The Global Read Aloud

Tomorrow is a big day for 3/4N!  We will begin participating in the Global Read Aloud.  This is an activity where classes from around the world read the same novel, at the same time, for a month.  This year's novel is The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate.  It is the story of a silverback gorilla living at The Exit 8 Big Top Mall for years, and his life suddenly has purpose when a baby elephant arrives.  The novel is fiction, but is based on true events.  The students have been watching the book trailer and have become captivated with the story.  To view the trailer, click the link below
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYIMuxq-tL0
Through a math lesson, the students determined that when the book begins, Ivan has lived at the mall for 27 years.  Students were stunned and saddened by this fact, and have already developed empathy for the main character.  A great start to connecting with the novel!
This week, our class will read the first 78 pages of the novel.  We will correspond with two other classes via Edmodo (a social media website for teachers) and Skype.  One class is located in Houston, Texas, the other is in Stony Plain, Alberta.  We are looking forward to hearing their different viewpoints regarding the novel.