Celebrating reading aloud on World Read Aloud Day 2014

One of our favourite days is fast approaching - World Read Aloud Day 2014 is happening on Wednesday 5th March, rallying the whole world to come together and share the joy of reading aloud to show that everyone has the right to read, sharing their voices and stories to change the world. The Reader Organisation is delighted to be linking up with LitWorld as a WRADvocate Partner for World Read Aloud Day 2014, celebrating the pleasure and power of reading aloud on a global scale.

At the heart of all of our shared reading groups and activities happening each week, for young people and adults alike, is a focus on reading for pleasure and meaning in a relaxed, informal and friendly environment. Reading aloud is a key element of all of our shared reading groups: not only is an experience created by bringing a story or poem alive in the room, but being able to read and listen to the literature allows us to relate on a deeper level, drawing human and emotional connections with the text and one another. Reading aloud is relaxing, empowering, socially connective and opens us up to other worlds.

"It’s even better than reading yourself – you’d miss things by yourself - but the big thing here is that when you read with a little group in a cosy atmosphere you pay more attention to the details, especially in poems. It’s great that we’re all individuals with different viewpoints on subjects, and that also triggers new ideas in yourself – you get different angles from other people, so it’s a very interactive experience of books." - shared reading group member

“If you read by yourself, you only get your own interpretation of the book. If you read with other people and talk about what you're reading you get other people's interpretations of the books as well, which is always more interesting as it makes you look at things in a way that you wouldn't by yourself necessarily. Everyone brings their own experiences to the book." - shared reading group member

So how are we celebrating World Read Aloud Day?

On the day itself, we have a number of our open community shared reading groups running in Liverpool, Wigan, Wirral, the South West and London (in Kensington and Chelsea and South London). Come along and enjoy a good read, read out loud. There's no pressure to join in the reading; listening is just as good. Find a full list of our open groups happening on World Read Aloud Day on our website: http://www.thereader.org.uk/reading-with-us

We'll be sharing stories from our group members about how reading aloud has had an impact on their lives, as well as their reading choices;

We're also building up a whole YouTube channel of reading aloud alongside Liverpool Learning Partnership in their City of Readers project. There's already a ton of great videos up there, with readers sharing their favourite stories and poems aloud from a wide range of literature, and in the days leading up to World Read Aloud Day we'll be showcasing a video a day from the City of Readers channel on social media, counting down to a wonderful day of reading aloud.

For World Read Aloud Day we'd love for you to share your own favourite with us aloud, by filming your selection and sending it to us for inclusion on the City of Readers YouTube channel. All you need to do is record yourself reading, save your video as a .wav file and send it through to us by e-mailing bethpochin@thereader.org.uk. You can read anything from 2 to 25 minutes long, and please include your details and photo so we can make you one of our read aloud stars!

Why not let us know how you'll celebrating World Read Aloud Day by commenting here, or sharing your stories of reading aloud with us on Twitter or Facebook.

You find out more about World Read Aloud Day and sign up to participate on LitWorld's website: http://litworld.org/worldreadaloudday