In today’s increasingly global society, it’s more important than ever to show kids that they’re part of something bigger than themselves, and how to connect with and learn from one another.
To help educators foster this sense of connectedness with their students, teacher and author Pernille Ripp inspired her to start The Global Read Aloud (GRA) in 2010. Since then the project has grown to spark a movement on a global scale—the event now reaches millions of children and teachers in over 86 countries. More than 4,000,000 students have participated, in the process making connections with one another in creative and powerful ways.
The Project
Each year, educators choose from a list of preselected books or series of books to read aloud to students. Over the course of six weeks, participants read the same books, using tools like Twitter, Facebook Groups, Skype, Flipgrid, Padlet and more to connect to other classrooms in their grade level around the world.
According to Ms. Ripp on the GRA blog, the event is “meant to make the world a little smaller, to open our eyes to the rest of the world and look at all of our shared experiences.”
GRA 2019
This year, the following books were chosen for the event:
Picture Book Study: Featuring books by author Yuyi Morales
- 1st Week: “Dreamers”
- 2nd Week: “Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book”
- 3rd Week: “Niño Wrestles the World”
- 4th Week: “Viva Frida”
- 5th Week: “Little Night/Nochecita”
- 6th Week: “Your Choice”
- Early Readers: “Stella Diaz Has Something to Say” by Angela Dominguez
- Middle Grade: “Front Desk” by Kelly Yang
- Middle School: “The Bridge Home” by Padma Venkatraman
- Young Adult: “The Marrow Thieves” by Cherie Dimaline
Tips to Get Started in Your Class
- Incorporate the books into your daily read-aloud time.
- Engage students in an author study and have students compare and contrast books.
- Participate in a postcard exchange with another classroom in another part of the world.
- Use Flipgridto find #Gridpals to connect with other students during the six-week period and share in learning together.
- Follow #GRA19on Twitter for amazing ideas and resources posted daily and to see updates from classrooms!
- Have students listen to an audiobook or watch an audiovisual version of one of the stories.
Our Epic librarian has put together a collection of some of the books chosen for the Picture Book Study. Check out the Global Read Aloud Blog for a complete list of GRA books, groups to join and more ideas to help you get started!
Thank you to our Epic Educators Jessica Hageman and Courtney Myers for your great tips!
Would you like more recommendations for books that encourage connection through reading? Check out our posts: “Connect Through Stories This Back to School” and “Come Together Through Reading.”
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