"The kids are super pumped and striving for the #1 spot. Love these reading games!!!" ~
Connie Bagley, Texas Teacher
Nearly
5,000 students in close to
300 schools read over
1 million pages in just under
7 weeks as part of Learning Ally's 2nd annual
Great Read
ing Games #GRG16), a national reading competition with an amazing twist.
All of the students who participated have a print reading disability like dyslexia or a visual impairment, which dramatically slows their reading abilities, leaving them out of most reading contests. This one is different because students are encouraged to read using their ears with
audiobooks.
“I have never seen so many smiles on my kids' faces in my life. They love having the opportunity to ear read.”
~ Nelda Reyes, Dyslexia Teacher, Texas
Congrats to the top 10 schools in the Games who won various prizes including Chromebooks:
1. White Oak Middle School - TX
2. Crockett Elementary School - TX
3. DeZavala Elementary School - TX
4. Southampton Middle School - VA
5. West Navarre Intermediate School - FL
6. James W. Fannin Middle School - TX
7. Echo Joint Agreement - IL
8. Kleb Intermediate School - TX
9. North Bridge Elementary School - TX
10. Susie T. Fuentes Elem School - TX
To celebrate this huge accomplishment, we offered two inspiring online student events on Read Across America Day with New York Times bestselling authors
Jeff Kinney,
Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and
Robert Beatty,
Serafina and the Black Cloak! Both of these online events were open to the public, and you can still watch them on demand (watch
Serafina ; watch
Wimpy Kid).
Our students were eager to know the authors' opinions on many topics, including audiobooks.
"In the end, a story is first and foremost, a story that you hear with your ear," said Beatty. "Written words are simply sounds. Then, of course, my daughter, who I mentioned is dyslexic, is my main audience, so I wrote it in a way where it would be read to her. Audiobooks in my family are a huge part of our life.”
During the webinars, Jeff Kinney also said that he only reads by listening to audiobooks; in fact he loves them.
Watch the full event on demand and hear a snippet from his event below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4IegJeRb2g&feature=youtu.be
Learning Ally is a national non-profit serving students who have print disabilities, as well as their parents and teachers. Bring the Great Reading Games and Learning Ally to your school by sharing
this flyer with your educator or visiting the
membership page.
We thank everyone who made the Great Reading Games and author chats possible. First,
Robert Beatty and
Jeff Kinney for volunteering their time (and signed books) for our kids. You made this a great day!
Thank you to
Wilson Language for sponsoring our two author webinars. Visit Wilson's
website to learn more about reading interventions for students with dyslexia or other learning disabilities. Also, thank you to the
Biltmore Estate for donating gift cards as prizes for the Learning Ally Great Reading Games winners and supporters.