World Read Aloud Day (WRAD for short) is an awesome yearly event. When I first started organizing it for my school a few years back, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.
The first time I organized World Read Aloud Day for my school, I had no clue. I literally whipped it together just a couple of weeks before the big day. It was semi successful in that all time slots were filled. But we certainly had difficulties with technology and video connections.
World Read Aloud Day was originated by LitWorld. It is one day in February dedicated to reading aloud.
It is a spectacular way to enjoy literature. In addition, it is a great way to celebrate the authors and illustrators who work so hard to create books.
LitWorld has a variety of resources available to help engage the school community in World Read Aloud Day. From videos to bookmarks and other activities.
There are three ways to run WRAD in a classroom or across a school.
Options 1 and 2 are organized much the same way you may organize Read Across America.
Personally, I prefer option 3.
I believe that there is nothing like hearing a book being a read aloud by the author who wrote it. There is nothing like hearing an illustrator read aloud a book they interpreted into pictures.
As the school Library Media Specialist, I organize World Read Aloud Day for the entire school.
I know some Library Media Specialists who schedule this for their school through their scheduled Library Media classes. In other words, they schedule an author for each class that comes into the Library Media Center that day.
Other Library Media Specialists, like myself, schedule it for the entire staff to choose from.
In past years, this meant teachers would sign up for a time slot and they would come to the Media Center at that time to connect with the author.
I hosted in there because of the space available. The 2nd floor of our library can hold up to 3 classrooms at a time.
Another reason I organized WRAD this way was because of my ability to connect with the authors and illustrators through Skype. The Media Center Computer was the only one in the building guaranteed to have a webcam and stable Skype connection.
Now that everyone has learned how to use video conferencing platforms (our school and district uses Zoom), they are able to connect their students from their own classroom.
Despite that, I still organize the event. My goal is to not add anything to my colleagues’ plates. I want them to just be able to turn on their Zoom and admit the author or illustrator into their class. This also makes it easy for our distance learning teachers to also participate in World Read Aloud Day.
In order for World Read Aloud Day to go off without a hitch, there needs to be planning and preparation.
WRAD typically occurs the first week in February. I recommend making a note of that in your calendar and adding a reminder 2 months before the event. This gives plenty of time to plan.
Before contacting any authors or illustrators, sketch out your schedule.
You will need to decide if you want to schedule authors every 30 or 60 minutes, and at what times.
You may prefer to have your schedule follow your Library Media class schedule. This is a great option if you host it from your own space.
Otherwise, scheduling every 30 or 60 minutes will work great, depending on the number of staff in your building.
Once a sample schedule is created, research authors.
Kate Messner’s blog is the perfect place for this. Kate Messner is a children’s author.
Every year, she organizes authors to participate in WRAD. She usually has all of this organized and up on her blog by mid-December or early January.
This is the part that takes the most time. Hours, to be honest.
Each author provides a grade level (elementary, middle school, or high school) and a link to their website.
Once potential authors and illustrators have been identified, it is time to contact them.
When Kate Messner organizes this, the authors also include their contact info.
Contact more authors than you need. Because they are offering a FREE virtual session, their day fills up quickly. Some will be unable to connect with your students.
As authors reply back to you (and I find they always respond within 12 hours), start filling in your schedule! When I complete my schedule, I include the author’s name, a link to their website, and the best age range.
You can make a copy of the one that I use. Edit the schedule to fit your needs.
Once the schedule has been created, share it with the staff. That is, if you are inviting staff to sign up for a time.
Be sure to give them editing permission so that they can add their name to the day’s events. If there are particular authors that you would like to host yourself, be sure to add your name in before sharing the schedule with everyone else.
Give the staff a cutoff date to sign up. This is important.
You will need to get back to the authors. Some authors offer to read a particular book based on the age they are meeting with. Others like to firm up the day as it is their first time participating.
Definitely send reminders to the staff to sign up for an author and time as your deadline approaches. I always unofficially extend the deadline to encourage schoolwide participation.
A few days before World Read Aloud Day, confirm the details with the author. Confirm the following:
In the meantime, send staff calendar invites for their scheduled time. Include any important information in the invite:
World Read Aloud Day is a busy day. With a little planning and preparation, it will be a huge success.
This past fall, my students were already asking about it. This tells me, that it’s something they look forward to. That is enough to keep me organizing the event.
To keep the day of as stress free as possible, try these tips.
