This ran in our very little local paper yesterday, so cool….
Category: global read aloud
It Started With an Idea – The Global Read Aloud
This project started with an idea, as most things do in life, and yet this idea in particular resonated deep within me. It brought together two passions; the love of books and a love of global citizenry, the notion of creating global citizens in my classroom. And yet for this cautious teacher from idea to reality was quite a leap of faith. When you publish an idea to the world chances are no one will listen. And what may be so important to me may be nothing to others. And yet this idea found people who became just as passionate about it as I am .
So the Global Read Aloud was created and it survived it first year with more than 40 classrooms actively connecting. And they loved it and more importantly, the students loved it. So this year, it is a little bit bigger, a little bit changed; two books rather than one, and yet the heart of the idea remains: One shared read aloud – one global connection.
So join me and more than 200 other classrooms this fall as we embark on another global read aloud. You choose how much time you dedicate, you choose how you would like to connect. Share the world of books with your students as they realize that all around the world children are discovering the same book. Share the love of listening to incredible books being read aloud and for the love of questions. We have made it easy for you to participate, all you have to do is take a small leap of faith with us. Welcome.
Why the Internet is like the Mall
Today, in anticipation of the Global Read Aloud Project, I started my first lesson on internet safety. And yes, students have been taught about internet safety before by my fabulous technology teacher, yet I wanted to cover all bases one more time. So last night, when I was pondering my lesson, it came to me: compare the internet to the mall.
Today, I therefore told the students that going on the internet is like going to the mall without your parents’ supervision. So what would they do to stay safe at the mall? Some of the students answers were that they would not talk to strangers, give anyone their information, and they would also go straight to the place they were supposed to go without stopping at other stores. Those lessons can be applied directly to the internet and the students got it! I had so many light bulbs go off, I could barely contain myself.
By having the students provide the safety rules, taken from their own memory of rules drilled into their heads by their formidable parents, they connected real life danger with things that can happen on the internet. Sometimes students think they are safe on the net, as we all know, and this brought the responsibility home for them. So as we continue learning proper safety and etiquette, we will keep referring back to the mall analogy, for example, would you walk up to a friend and tell them their outfit was ugly when talking about how to comment? Today was one of those moments where I was able to make students understand something they have to learn in this day and age. A lesson not just meant for 4th graders or 5th graders but hopefully something they will keep in the back of their minds when they go on the internet themselves, or maybe even next time they go to the mall. Once again today I realized how huge my responsibility is for these kids and how glad I am to be their teacher. We are now one step closer to the global connections!
A Global Read Aloud
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 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, we can set up a poll and take suggestions, and read a chapter aloud a week. Students will then have to blog about the chapter or a wiki could be set up for them to share the experiences as they read the book. How phenomenal would it be to know that your class is reading a book that another class across the world is also reading?
We strive to make connections on a global scale and so the intimacy of a book can do just that for us. I am hoping others will agree to this because this certainly excites me as an educator.
Amazing feedback already on this, so here is the link to fill out the Google Form for the Global Read Aloud
If you would like to contact me with questions please do so at either Psripp@gmail.com or Pripp@mcpasd.k12.wi.us
Pernille Ripp 