World Read Aloud Day
The power of a story is a wonderful, uniting force. Our Junior School celebrated World Read-Aloud Day 2016. Our official Year 6 Reading Ambassadors went into the classrooms to read digital and traditional storybooks to our younger students
Our 2016 Year 6 leaders were appointed as our inaugural Reading Ambassadors for World Read Aloud Day (WRAD) on Wednesday 24 February 2016. All around the world, on this one day, communities are asked to set aside time to read aloud to children. It is an acknowledgement of the importance of oral reading and storytelling in our lives. There is a strong correlation between regular reading and fulfilling academic potential. This day acknowledges that, around the world, much needs to be done to provide equal access to education and reading materials.
We share two reflections from our Year 6 Reading Ambassadors:
How can I explain our World Read Aloud Day? Well, it was amazing! We all started by downloading the official story on our laptop. New day, new friends was the book we downloaded to read to all of the younger girls. I was reading to a Year 2 class so I made sure I could read the book well, so I did not make any mistakes, and then I was ready! When the day came I went up to the library selected my second book and also a lanyard that said ‘2016 World Read Aloud Day’ Reading Ambassador – we had a photo and then I was off. I read to the class and they all loved it and laughed along.I love Read Aloud Day!
At our last library session, Mrs Baldacchino informed us that on Wednesday, we would be celebrating World Read Aloud Day. In order to do this we would each be allocated a Year level to read to during lunchtime. Along with the official WRAD book and to make it more personal, we also got to choose a picture book. I was a bit worried because I had no idea what the Year 5 girls would want. Would they be too cool for a make believe story? Finally, I decided on a story I remember reading in Year 5 called The Ghost of Miss Annabelle Spoon. When the day finally arrived I was very nervous. What will the Year 5s think of my story? Will they listen to me? I overcame that fear by pairing up with my friend, Paula. Together we collected our books and lanyards then quickly found our group. We had a group of four students. First, me and Paula took turns reading the official Read Aloud Day story. Then we split into groups and read our own choice of story. By the end we were all laughing. I love Read Aloud Day and I loved organising it too. I hope we get an opportunity like this again.
