World Read Aloud Day 2012

This is loooooong over due! But, better late than never!

Ivan has become and instant
 favorite among the students.

On March 7th, my students had the great honor of participating in a Skype session with author Katherine Applegate. Mrs. Applegate is most recently noted for her wonderful book, The One and Only Ivan. We were reading her book as our class read aloud, so I reached out to Mrs. Applegate to see if she would be available to read to us on World Read Aloud Day. She kindly agreed to. It was wonderful! Not only did she read aloud to the students, but she also spoke with them about being an author and answered some of their burning questions. We had a great time and are so thankful to her for spending some of her valuable time with us. 






Here are some pictures form our virtual visit:

Making introductions

Mrs. Applegate shows the students another one of her books, Home of the Brave

Mrs. Applegate talks about the Animorphs series that she co-wrote with her husband. The kids were surprised to discover she wrote them!

Sharing her favorite award: One she received after a school visit.

Meeting Mrs. Applegate's muse, Lightning.

Students stood up in front of the web cam to share their questions

Talking about our favorite books!

Mrs. Applegate shares her secret to writing a good story: ask yourself "What if?"

We learned so much from Mrs. Applegate and are so appreciative of her agreeing to Skype with us on such an important day. It was hard to tell who was more excited that day, me or the kids. Afterall, it was MY first time meeting an author face-to-face, too!