Global Read Aloud

The Global Read Aloud premise is simple: teachers select a book to read aloud to students during a set 6-week period, and at the same time try to make a global connection by sharing their conversations about the book with another classroom somewhere in the world that is reading the same book. Each teacher decides how much time they would like to dedicate and how involved they would like to be. Some people choose to connect with just one class, while others go for as many as possible. Teachers get a community of other educators to do a global project with, hopefully inspiring them to continue these connections through the year.

The Global Read Aloud is once a year, starting in early October and running through mid-November. Last year at Shorecrest, fourth grade tried Global Read Aloud, and this year fourth grade, third grade, and one second grade class are involved. This project is a fun way to expand our Lower School Global Scholars Initiative.

The seven Shorecrest classes are connected with classrooms in Illinois. The second and third graders are reading “A Boy Called Bat” by Elana Arnold. Fourth graders are reading “Amal Unbound” by Aisha Saeed. The partnered classes use technology including Google Hangouts and Padlets to collaborate. They share discussion questions, predictions, vocabulary, and character analysis. Third and fourth grade kicked off their collaboration with a mystery Hangout, where each class used yes or no questions to try and figure out where the other class was located.

Fourth grade will be researching Pakistan, where their book is set. Shorecrest parent Amina Chadda is from Pakistan and visited the grade to share her experience. She spoke about learning to cook, embroider, and crochet from her grandmother. A video she shared featured various geographical landmarks such as the Khyber Pass, the beaches near Karachi, the desert, as well as major cities. She also showed fourth graders how to write in Urdu.

Last week Ms. O’Mullane’s second grade class Skyped with the class they are partnered with in Chicago. The second graders are curious as to why their book is called “A Boy Called Bat” and why there is a picture of a boy and a baby skunk on the front. They created a shared, virtual bulletin board online using the application Padlet to display information related to the book. Their friends in Chicago will be adding to the bulletin board each week. The second and third graders may be doing research into skunks as they figure heavily in “A Boy Called Bat.” If you know a skunk expert, please send them to Ms. O'Mullane!