Since the beginning of October, my class and I have been participating in the Global Read Aloud of 2012. Classes from all over the world are reading the same book, then posting comments to Twitter and Edmodo. Pernille Ripp, an elementary teacher in Wisconsin, began this global project.
It's a simple and powerful project. The connections that are being made are the best part. We've connected with classes in Ohio, Nova Scotia, New Jersey, and Canada!
One group of teachers/classes is reading THE ONE AND ONLY IVAN by Katherine Applegate. (If you've ever read my tweets or posts here, you know that this book is one of all-time favorites! Katherine Applegate Skyped with my class last year, and I met her this past summer! So this one was an easy choice.)
We are all reading the same amount of pages per week and posting responses/ activities as we go. We're inspiring each other along the way as we each share.
One teacher will post that she discussed similes and metaphors as they read, then the rest of us will follow. Another may share a literature response method, while yet another will share a great video or website with helpful information about the animals mentioned in the book. Source to source! The sharing is awesome to see.
What is especially amazing, though, is this: It is very clear that this book is generating lots of rich discussions among our students. Our students are absolutely brilliant, sharing the most profound observations and responses. Expect great thinking from your students and that's what you will get!
A great added benefit of this project is the way we are connecting.* Since our class received a tweet from a class in Canada, we have been learning about the Cree First Nation. We are asking them questions, and they are replying!
Every day I see more and more great things occurring as a result of this project. I'll keep postin/tweeting about these along the way.
Read the #glread12 hashtags on Twitter to see the discussion!
*Another awesome thing? My class always asks that I "Keep on reading!"
What an incredible project! You're definitely putting your school tech resources to good use. The connections the kids are making with students around the country and world is priceless.
ReplyDelete~ Michael<><
The Color of Sound
@mgdobishinsky
Fantastic, Cynthia!
ReplyDeleteMy class is also absolutely loving the book. My teaching partner and I are taking turns reading with our two classes combined and we hear a chorus of groans and "that's it?!" every time we are finished reading for the day.
We are looking forward to chatting with you soon!