Meeting Carmela Coyle

Today we participated in World Read Aloud Day.  Not only did we read many books aloud today, but we had the special treat of meeting (via Skype) author Carmela Coyle.  Carmela lives in Denver, Colorado.  Using Skype, the computer and the SMARTBoard, we (60 students from 1/2F, 1R and 2G) had the opportunity to see and hear all about Ms. Coyle's adventures as an author.

The students were amazed to learn more about Carmela, and how she got the idea to write one of our favourite books (Do Princesses Wear Hiking Boots?).  She shared with us that her daughter Annie asked her that question one day when Annie was only 4 years old.  Annie is now 18 years old and in college!  We even got to meet Carmela's dog Lulu!

 Meeting Lulu...

What an amazing experience!  Carmela was so friendly and engaging.  She read aloud from our favourite story, and then answered all our questions.  The students are eager to start writing more stories of their own!

Thank you Carmela for a wonderful experience - and for writing such wonderful books.  We hope to be able to catch up with Carmela again next year!

World Read Aloud Day

Tomorrow, March 7, 2012 is World Read Aloud Day.  We are excited to be taking part in celebrating this exciting day.  WRA Day was started by an organization called LitWorld.  Their motivating focus is:

Imagine a world where everyone can read.

Here is some information about WRA Day found on Litworld.org:

World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words, especially those words that are shared from one person to another, and creates a community of readers advocating for every child’s right to a safe education and access to books and technology.

We are so excited to have the opportunity to Skype (video call on the computer) with children's author Carmela Coyle tomorrow.  Mrs. Coyle lives in Denver, Colorado and we will have the chance to spend a half-hour with her on Skype talking to her, asking her questions, learning about how she writes her book and hearing her read her own book aloud.

Our favourite story by Carmela Coyle is:

Spend a few moments tomorrow celebrating WRA Day as a family.  Perhaps you could all choose a favourite book and read together, or talk about your favourite books.