SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 83 (NORTH OKANAGAN-SHUSWAP)
Students Connect Globally Through Books

Students at Hillcrest Elementary School have been connecting globally and locally through books! They gained some new friends and even got to meet an award-winning author!

Teacher Librarian Laura Bosch explained that the students took part in the Global Read Aloud (GRA) project, which started in October and has just wound up. The project, which has been running since 2010, has a simple goal; one book to connect the world. Teachers around the world read the same book aloud to their students and then use technology to share the reading experience with these other students.

"It's been a really neat way to introduce the students to diverse books and to connect them with others around the world through a shared love of reading!"

Minh Lê was the author selected for this year's six week Global Read Aloud picture book series. He is the award-winning author of the picture books Drawn Together (winner of the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature), Real to Me, The Blur, Lift (an Eisner Award nominee), The Perfect Seat, and Let Me Finish!. He and his family are from San Diego, where he is a federal early childhood policy expert who has worked in education at the national, state, and local level both in and out of the classroom.

All 13 divisions at Hillcrest participated in the Global Read Aloud. Students were read a different Minh Lê book each week and did a variety of follow up activities. The books they read included Let Me Finish!, Drawn Together, Lift, Built to Last, Real to Me, and The Blur.

One strong connection made through the program was with an elementary school in Prince George. "We partnered with Southridge Elementary School in Prince George which also has 13 divisions, so each class was partnered up. We started off by doing a "mystery meet" where the students had to come up with three clues to share with their partner school to try to guess where they're from. We used the Global Read Aloud map to help and to learn about other areas participating."

"Since then, we have been connecting both virtually and as penpals."

In the first week of the project students at Hillcrest created drawings and written responses about their personal connections to the book Let Me Finish!, where they shared about their favourite places to read. They scanned and emailed their responses to their buddy classes, and then were able to view and discuss the other class's drawings and written responses on the projector.

One week, Bosch created a Padlet where students in Grades 2-5 used iPads to draw imaginary worlds where their magic elevators would take them to, as a follow-up to the book Lift. You may view their creations here.

They also viewed Padlets created by other schools and added several comments to posts that they felt a strong connection to as a group. Through this, the students had the opportunity to read and view posts and videos from students all over North America, as well as a few from Thailand and Vietnam.

After reading the book Built to Last, students were given a variety of building materials to create something new with a friend. "They took pictures to share with our buddy classes. In the last two weeks, students wrote penpal letters or postcards to someone in their partner class, which we sent in the snail mail (FedEx) and are eagerly awaiting letters from our friends at Southridge."

Each year, the GRA invites the featured author to participate or contribute to the project in some way. Minh Lê decided to post a series of Instagram videos each week for teachers to share with their classes. In the video he revealed a "secret" about the book being read that week.

The students absolutely adored these videos and eagerly awaited the secrets Minh would share. Often, there would be a surprise, like an alternative cover or hidden illustration under the book jacket that tied into the story. Minh invited viewers to comment on the videos for a chance to win a virtual meet-and-greet with him.

"Each week the students asked me to enter. On the third week we were lucky enough to be selected!"

On Monday, December 2, 2024, the meet-and-greet took place virtually. The entire school was in the gym to participate in the event. "The students were very excited about the opportunity and had SO many questions that we decided to brainstorm questions together as a class ahead of time, vote on a favourite, and then drew names to determine who from each class had the opportunity to come up and ask Minh the question."

One of the questions the students asked was "What picture book is your favourite?" Minh shared two books that were influential in his experience as a young reader, Harold and the Purple Crayon, and A Chair for My Mother, one of Bosch's favourites as a child as well. "I shared these two books with several classes this week, as the students were very intrigued after they learned about these books from Minh."

Another question asked was, "Who is your favourite illustrator to collaborate with?" Minh shared that he enjoys collaborating with many illustrators, but has collaborated on four books with a good friend and Caldecott medal winner Dan Santat.

During the meet-and-greet, Minh Lê also did a read aloud of his picture book, The Perfect Seat, which was the only picture book of his that the Hillcrest students had not read yet.

The GRA project has grown to make a truly global connection with millions of students having participated. Since its inception, more than 4,000,000 students from more than 86 different countries have participated! The project creator, Pernille Ripp, reported that the free annual project is designed to make the world a little smaller, to open our eyes to the rest of the world and look at all of our shared experiences. "How phenomenal for a child to know that the same book they are reading is being read in classrooms across the globe," Bosch added.

This program is just one of the activities taking place at the school that illustrates the work being done towards the School Learning Plan's literacy goal, which is writing for a purpose. This also falls under the district's strategic pillar of Intellectual Development, with schools providing opportunities to develop critical and creative thinking skills as well as engaging learners through innovative opportunities.