World Read Aloud Day Reflections: Powerful Parades & Shared Joy

"Reading is magic! Reading is magic! Reading is magic!” Marching down the hall, a swarm of elementary school kids chanted these words while flapping their book puppets in the air. One class, misunderstanding the chant, yelled “we are magic! We are magic! We are magic!” (Here at LitWorld, we encourage individual interpretations, so the group went uncorrected.)

Their words echoed off the walls as they headed toward the gymnasium. Walking down the hall alongside the multiple advisory groups, each child exuded joy, empowerment, and excitement about reading. Let it be known that I am not a crier, but in the presence of such an impactful moment, I had to consciously prohibit tears from escaping.

In the gymnasium, the elementary school classes marched in a spiral while continuing to chant, wave their book puppets, smile, and laugh. World Read Aloud Day 2013 truly proved the magic in literacy.

Sitting down with the New Yorker or reading an article about the gentrification of my neighborhood, it is easy for me to forget reading’s magical properties and delimit reading to its useful and practical purposes. However, participating in World Read Aloud Day reminded me that not only is reading magic, but when we read, we are magic too."

--Susannah Rosenfield, LitWorld Intern

World Read Aloud Day 2013: A Story Through Pictures

The sun has set in New York, marking the end of a glorious World Read Aloud Day 2013. We are full of gratitude for our extraordinary participants, our incredible WRADvocates, our partners and publishing friends who made the day possible, and especially the beautiful children who believed from the beginning that having a wonderful celebration could be a way to advocate for something they love so dearly. Today around the world we were united, reading aloud for our world's children, and for their right to read.

Pure joy and jubilation in at our Innovation Hub in Kibera, Kenya. Our partner, the Children of Kibera Foundation, organized a magical celebration.

Our partner Project Pearls celebrated World Read Aloud Day at LitWorld's Innovation Hub in Ulingan, the Philippines.

Our partner Booksource held read alouds a book tours in St. Louis, MO.

The World Literacy Foundation teamed up with the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation to give books to a school in Armadale, New South Wales. The day was filled with story-telling, cultural performances and literacy games.

Our new friends Goodreads Indonesia read aloud to pedestrians on "car free day" in Jakarta, Indonesia and in several other cities across Indonesia.

LitWorld Board Member World Board Member Nicole Nakashian read The Gift of Nothing by Patrick McDonnell aloud to her work team.

The Golden Girls Foundation in Kisumu, Kenya held an intergenerational WRAD celebration with our LitClub girls, their mothers and grandmothers.

The Importance of Reading Loud: Guest Blog from WRAD Partner ReadWorks

"Reading aloud to children, both at home and in school, is also important throughout elementary and middle school to improve their reading comprehension as they encounter more complex books and texts.

Being able to read words and sentences fluently does not always mean a child can comprehend what he or she is reading. Proficient readers require sufficient vocabulary, general domain knowledge about a variety of topics, an ability to navigate text structures (such as problem-solution), and an ability to understand syntax. Read Aloud is an incredibly effective way to provide support to developing readers in all of these areas.

The read aloud is so effective, and essential, because human beings are not natural readers. We are wired to listen and speak, so are naturally good at listening, but we have to work to learn to read. Therefore, by listening to books being read aloud to us we can efficiently acquire new, more sophisticated vocabulary and background knowledge, gain important exposure to text structures and syntax, and can understand books well above our own independent reading levels. All of this leads to much better independent reading comprehension.

By reading a mix of high-quality non-fiction and fiction to children every day, and through subsequent discussion about the text being read, we can also improve children’s oral language skills, which are vitally important for reading comprehension success.

Read Aloud benefits all children and young adults from all backgrounds. And for children who may not have been read to from an early age, and may not have developed strong oral language skills in the years before school, frequent Read Aloud is absolutely critical.  Read Aloud can be the most effective way to ensure that all children can read, comprehend, and develop a love of reading and learning."

--Dave Ciulla is the Executive Director of ReadWorks.

ReadWorks is a non-profit organization that helps teachers meet the nationwide crisis in reading comprehension. They help teachers improve their effectiveness through research-based, classroom-proven practices and  curriculum. Learn more at ReadWorks.org.

Celebrating World Read Aloud Day in Kisumu's Millennium Cities!

Our network of LitClubs in Kisumu, Kenya that run in partnership with the Millennium Cities Initiative celebrated World Read Aloud Day ahead of the Kenyan elections. 

LitWorld Facilitators spent time at local primary schools reading aloud together, children shared their favorite stories with their classmates and were treated to read alouds from local community guest readers. 

In addition to activities in schools, LitWorld Facilitators traveled together to the women's prison to involve the women and the officers in this joyful day meant for all people.

Along the way to the prison, LitWorld leaders met a women who sells french fries and asked for an opportunity to read aloud. 

We are so moved by the leadership and inclusivity of this special celebration. Let's allow the joy emanating from each of these pictures to carry the read aloud movement forward. Make every day World Read Aloud Day.

--Submitted by Girls LitClub Facilitator Belinda

Meet Regional WRADvocate Debbie Dadey!

Debbie Dadey is the author and co-author of 152 books, including The Adventures of the Bailey School Kids series and the new series, Mermaid Tales. On a recent trip to Kentucky Debbie made an appearance on a TV talk show to promote World Read Aloud Day! Watch her full interview here.

We asked Debbie why she celebrates World Read Aloud Day, here is what she had to say:

"I know the power and the joy that reading aloud brings. The power is that reading aloud creates a love of literature, exposure to extensive vocabulary, and growth in comprehension. I don't remember a single worksheet that my fourth grade teacher gave me, but I remember her reading The Little House on the Prarirre series. Besides getting spanked for talking too much, that's about all I remember."

On March 6 Debbie will be reading aloud to classrooms over Skype, and visiting a local school in Warminster, Pennsylvania to share stories with classrooms of excited children!

Get to know Debbie, follow her on Twitter, @DebbieDadey, and visit her at debbiedadey.com.