Through Words Alive’s response to COVID-19, “Book Connect Us,” we are sharing best practices from our 20+ year history to help children, teens, and families use the love of reading to navigate this turbulent time. Here are a few highlights from the past few days.
Words Alive Worldwide!
Image of a child holding their hands up to their eyes while watching Words Alive Story Station.
With the jarring arrival of COVID-19, Words Alive knew our decades of experience could help children, teens, and families use the power of reading to cope with the imminent trauma and turbulence, but we didn’t realize just how many people we would reach.
Since March 26, there have been more than 7,000 unique visitors to our website from every state and 21 countries. (This week we’re averaging 500+ each day!) In addition, we’ve hosted 18 live story times on Facebook that average 720 views each. We can confidently say we’re connecting more children and families to the power of reading than ever before – and we are humbled to do so during such a stressful time.
Want to help spread the word? Become a Words Alive Ambassador and share our resources with the loved ones in your life. Get started here.
Going the Distance!
Image of a student writing with a laptop open in front of them.
Students are “returning” from spring break to find that Words Alive is embedded in their virtual classrooms. We worked with our teacher partners to launch exclusive virtual modules for more than 100 classrooms participating in our Read Aloud and Adolescent Book Group programs. These resources include videos of trained volunteers reading aloud to students, virtual and print books and resources, writing prompts and discussion questions, hosted online discussions, and interactive platforms for sharing work.
To learn how to bring these exclusive resources to your schools or classrooms, or to support this work, let us know you're interested here.
Mindfulness Mondays!
Starting Monday, April 13th, Words Alive launched an 8-week mindfulness series in partnership with Mindfully Empowered!
Image of a Mindfulness Monday graphic! This one featuring a DIY activity to calm the mind.
We will “Make it Lit” by accompanying each post with a reading extension, journal prompt, or other writing activity. During this uncertain time, skills to manage stress and anxiety are more important than ever before. Words Alive and Mindfully Empowered are excited to help teens develop healthy coping skills through reading, writing, and creating together. Check out new activities every Monday here.
Upcoming (Virtual) Events:
Join us for Story Station every weekday afternoon (2 pm PT on Facebook Live):
4/20: Chalk by Bill Thompson
4/21: Hilda Must Be Dancing by Karma Wilson
4/22: Growing Vegetable Soup by Lois Elhert
4/23: Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein
4/24: ¿Es tu mama una llama? por Deborah Guarino
(Recordings are available on our Facebook page after the reading.)
Trending on #QuaranTEENS:
Image of our QuaranTEENS logo!
Top stories and activities trending this week on #QuaranTEENS: