Students of NKMS get boost in confidence through reading

More than 30 students and their respective sponsors involved with the Global Read Aloud (GRA) program display their selection of “A Long Walk to Water” that has sparked dialogue with other pupils around the world.

Andre' Jones photos

Every person in the world has a fear of a certain item, whether it be the dark or an animal. For some students at New Kent Middle School, a program that connects with other peers from around the world is helping them get over their fear of reading aloud.

The Global Read Aloud (GRA) program is a program that allows students to read a particular book and share it with others around the world. Pupils use technology to connect with others to discuss their thoughts on the book and work on projects as well.

New Kent Middle School teacher Tamika Hathaway said the program has warmed up to students and given them a desire to read.

“Everyone is excited about this program,” she said. “They are more comfortable in sharing their thoughts and enjoy the books that they are reading.”

Hathaway commented about the program being a positive factor in the students’ schoolwork. Many students are keeping up with their assignments compared to her interaction with the same ones in previous years.

“You can definitely see the difference; they keep asking me to read,” the teacher continued. “I can tell you personally that one student involved in the program didn’t have any desire to read. But now that he is involved with this program, he wants to keep reading, over and over again.”

GRA uses technology through varying social media platforms such as Twitter, Edmodo, email, and many more to allow pupils to create slideshows, summaries, and other learning tools related to pre-selected books. Students are fascinated and have literally shared their thoughts with more than two million others who participate in the program worldwide.

“Our students have had conversations with people from around the world,” Hathaway said. “They’ve spoken to students from Minnesota, Canada, and Argentina.

“There is a lot more interaction with this program and there are a number of different technology that can be utilized,” she added.

Students currently involved in the GRA program are currently reading “A Long Walk to Water” by Linda Sue Park. The excitement of the book and program was evident, as several students couldn’t stop speaking about the short novel.

“Everybody is reading the same book at the same time and can share the same thoughts,” said Kenzi Holmes. “Everybody is trying to figure out what’s going to happen next.”

“This book talks about Salva and Nya [the lead characters] going through a lot of things,” added Dajour Weeden. “They are going through a lot but they never give up.

“They are in Africa and they are surviving,” chimed in Tommy Norris.

“I’m surprised they would last this long,” Taylor Pullen added, pointing to the adventures of the main characters in “A Long Walk to Water.”

Students said that the experiences with the program may have not recognized if they were not involved with GRA.

“We have Flip-A-Grams and technology to do projects,” Norris added. “We can create videos where we discuss the book and share it with our friends or with other kids around the world.”

“One of the things about the program [GRA] is that because we are reading the same thing, it avoids spoilers,” added Holmes. “That way you don’t have a person reading a book and telling you what happened because if they do that, then you won’t have a desire to read the book.”

The middle school isn’t the only one currently participating in GRA. Second graders are currently reading “Fenway and Hattie” by Victoria Coe.

Hathaway said the program has opened her eyes to additional resources available for her to use as an instructor.

“It has definitely made me a better teacher,” she said. “I didn’t know all these learning tools were out there.

“To see all of these resources available is just providing additional opportunities to teach and encourage these kids to read and express themselves,” Hathaway concluded.

GRA operates in six-week cycles, with the current one to end on Nov. 10. For more information on the program, visit www.theglobalreadaloud.com.

New Kent Middle School Student DaJour Weeden uses his computer to respond to dialogue as part of the Global Read Aloud program.