Students and Teachers at Fuller Meadow and Howe Manning Schools participated in Global Read Aloud.
What is Global Read Aloud?
"The premise is simple; we pick a book to read aloud to our students during a set 6-week period and during that time we try to make as many global connections as possible. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. The scope and depth of the project is up to you. While there are commonly used such as Skype, Twitter, Padlet, or Flipgrid, you choose the tools that will make the most sense for you. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year." (Source)
Why Read Aloud?
“When we read aloud, we create a model for children of what readers look like, how they make sense of text, and how reading is as important to us as eating and breathing. Hearing text read aloud is all it takes to shift some of our students from being people who can read to people who want and love to read.” – Joan Moser
Books for 2018
Author Study - Julie Flett and Monique Gray Smith
 |
| Click image for resources |
 |
| Mrs. Newton discussing Wild Berries |
Students in Kindergarten read five amazing books that focused on doing activities with someone you love. The authors also integrated the Cree language into the story. Our students loved learning new words! I had the opportunity to work with Kindergarteners and first graders in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) activity for the book You Hold Me Up.
 |
| STEM - Build the tallest tower that holds a cup |
A Boy Called Bat
Students in 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade read A Boy Called Bat by Elana K. Arnold. For resources, click HERE.
 |
| Miss Polom reading to her 2nd graders |
Students really enjoyed exploring the world of skunks with BAT. They were able to connect with other classes around the country through a Mystery Skype. These classes continued to "meet" each other as a digital book club through Google Hangouts, Flipgrid and Padlet. The Global Read Aloud is a great opportunity to integrate technology into the classroom and foster 21st Century Skills.
"Mystery Skype is an education game, invented by teachers, played by two classrooms on Skype. The aim of the game is to guess the location of the other classroom by asking each other questions. It has totally transformed the way students learn about the world in my school." (Source)
 |
| Mrs. LeVangie's 2nd grade class |
Amal Unbound
Students in 4th and 5th grade read Amal Unbound by Aisha Saeed. For resources, click HERE.
In our curriculum, we teach our students how to compare and contrast. Mrs. Wills did a great lesson for finding similarities and differences between the two settings in the book.
Refugee
Students in 6th grade read Refugee by Alan Grantz. For resources, click HERE.
The book Refugee focused on 3 different kids with one mission. This book really engaged our students in a discussion about immigration and the struggles of leaving your homeland for the unknown. As the teacher read, students recorded their questions, reactions, facts, and opinions.
It's been another great GRA year! We look forward to 2019! Click HERE for more information on Global Read Aloud and to sign up for GRA 2019.
