Connect, Collaborate, Communicate & Create!

These are the C's we want our students to have opportunities to get! There are many ways for your students to break down the walls of the classroom and interact with others outside of their four walls. Today, I'm excited to share two really big ways that are coming up:

1.  International DOT Day! I shared it with you last year, but it's baaack! September 15th, 2014 is International DOT Day, so let's start planning incredible teaching and learning adventures! As of this post, there are 327,646 participants signed up across 39 countries for the celebration. All are ready to have their students unleash their creativity and make their mark on the world. Let's join in and have our students do the same! International Dot Day is inspired by Peter Reynold's book, The Dot. You can implement Dot Day across the curriculum and take part in as little or as much as you want. Why not break down the walls and connect your students with other classes around the world?! Create a class Twitter account for your students to communicate with the author and other classes participating in Dot Day. You dream it and we'll help you make it possible!  Here is an Educator's Handbook filled with ideas and resources for participating in the global event. Sign up today!

Tons of educators, administrators, librarians and more are already signing up to connect on this GoogleDoc. Check out this Pinterest board filled with ideas and activities and their FB page as well. Here's our interactive wall to share your own ideas with PG peeps......and the world :) 

DREAM BIG!

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2.  Global Read Aloud-   Runs October 6, 2014 - November 14, 2014! Here's another incredible opportunity for your student to connect, collaborate and communicate with others around the globe. Once again, you choose how much you want to participate. You can connect with one class or several! Once you make your first connection, I guarantee you'll be hooked once you see the powerful impact it has on your students. You have our support, so let's get started!

"Global collaboration is necessary to show students that they are part of something bigger than them. That the world needs to be protected and that we need to care for all people. You can show them pictures of kids in other countries but why not have them speak to each other? Then the caring can begin."

For the Global Read Aloud, you can choose to have your students do an author study or choose from one of the read aloud choices for this year. The author study is on Peter Reynold's, which is an awesome transition from Dot Day! The read aloud choices are:

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo

The Fourteenth Goldfish by Jennifer L. Holm

One For the Murphy's by Lyndy Mullaly Hunt

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

More information on the author study and a breakdown of the chapters for each book during the six weeks can be found here.

Sign up HERE! Check out the GRA wiki for more information.

Have fun creating global relationships through reading!