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I began the weekly International Read Alouds with my students last school year, and it ended up being a huge success! Every Thursday morning my students would ask, "Where are we traveling to today?!" To give you a picture of how these books will be used, one morning a week I will read aloud one of these books. Before I read, students highlight the country's location on a map in their classroom passports. I read aloud that week's chosen book, and throughout the reading the students can ask questions or share their thoughts on what they are learning about this new country. After I finish reading, students write facts that they learned about the country, questions they still have, and receive a stamp all within their passports. If a student or their family is from any of the countries that we learn about, they have the opportunity to share their experiences with the class as well as bring in items of importance to share. My inspiration for this project comes from a couple different places. First, every year I find out that many of my students have never traveled outside of the United States. Some travel to Mexico to visit family over the weekends, but most students don't experience cultures other than their own. Second, traveling to Africa twice, Mexico, and many states and National Parks around the United States in the last few years has completely broadened my view of the world. I realized that I wanted to instill some of this interest and curiosity into my fourth graders about how vast, unique, diverse, and interesting the rest of the world is outside of San Diego. I can't wait to travel the world with my students again this year!
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