Celebrating the joy of reading

The second annual World Read Aloud Day 2013 was celebrated yesterday at the American International School in Jeddah (AISJ) in association with LitWorld, a non-profit literacy organization.
The event began with a speech delivered by Kimberli Brown-Gertz, the director of curriculum, highlighting the fact that 75 million children around the world are still unable to attend school and one-fifth of the adult population is still illiterate in 2013.
“Reading is a very important part of our curriculum at AISJ,” said Brown-Gertz. “We follow the Lucy Calkins Teachers College reading workshop model, which means that we spend at least 90 minutes a day reading. In elementary school, children are doing some serious reading. We found that if we focus on literacy at an early age, then they will do better in all of their other subjects in middle and high school.”
Students in elementary and high school as well as teachers gather together in their beach towels and mats for a 40 minute reading session every day.
“The foundation of our curriculum is literacy,” said Mark A. English, superintendent at AISJ, adding, “So, reading is a very important component of what we do here at this school. A day like this basically showcases reading, comprehension and literacy as an integral part of our school day. I hope we can do this every year.”
English elaborated that he would be visiting a few classes and reading aloud along with students later in the day. “I think World Read Aloud Day gives us an opportunity to sit outside in the field and read together,” said Rayyan Atieh, an elementary school student. “I love reading and I’m reading a book from my favorite series by my favorite author, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Battle of the Labyrinth by Rick Riordan.”
Robert Ollivier, head of the high school English Department, said that the main objective of the event was to improve the literacy rates all over the world.
“I think the best way to encourage students to improve is to set the right example and lead. When students see their teachers, reading, they will naturally follow their steps,” said Ollivier. “Students learn by watching adults and we have set the perfect example for that in this event; we have students and adults reading together and nurturing good habits for the future. So, I think it is a very positive event.”
“For these children, for all of us, the stories inside books are more than a gentle escape. They are a life raft,” says Pam Allyn, founder of Lit World, on the organization’s website.
For more information about Lit World, please visit litworld.org.