Global Read Aloud: Orbiting Jupiter

When I was setting up this blog, I came across the Global Read Aloud. I truly believe in the value of reading aloud to students of all ages. I’m always looking for suggestions of new read alouds. I think there’s an art to choosing a read aloud. I think it needs to be short; otherwise the read aloud drags along for months. Short chapters help to create natural breaks. Mini cliff hangers are a bonus. I think it needs a strong emotional appeal whether it’s humour or tragedy. The text can’t be too description heavy, lots of dialog and action. You can’t just flip back to check something in a read aloud, so it shouldn’t have too many characters to keep track of. I was excited to see what was selected for junior high audiences and to see how it fit my criteria.

Beyond just reading aloud, I liked the idea of having students converse about the book they’re listening to, not only with their classmates, but also with other students from around the world. I hope we’ll get some responses from students in other schools, provinces, countries! We’ve also had a few Twitter interactions. Check out @8geniuses.

I’m enjoying the book so far. I’m having a hard time not reading ahead!

4 thoughts on “Global Read Aloud: Orbiting Jupiter

  1. Hi, Mrs. Englot! I just set up an Edublogs site so that we can hopefully connect with you through the Global Read Aloud. I am late in getting started, but am planning on starting the book today. How far are you guys in the book?

    Also, how did you go about putting all of your students’ class blogs on the right side of your blog page? If we could get that set up today, maybe we could start connecting soon!

    On a side note, I have three sections of 8th graders and 2 sections of 7th graders, and we are located in Iowa. Also, we are currently in the first year of Genius Hour as well! It looks like we have a lot in common, as I am definitely learning right along with the students! 🙂

    I look forward to hearing back from you!

    • Thanks for connecting, Mrs. Petersen. I think that in order to get your students linked along the side you might need to upgrade to the Pro account.
      Most of my students have blogged about the first 45 pages of the book. We’ll read the next chunk Wednesday and Thursday and then blog again.

      • That’s what I was thinking. I wonder if we could connect a different way. We are not nearly as far as you, so I’m worried about us being able to catch up. We are only on page 16 right now.

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