Shannon Miller, LitWorld WRADvocate

Your Students Can Read, Share and Sing Their Favorite Books From Cantata Learning & Others On Flipgrid For WRAD!

One of my favorite days of the year is World Read Aloud Day!

I love celebrating WRAD with students, teachers and friends around the world.

It is such a special day to celebrate literacy and the power of coming together as we read, learn and make connections to others. And it truly sets the tone for this type of collaboration and connecting throughout the year.

In fact, my friend and fellow teacher librarian Andy Plemmons and I have been celebrating for the last several years together even though I am in Iowa and he is in Georgia.

With World Read Aloud Day right around the corner on February 16, Andy and I are planning lots of meaningful activities for our students to be part of as we celebrate reading and connect with other students around the world. We have the perfect WRAD activity for you to contribute to with your students!

Every student can share their favorite book on the WRAD Flipgrid!

With Flipgrid, students share their voice using video. It is amazing how excited and engaged they get when given this platform, especially to know they are connecting with not only their classmates and friends, but others around the world.

When talking to Dr. Charlie Miller, Cofounder of Flipgrid and Associate Professor at the University of Minnesota, about WRAD and using Flipgrid he said,

Our motto at Flipgrid has always been ‘Bring the back row to the front,’ where all students have a respected voice and learn with and from one another. Building this respect of diverse opinions is critical, especially with early readers. Reading can be a daunting task for many, specifically when students are charged with discussing what they have read.

This is why WRAD is a wonderful opportunity for students around the world to connect, share, and celebrate their unique passions for and progress with reading. Flipgrid is honored to play a small part in this event!

So let's connect our students for WRAD and turn this Flipgrid into a place for them to be heard while celebrating reading and books.

Your students can get started by clicking here or by entering the code "wrad2017" at flipgrid.com.

Once the WRAD Flipgrid opens up, you will see this screen with a big green + sign. Click on that to Add A Response. As responses are added, they will populate these boxes following the + box.

This will be a wonderful activity for students to participate in by sharing their voice for World Read Aloud Day. And for listening to the voices of others as the share their favorite books from the around the world.

Don't forget to look for other classrooms and libraries to connect with for WRAD.

You can go to this Google Doc that Andy Plemmons and I started to find connections for your school community too.

I have a special tip for all of you when making your WRAD connections: In my post on the Cantata Learning blog, 5 Ways Music Makes Collaboration Fun I shared....

You can use music as a special way to celebrate World Read Aloud Day in the library or in a connection with another library through Skype. Children will love celebrating WRAD by singing, reading and dancing together to any of the Cantata Learning titles.

One title that brings in the world is Make Everyday Earth Day...Caring For Our Planet. This is a perfect choice as it will evoke a global conversation with students about how we all have a part in caring for the world.