Sunday, February 21, 2016

World Read Aloud Day is on February 24th, 2016


LitWorld and Scholastic team up for a world wide read aloud day celebration! This celebration will be held on February 24th, 2016. 

What is World Read Aloud Day? Per Scholastic's press release:
An advocacy day that mobilizes individuals and organizations in all 50 states and more than 100 countries worldwide, World Read Aloud Day 2016 is jam-packed with new partners, resources and opportunities for educators, families and children to experience the joy of reading aloud and to advocate for more access to books and quality literacy learning that will “Open a World of Possible” for children worldwide.
Research shows that reading aloud to children every day is proven to put them almost a year ahead of children who are not read to, regardless of parental income, education level or cultural background. In addition, the Kids & Family Reading Report found that 83% of kids ages 6–17 say they love or loved being read aloud to. Yet nearly one in four parents stop reading aloud to their children by the age of 9 and 40% of kids ages 6–11 wish their parents had continued reading aloud. Now in its seventh year, World Read Aloud Day is designed to encourage everyone to keep reading aloud at any age.
Scholastic has shared a list of World Read Aloud Day activities here. I've shared some of the ideas/resources from the list, below.
  • “100 Best Books to Read Aloud” List: LitWorld, Scholastic and Orajel™, a family sponsor of World Read Aloud Day, have curated a “100 Best Books to Read Aloud” list to unveil in conjunction with World Read Aloud Day and the launch of the Orajel™ Read2Me Tonight campaign, which encourages families to include reading aloud as part of a child’s healthy nighttime routine. The list was created by parents and experts including Pam Allyn, founder of LitWorld. Visit http://www.scholastic.com/read2me/ to access the “100 Best Books to Read Aloud” list along with a brand new downloadable book from Orajel™ called The Three Bees, all about starting great bedtime routines, created with the help of Scholastic."
  • Free downloadable resources: World Read Aloud Day 2016 resources are available for free download on the LitWorld website and can be used by individuals or organizations to plan World Read Aloud Day celebrations. The resources provide tools for scheduling virtual read aloud connections with published authors and other classrooms across the globe. Teachers can schedule Skype connections with authors and classrooms across six continents for World Read Aloud Day.
Your celebration doesn't need to be on a grand scale. You can celebrate World Read Aloud Day by taking the time to read out loud to your kids at home, in the classroom, attend a bookstore story time, or a story time at your public library. 

I would be most content if my children grew up to be the kind of people who think decorating consists mostly of building enough bookshelves. ~ Anna Quindlen

Good children's literature appeals not only to
the child in the adult, but to the adult in the child.
~ Anonymous ~