2 on a loop and did A Boy Called Bat and before that the BFG! Asks and answers questions for sure, technology (connecting with other classes), social studies and map skills (finding new friends on the map)….not to mention that they LOVE reading and get interested in authors and their other books!!!

I teach in South Africa and participated in GRA for the first time last year. It was the highlight of the year. Our school year starts in Jan and my present class have a countdown going for when they can start GRA. I integrated Refugee into all subjects I teach. The book became real and even more so with the global connections and sharing we made. 21st Century teaching is all about communication, collaboration and creative thinking. This is exactly what GRA does.

It is so important that students learn of different cultures in our ever changing world. We use the Lucy Calkin’s UOS for our literacy block. We read the book aloud as the read aloud time for the day and it reinforced the skills being taught in the workshop that dealt with social issues. We also hit so many listening and speaking goals by connecting through Flip Grid and Google Hangouts with a global audience for both. We learned about author’s trade through our weekly videos we watched made by the author. We wrote authentically with sharing our thoughts on Padlet and posting on social media under the guidance of our teachers and me the librarian. We gained knowledge and empathy for what people in other cultures across the world might experience through hyperdocs created by educators to be used to help us learn vocabulary and history about the culture of the people in the books we shared.

I’ve been able to integrate the picture books into the standards we’re teaching during that time. Since it’s so close to the beginning of the year, it’s your basic story elements.

And so, much like I have said before; why take the time to do the GRA? Global collaboration is necessary to show students that they are part of something bigger than them. That the world needs to be protected and that we need to care for all people. You can show them pictures of kids in other countries but why not have them speak to each other? Then the caring can begin.

To sign up for this year’s incredible project, go here. It kicks off September 30th!