Introducing our 2022-2023 Theme: Authentic Voices

Written by: Melinda Cooper, Words Alive Program Director

Student in summer programming connecting themes from a story and their authentic voice in a writing exercise.

When you hear the phrase “true, authentic voice,” what comes to mind? Maybe you thought of speaking the truth, keeping it real, or being the genuine article. Maybe you thought of being worthy of acceptance, or, simply, of being good.

Authenticity is universally valued across groups, cultures, and societies. People of all backgrounds understand the importance and power of being authentic. After all, authenticity build trust amongst individuals and communities, who themselves have the power to ensure that healthy systems are nurtured and sustained to support current and future generations.

Self-expression comes naturally to children, as all caregivers and teachers know, and at Words Alive, we believe in the ability of families and communities to co-create self-expression with their children and we are committed to nurturing the resiliency of children and teens through the transformative power of reading and storytelling using authentic voices.

When young learners hear and resonate with the stories of others, they learn more about themselves. Through exposure to consistent, responsible role models enthusiastic around reading, as well as access to high quality curriculum and materials, young learners in our programs are able to draw and explore connections with the texts, which supports their healthy self-expression, brain development, social-emotional skills, and future successes. 

Author, Marcie Colleen, with a family who just received their new copy of Penguinaut!

This year, 5,000 students from across our programs and the region will participate in a series of volunteer-led, dynamic sessions including discussions, creative writing, books to keep, and art! Our anchor texts will feature characters navigating challenges and friendships on their journey to discover and celebrate their authentic selves.

In our Family Literacy and Read Aloud programs, which collectively serve kids from preschool to third grade, you’ll find us reading such books as:

•  The Legend of Rock, Paper, Scissors by Drew Daywait

• Penguinat! by Marcie Colleen

• Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival

 Youth participating in our Adolescent Book Group program will be reading texts throughout the school year that represent a range of intersectional identities, family structures, and socially relevant issues. Titles include:

•  Hello, Universe by Erin Entrada Kelly

• The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

• Not So Pure and Simple by Lamar Giles

In addition to carefully developed reading guides, discussion questions, and instructions for families in their home language(s), young scholars will also receive learning kits to keep and take home. Our learning kits are thoughtfully equipped with the tools young readers can use to help bring the stories alive and draw connections between the text, themselves, and the world.

As students read fresh and relevant texts about characters who face challenges with resilience, courage, and kindness, these young scholars will develop the ability to reflect on their own tribulations and sharpen their coping skills. Talking to each other about the texts and reading aloud to one another builds their confidence and emotional awareness while also developing their vocabulary and critical thinking.

Teens in our Adolescent Book Group program reading Hey Kiddo!

As they connect to the topics and themes of the texts through curriculum-backed crafts and creative writing activities, the young scholars in our programs are motivated to engage with their own authentic voices in a way that is fun, impactful, and sustainable for a lifetime.

A Year of Resilience, Repair & Joy

A message from Words Alive’s Program Director, Amanda Bonds 

Words Alive is determined to deliver hope, joy, and a sense of community to children, teens, and families in the coming school year. With the help of extraordinary volunteers and remarkable philanthropists, we aim to create 100,000 meaningful moments of connection to the power of reading this year.

Why is this important right now? Experts predict the COVID-related learning loss we’ll see in schools this year is substantial. An escalating literacy crisis threatens more than 400,000 children across San Diego. 

Students need our support and resources, quickly, to build on the resilience they have demonstrated during the recent reimagined school year, and to work toward repair of our communities. They also need uplifting, joyous moments to add warmth and connection to what’s been a long, often lonely path since March 2020. 

When we see ourselves in the stories of struggle and success of others, we realize what we’re made of and what’s possible. When we are resilient, we are braver, more curious, more adaptable, and more able to extend our reach into the world—we can reflect on our resilience and its role in repairing our communities. This is our hope for each person who participates in our programs. 

Words Alive will bring people together to focus on connecting youth to stories of resilience and repair in the 2021-22 scholastic year. 

Informed by our courage to collaborate creatively and our commitment to what works, the titles we read this year will tell these stories, reigniting the joy children, teens, and families hold in their heart for learning along the way.  You’ll find us reading books such as:

• The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba

• Shh! We Have a Plan by Chris Haughton

• Inky’s Amazing Escape: How a Very Smart Octopus Found his Way Home by Sy Montgomery

Throughout the year, we will track every touchpoint – each one of those meaningful mission moments – where we create a connection for a child, a teen, or a family to the power of reading. This might look like a book that goes home with a student, a view of our online Story Station videos, a text message from Words Alive received by a family, and more. These touchpoints will be delivered through our volunteer-facilitated core programs and inspired through our online resources and the books and learning kits we bring to our community. 

At Words Alive, we believe that everyone has something to give and to gain in the movement to make reading matter, and so we welcome your involvement on the journey to 100,000 touchpoints, whether you want to donate, volunteer, or just cheer us on. 

We are proud to come together as a community to strengthen our resilience, embolden our efforts at repair, and joyously celebrate the power of reading.

Plot Twist: Melinda Wynar

This post was created by Ben Hollingshead and Zoe Wong, Words Alive volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love to have you on the team! Email to learn more.

Meet Words Alive volunteer extraordinaire: Melinda Wynar! Melinda is a retired preschool teacher and senior program activity director who has been a beloved Read Aloud Program volunteer for many years. She has also stepped up to volunteer for several other Words Alive programs whenever we need her!

Melinda is featured as a Community Champion in this video from Molina Healthcare!

She was recently recognized by Molina Healthcare as a Community Champion for her leadership and dedication to our community. Read on to learn about Melinda’s experience reading during the transition to distance learning, her takeaways and proudest accomplishments as a volunteer, and her hopes for our community.   

Melinda’s journey with Words Alive began when she started making plans for her retirement six years ago. “I made a list of all the things that I wanted to do when I retired and things that I enjoy doing,” she says. “And one of them that I always loved to do was to read to kids—it was my favorite thing when I was a preschool teacher many, many years ago.” Starting at the local library, she looked for reading-related volunteer opportunities without much success, until she heard about Words Alive from a friend. She found her way to our website, signed up to volunteer, and has not looked back since. “I just felt embraced by [Words Alive],” Melinda says, describing her first impressions of the organization.”I’ve never felt so well taken care of.” 

Melinda reads aloud to a classroom full of students.

Melinda began reading at Felicita Elementary School in Escondido and has been with the school ever since. Her continued commitment to Felicita means that she has built up strong relationships with teachers and kids over the years. “I’ll walk through the school and other kids that I read with...maybe the year before...will say ‘Oh, there’s the reading lady!'" Melinda says, smiling. “The most rewarding part is just interacting with these amazing teachers and kids,” she says. “It’s amazing how it makes an impression on the kids.” This excited response from the students is what has motivated her to be a tireless volunteer for the past six years.

Melinda and one of her classrooms at Felicita Elementary smile and hold up books.

As schools have moved to virtual learning, she has enthusiastically approached the challenge of reading on Zoom. “It’s tricky,” she laughs. “I'm so used to having the kids close by and being able to have a little more interaction with them.” But she didn’t let a bumpy first meeting stop her. She reached out and began working closely with the teachers to effectively redesign the online sessions, willingly incorporating feedback to optimize the interactive reading experience for her students. “[The teacher] may actually have the kids zoom in on their iPads,” Melinda says, “so that I will see them closer and I can feel a little more interactive with them.”  

She truly loves what she does, which is evident when she describes the books she reads to the kids. Her favorite book to read aloud is The Night Gardener by the Fan Brothers. “It is the most beautifully written and illustrated book; it actually brings tears to my eyes,” she says, describing the story about a magical gardener who creates beautiful topiaries by night. Another favorite is The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, a book about a group of disgruntled crayons who go on strike from coloring.“That book just cracks me up!” she says, smiling.

The cover of The Night Gardener, Melinda's favorite book.

Melinda is honest about the lessons she's learned through her time as a volunteer. "Reading with Words Alive put me in a community I'm not usually associated with," she says. "I definitely had to look at stereotypes or biases that I had about lower income communities or Hispanic communities." Because of her willingness to learn and challenge her own assumptions, her experience as a volunteer has given her a new appreciation for the hopes, aspirations, and struggles of the communities she works with.

Melinda volunteering at a socially-distanced book sorting.

In addition to being a Read Aloud Program volunteer, Melinda has stepped up for many of our other programs, including helping with Readers in the Heights, putting together craft kits, recording read-aloud videos for children with limited home libraries, sorting book donations, and most recently, fundraising on our behalf as a Champion for Youth. But her proudest accomplishment as a volunteer, she says, was recruiting authors to donate their time to the Words Alive Authors Auction. This silent auction allowed participants to bid on virtual visits with published authors, with all proceeds going to Words Alive. “It was very fun getting different authors to sign on,” she says. Through her tireless efforts, twelve more authors volunteered for the auction. “I'm pretty proud about that!” she says.

All of this volunteer work means a lot to Melinda personally. “Retiring is a little terrifying,” she says, laughing. “I was so used to working and being involved in so many different things...I would wake up in the morning, ready to jump out of bed, because I had a definite thing to do.” Now, as a retiree, she says, “What I love about volunteering is it gives me that same sense of purpose.”

Melinda reads to four children as part of Readers in the Heights.

And although she has retired from the workforce, Melinda has never stopped giving back to our community. “What I’m really hoping is that…we can find ways to come together and to find our common humanity,” she says. “Reading is a wonderful part of bringing people together.”

We couldn't agree more! Melinda, thank you for your time and dedication to making our community a better place.

The Words Alive Reader: October 16, 2020

Welcome to The Words Alive Reader, a regular newsletter keeping you up-to-date with the latest in how we've been connecting children, teens, and families to the power of reading. What have we been up to and how can you help? Read on to find out!
This newsletter, in addition to our blog and social media content, is written by us, a cohort of volunteers! Do you love writing and have an interest in helping Words Alive create this type of content? We'd love your help! Email to learn more.
- Zoe, Eli and Titiksha, Words Alive Storytelling Team

Your Own Private Audience with a Best-Selling Author!

A collage of books from authors participating in the Authors Auction with the words “Authors Auction” and “www.WordsAlive.org/authors2020”

Through our Authors Auction, you can bid to win virtual visits with more than 40 award-winning, best-selling adult and children's authors!

Take advantage of this unique chance to personally interact with authors from the safety of your home, during your virtual book club, or, you can donate your win to a classroom. This year's authors are offering a variety of experiences — conversations, book discussions, a memoir-writing workshop, and even cooking demonstrations!

And when you place a bid, you'll be supporting Words Alive's mission in a time when literacy matters more than ever. Bidding starts at $99 and begins closing October 28. Visit the auction here!

Read Aloud Program is Back — Virtually!

A smiling student sits at a desk.

Our Read Aloud Program (RAP) launched virtually this week! As part of RAP, 22 classrooms (about 575 students!) will enjoy weekly virtual read alouds from a dedicated reading role model from the community.

Even virtually, books are connecting volunteers and students! Here's what one of our reading volunteers, Al, had to say: "Reading to the 2nd graders on Tuesday at Monarch was wonderful!...I didn't think I would be too thrilled about zoom reading but this experience was very special!" 

Even during these difficult times, we are excited to keep sharing the joy of a good story while helping children develop the cognitive, language and social-emotional skills they need to be capable readers. Donate to help us reach even more children this school year!

Write Now with Alan Gratz

Alan Gratz holds up a copy of his book, Refugee.

"Imagine that bombs are falling on your neighborhood..." — Alan Gratz, author of Refugee​​​​​​​

Words Alive has partnered with the San Diego Public Library for a series of exclusive writing prompts from contemporary authors. Students can also sign up for live Zoom workshops with selected authors! Recently, Julia Walton talked with us about her journey to becoming an author, mental health, her book (and the new movie!), Words on Bathroom Walls, and storytelling through letters.

This month, Alan Gratz has challenged students to put themselves in the shoes of someone driven from their home by violence. This is the conflict at the heart of Gratz’s novel, Refugee, which is our Cover to Cover book of the month. To hear from the author himself, head to www.wordsalive.org/write-now!

Readers in the Heights Impact

Two children sit at a table with colorful books and craft supplies in front of them. They are reading Eric Carle's book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? together.

This summer, we joined forces with United Way of San Diego to bring the popular Readers in the Heights program to kids in their own homes. Thanks to your support, we helped provide hundreds of reading kits to families across San Diego!

Each participating family grew their home library by an average of 20 books, and parents reported an increase in their kids’ confidence and enthusiasm for reading as well as changed reading habits that brought their families together. In the words of one participant, “It has been amazing family time...I think that reading books this summer has encouraged [my son] to say to himself, 'Ok, I am good at this and I can do it.'"

For more about our efforts and our partners, check out this story from ABC 10 San Diego.

Introducing: Plot Twist

Andrea in her new dorm room.

Words Alive just launched a new blog series, Plot Twist, where we'll be sharing the stories of people in the Words Alive community! Our first blog post features Andrea Vazquez, one of our second-year Westreich Scholars. We talked to her about her educational journey and what it’s been like to start at a new school during the pandemic.

Check out the interview here, and stay tuned for more! We hope that through these stories, you'll get to know our community a little better and see the power of literacy come to life.

We'd love to hear from you! Email our Storytelling Intern to tell your Words Alive story.

Volunteers Needed!

A man unloads boxes of books onto a cart.

Help us get books to children!

Today, the escape of a captivating story is more important than ever — yet only one in three hundred children in San Diego have an age-appropriate book at home to read. 

Help us change that by delivering book donations to our community partners and families! These are one-time opportunities to make a real impact in our community. If you're interested, email [email protected]! 

Calling all crafters!

​​​​​​​Help us prepare arts and crafts for Words Alive families! Your work will complete our learning kits, full of books and resources to help families learn together at home.

The process is simple: pick up a supply bundle from the Words Alive office (contact-free, by appointment), volunteer from home, then bring the kits back to us! Email [email protected] to get started.

A child colors one of the activities in a Words Alive learning kit.

Donate Here to Support Words Alive!

Words Alive 2019-2020 Sneak Peek!

By Omar Jawdat, Blog Intern

The new school year has begun, which means  Words Alive’s Adolescent Book Group and Read Aloud Program are back! We are excited to have our volunteers engage with students in the classrooms while reading books out loud and talking about them together. In both programs, our curriculum focuses on a diverse range of popular stories that students can see themselves in and connect with. Here is a sneak peek of just a few of the books that we’ll be reading in the program this year! 

Read Aloud Program: Our Upcoming Curriculum

An image of three of our RAP books: Trick-or-Treat: A Happy Hunter’s Halloween, Dinosaur Bones, and The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.

Although children’s books are usually shorter, we want to make sure that each student gets the opportunity to absorb the values of these books, so they can learn from the text and dedicate themselves to truly appreciating all the different books that are brought to them. Rather than merely reading through one book and moving onto the next, our volunteers bring the books to life by asking questions before, during, and after reading aloud to encourage students to participate. This will also help students gain an interest in reading in and outside the classroom. The enjoyment of reading a good book is a valuable aspect in a student’s life, and will help their reading skills in the future. It will also help children develop cognitive language and social-emotional skills. 

October is Halloween month! Which means we will be reading the book titled Trick-or-Treat: A Happy Hunter’s Halloween. The book will introduce students to the creativity of poetry, as it is composed of 15 poems, each with unique Halloween celebrations with bright and colorful illustrations. During reading, our volunteers help students point out words that give the poems that scary Halloween feeling, as well as which lines have rhyming words, how each poem is different, and the emotions behind them. This allows children to learn about alliteration and rhyming patterns. Students are also given the chance to create their own silly alliterations and share their Halloween costumes with their peers.

Volunteers will also be introducing and reading the book Dinosaur Bones. This book will bring the dinosaurs back to life, with Bob Barner’s lively rhyming text and curiosity induced information about dinosaurs. Through paper collages, the book also contains vibrant illustrations of dinosaur bones that can be found in museums. Students will engage with several questions about the variety of dinosaurs, identifying and differentiating them by name, size, weight, and appearance. This will also help children develop an understanding of history (time periods and timelines), and they will learn new terms, as well as other interesting facts! Dinosaur Bones will spark a child’s inner scientist, and make enthusiasts roar with delight.

The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind is the story of a boy named William Kamkwamba, who’s village has been struck by a terrible drought, causing his family and his village to lose all their crops, resulting in having nothing to eat. Through exploring the science books in his village, William found the solution, which was to build a windmill that would bring electricity back to the village, and helps his family pump water to farm the land again. This book inspires children, as well as evokes perseverance, and teaches kids new terms/words, such as “drought” or “windmill”, for example. Students will also be able to learn about the different environments that other kids live in, showing how their lives are different than ours.

Adolescent Book Group Program 

An image of three of our ABG books: A Very Large Expanse of Sea, The Poet X, and Hey, Kiddo.

Our ABG program serves teenagers from alternative schools who have gone through adversity such as violence, teen pregnancy, and homelessness. Our Words Alive volunteers provide teens with engaging book discussions, writing workshops, and projects that help bring books alive. 

Hey, Kiddo by Jarret J. Krosoczka is one of the books that will be introduced to the classroom for the first time this year! Expressing the unfortunate circumstances of troubled families, Hey Kiddo tells the story of a young man, Krosoczka, who lives with his grandparents, due to his mother being an incarcerated heroin addict. Not knowing who his father is, Krosoczka seeks to find him, while also facing problems with his mother, his daily livelihood, and making it to become an artist. This book depicts the impact of change in one’s life, as many teens struggle to find themselves in identifying who they truly are. This book also explores themes of addiction, abuse, and growing up in a non-traditional environment. The struggling relationships between families and the overwhelming path that leads to achieving success are also impacting aspects of the book. Art is an inspiring theme in the novel, as it is the aspiring focus and profession that Krosoczka wishes to pursue.

Another story that will be presented to the classroom will be The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo. This fictional novel surrounds itself on the basis of racial identity, stereotypes, and the bonds between communities. The main character, Xiomara Batista feels neglected and unable to truly speak her mind in her Harlem neighborhood. All her heartfelt thoughts and inner emotions pour out into her notebook, where she writes and recites her words like poetic prayers. Xiomara lives in a religious environment, and falls into a deep crush on a boy named Aman. Students will be able to learn how to break free and have their own voice in life as well. The power of words is also emphasized with this reading, and will also encourage students to participate more in classes, extracurricular events/activities, and develop positive hobbies that they find interesting, or are passionate about.

Last but certainly not least, volunteers will be introduced to A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi. Another fiction novel, taking place in 2002. A year after 9/11, the story focuses on race, xenophobia, romance, relationships, and assumptions. Politically, it is an extremely sensitive time, especially for sixteen-year-old Shirin, a Muslim girl living in America. Shirin has to endure prejudice from people demeaning her as an outcast in society because of her religious and racial identity. She is also attacked for the hijab that she wears everyday, which even results in physical violence. Because of her circumstances, she must build protective walls, until she meets Ocean James, who really seems like he wants to get to know her. However, it will be difficult for Shirin to bring her guard down and develop a friendship. The aim of this story is to teach students to respect other cultures and backgrounds different from their own. Students will also learn about stereotypes and unfair treatment, as well as how to form friendships with different types of people, regardless of their religion, sex, or race.  

These books are only a few that we have previewed for a sneak peak into what we’ll be reading with students this year. These engaging themes, topics, diverse stories, characters, and texts are sure to get all of our students excited and interested in reading, as they learn and discover new things this school year!      

Life Lessons Learned From Popular Children's Books

By Jennifer Van Pelt

An image from The Lorax by Dr. Seuss. The Lorax is standing on a tree stump and text on the images says, “‘Mister!’ he said with a sawdusty sneeze, ‘I am the Lorax. I speak for the trees.’”

If you think back on some of your favorite books as a child, or the books you read to your own family members and loved ones, there’s likely some stories or motifs that stick out in your memory. Examples of popular themes in children’s books include not getting to bed on time and all of the chaos it can create, what eating too much food can cause, or why being nice to siblings can bring positive experiences. These subtle themes introduce new ideas to children as well as humanize lessons for them.

Some books take these lessons even further by relating them to some of the “Golden Rules” or basic social skills that children should learn when they are young. Aesop’s Fables is perhaps one of the most famous for popularizing these ideas for children, but it’s a common practice among popular contemporary children’s literature. Take a look at some of the examples below that you may have not realized subtly suggest a larger life lesson to children.

“The Rainbow Fish” by Marcus Pfister follows the story of a beautiful rainbow fish who keeps his beautiful scales to himself instead of sharing them with the other fish, leaving him with no friends. By the end of the book, the fish learns that giving the other fish some of his scales made him friends, thus embodying the “sharing is caring” motto we often teach children.

“Corduroy” by Don Freeman depicts the story of a teddy bear who goes on a hunt for his missing button that he believes he needs for any child to love him enough to buy him. After an adventure-filled and fruitless excursion for another button, a little girl buys him and loves him for his flaws. This book touches on the lesson that no one is perfect and everyone has flaws; it’s just about learning to love yourself as you are.

No children’s book list would be complete without a book from Dr. Seuss. “The Lorax”, perhaps one of his more popular and pertinent books, is a cautionary tale about treating the Earth with respect. It follows a child and his discovery to how his previously breathtaking town came to become such a desolate and destructed area. This book not only teaches children about the importance of sustainability and moderation, there’s also an overarching theme about the importance of learning from the past.

Words Alive knows that there are countless more benefits to reading aloud to children. In addition to introducing life lessons to them, reading aloud can also support their overall knowledge of books in general, cadence of reading a book, and vocabulary. If you would like to support our journey in ensuring more children are able to participate in the experience of reading aloud, you can visit our Read Aloud Program homepage here to learn more.

The Rise of Reading Aloud

By Jennifer Van Pelt

An image from our Champions for Youth Read Aloud event. A group of students stare intently at a book that is being help open by a member of the PGA Wives Association.

Scholastic recently published their bi-annual report on reading aloud. The report focused on the prevalence of reading aloud in the home, at what age this is most common, and the implications of the study.

The Rise of Read Aloud: Summary

When the study was first conducted in 2014, the percentage of babies younger than 3 months old who were read aloud to was 30%. Four years later, this has increased to 43%. Additionally, the percentage of children younger than one year who are read to has increased from 73% to 77% in 2018. It’s noted that this study began the year that the American Academy of Pediatrics began encouraging parents to read to their children beginning at birth. Despite the possible reasons behind why there has been a rise in the number of children who are read aloud to, it is a positive trend that helps to prepare babies and young children with language skills that will be important in their lives.

When asking the parents and children about how much they enjoy the reading aloud experience, the trend is also positive, with over 80% of children and parents rating read aloud time as something they “love” or “like a lot”. Several different benefits of the read aloud experience were referenced by the survey participants, from activities such as picking out the books to the talking and laughing that the whole family gets involved in. Asking questions and making sound effects are also part of the read aloud experience that is measured in the study, as these are positive actions for both the reader and audience to participate in.

Where the Opportunities Remain

The study shows that the practice of reading aloud peaks at the age of five, lessening around the time that the child enters kindergarten and can read on their own. However, at this age there is still much to learn in terms of vocabulary, writing styles, and plot. The article points out that continuing to frequently read aloud beyond this point is a key factor in predicting whether or not children ages 6-11 will be frequent readers (which we knows leads to better educational and social outcomes).

Lower-income families with children ages eight and under read aloud less frequently; 39% of families with household incomes less than $35,000 read aloud to their children 5-7 times a week compared to 62% among families with incomes of $100,000 or more. Lower-income families with kids ages five and under are also less likely to have received information on the importance of reading aloud from birth.

At Words Alive, we understand the importance of reading aloud, and in fact have a whole program dedicated to helping children become lifelong readers by participating in engaging read aloud session with our volunteers. Also, our Family Literacy Program focuses on educating participants about why reading is an important family activity. If you would like to learn more about our programs, click here. 

Read Scholastic’s full study here: https://www.scholastic.com/sites/readaloud/

Words Alive Curriculum Sneak Peek!

By Jennifer Van Pelt

Words Alive’s Adolescent Book Group and Read Aloud Program have started back up for the school year! We are excited for our volunteers to get back into the classroom and engage with students while reading and talking about books together. In our curriculum for both programs, we focus on new, diverse, and relevant texts so that students can see themselves represented in popular stories.

In 1965, The Saturday Review published “The All-White World of Children’s Books” showing that only 6.7% of children’s books published in the past three years had included black characters. By 2013, the numbers had only risen slightly to 10%. More than a third of people in the United States are non-white and they deserve to see themselves represented in literature as much as anyone else. Providing students with diverse representation in books is so important in our programs and allows students to make connections between the books they read and their own lives.

Here is a sneak peek of a few of the books we’ll be reading in each program this year!

Upcoming Curriculum for our Read Aloud Program

Although children’s books are generally shorter, we want to ensure that students get the most value out of each book we bring into the classroom. Rather than reading through each book and moving quickly on to the next, our volunteers bring the book to life by asking questions before, during, and after reading aloud to encourage the students to participate. The goal is to bring enjoyment to the classroom through reading while helping children develop cognitive, language, and social-emotional skills.

For the month of October, we have a Halloween themed book titled Trick-or-Treat: A Happy Hunter’s Halloween. The book includes 15 different poems describing youngster’s Halloween celebrations, accompanied by bright illustrations. While reading, our volunteers help students focus on rhyming, rhythm, and emotion. Students are also given the chance to learn about and create their own silly alliterations and share their own Halloween costumes with their peers.

An image of Giraffes Can’t Dance surrounded by children’s toys! Photo credit: phenom_llama

Another book our volunteers are looking forward to reading is Giraffes Can’t Dance. This book follows Gerald the Giraffe’s journey from a self-conscious to graceful dancer, including all of the animals and friends he meets along the way. As with most books at this level, our volunteers talk a lot about the book before reading it -- what do the students think the story will be about? Where do they think the book is set? After reading the book, some topics of discussion will be idioms included in the story as well as what lessons were learned.

Who Says Women Can’t be Doctors? describes Elizabeth Blackwell’s decision in the 1830s to become a doctor instead of a mother or housewife. A big focus of this book is relating it to the students own lives: what do the students want to be when they grow up? Does it remind them of any other people they know who have worked to achieve equal rights? Relating a book to our reality helps bring the book to life and can make it a more memorable activity for students.

Upcoming Curriculum for our Adolescent Book Group Program

Our ABG program serves teenagers in alternative schools who have faced extraordinary circumstances such as violence, pregnancy, and homelessness. Our trained Words Alive volunteers facilitate book discussions, writing workshops, and projects to help bring the books alive.

An image of Turtles All the Way Down surrounded by flowers! Photo credit: courtneyandherbooks

Among the new and diverse texts we’re bring into the classroom this year is Turtles All the Way Down by John Green. Positive and accurate mental health representation is still so rare in our media and this book can be highly impactful for students with any type of mental health problems. This book explores topics of friendship, mental health, and mystery as 16-year-old Aza investigates the disappearance of a billionaire The discussions around this book include some of the unique writing techniques John Green employs, as well as how mental health plays a part in the story and in real life.

An image of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe! Photo credit: sarachico

We’re also excited to introduce students to the wonderful YA coming-of-age novel, Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Saenz. This book follows two high school aged boys, Aristotle and Dante, as they struggle and come to terms with their racial and sexual identities and feelings of loneliness and anger. This book tackles a wide range of topics for students and volunteers to discuss together, and while reading students will be able to enjoy Saenz’s poetic and beautiful writing style.

Finally, a brand-new book we’ll be diving into this year is Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro. This book details Moss Jefferies’ life after his father was murdered by an Oakland police officer and how he continues to be treated like a criminal in his own school. This book touches on themes of racism, oppression, police brutality, and activism. Discussions around this book focus on problem solving, activism, and how different upbringings can affect perspective.

This sneak peek represents just a few of the books we’ll be reading and discussing with students this year. These engaging, diverse texts and topics are sure to get all of our students excited about reading and learning!

The Benefits of Discussing Books in Small Groups

By Jennifer Van Pelt

A picture of Read Aloud volunteer, Barb Takahashi, talking with Golden Hill students in her small group session.

Words Alive runs multiple literacy programs that focus on teaching strong literacy skills and a commitment to reading to children, teens, and families. One of our most popular programs is the Read Aloud Program, which currently serves over 4,300 Southern California students that are between Preschool and 3rd grade.

We offer this program in a “small group format” to a few of our school sites, in which our trained volunteers visit the classroom for 90 minutes each week to read to the group as a whole, then split the class into groups of 3-5 students to discuss the book and do small group activities. A study from aecf.org showed that students who are unable to read proficiently by the time they leave 3rd grade are four times more likely to not receive a high school diploma. Because of their young age and the relationship between literacy and success in education, we want to provide the most benefit we can in the 90 minutes a week that our volunteers visit the classrooms by fully engaging the students. We vet and train our volunteers to ensure they understand the discussion material and have the appropriate props, stories, and photos to help bring the books to life for the students.

These volunteers are able to bring more materials to the classroom so the group discussions are able to make the connection between the book and their everyday lives. Another benefit of the program, as noticed by our volunteers, is that all children are given the opportunity to participate. In a group of 30 or more students, children don’t always have the support to get individualized attention and encouragement to speak up like they do in smaller groups. They are also given the opportunity to use the new vocabulary and read aloud, so they can have another method of internalizing the new information.

In order to measure the effectiveness of the program, Words Alive partnered with the University of San Diego’s Caster Family Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research and surveyed the teachers and volunteers involved in this small group format of the Read Aloud Program. When asking them about the effectiveness of the small groups, 9 out of 10 teachers agreed that it encouraged more individual participation, helped students understand the story, and resulted in deeper discussions. Teachers also positively rated their student's reading motivation as a 4.1 on a 5 point scale after they participated in our Read Aloud Program formatted with small groups. Reading motivation is a key literacy indicator because it shows the self-confidence and desire to continue reading, which leads to more learning and practice.

In these underserved schools particularly, there is often times no guarantee that students are provided with the necessary resources and support staff to receive the individualized attention that our Read Aloud Program provides. That is why teachers and volunteers believe in the work that we do and recommend the program to other schools.

If you would like to become a volunteer in our Read Aloud Program, or any other positions at Words Alive, visit our website here to learn more.

Read Aloud Program and Wells Fargo Foundation Support

Reading aloud to young children is the most important thing we can do to help them become lifelong learners and strong readers. In our Read Aloud Program, trained volunteers read aloud each week to approximately 4,300 children from low income communities at early childhood education and Title 1 - eligible elementary school sites across San Diego.

This year our Read Aloud Program continues to grow and develop in order to meet the needs of our community. This program year, our Read Aloud Program is in 110 classrooms in 29 schools throughout San Diego County.

The Wells Fargo Foundation has given Words Alive $15,000 to sustain the work that we are doing. In addition, our partners at the Caster Center continue to help us evaluate our small group model and we hope to expand this model into more classrooms. The small group model allows the students to go deeper with the books our volunteers are reading to them in the classrooms, by providing them opportunities to analyze the text and vocabulary, look for context clues, and relate the books to topics being covered in the classroom. 

We are also expanding our Read Aloud Program into Orange County through our partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove.

We'd like to say thank you to the Wells Fargo Foundation for their support of early childhood literacy and our Read Aloud Program. We look forward to making reading matter for thousands of children this year and we could not do this without the support of our partners!