By Microsoft Education Team
Founded in 2010 by LitWorld, World Read Aloud Day celebrates the power of reading aloud to create community, amplify stories, and advocate for literacy as a foundational human right. Since its beginning, World Read Aloud Day has grown into a global movement of millions of readers, writers, and listeners from over 170 countries.
With a commitment to equity and helping all learners thrive, Microsoft is happy to provide tools, resources, and opportunities that support literacy and help students and educators celebrate the joy of reading.
“World Read Aloud Day is a time for all of us to unite around the joy of sharing stories, reveling in language, words, and sounds, and creating an inclusive world of possibility that everyone can join into.”
– Pam Allyn, creator of World Read Aloud Day
On February 1, 2023, classrooms around the world will take time to celebrate and honor the power of reading and sharing stories and expand the scope of global literacy. As Pam Allyn, creator of World Read Aloud Day, reminds us, “World Read Aloud Day celebrates the power, magic, and influence of the read aloud for children and teenagers…” Reading texts aloud helps build fluency, stamina, and vocabulary, and creates shared joy in the act of reading.
The World Read Aloud team and LitWorld are excited to provide educators tools and resources to use with students to build their own World Read Aloud Day book parties. From live virtual events featuring favorite authors, virtual read alouds to enjoy anytime, anywhere, and a virtual bookshelf where students can add their own stories, it’s easy to take your World Read Aloud Day celebration to the next level.
In honor of World Read Aloud Day, on February 1, 2023, Flip Live and Macmillan Children’s Publishing Group will host a fun event starting at 10:00 AM PT featuring Bad Kitty and her friend Strange Kitty (AKA Captain Fantasticat). Join Bad Kitty author Nick Bruel to learn about some of his favorite drawing tips and to hear a read-aloud. Pam Allyn, World Read Aloud day creator, will also make an appearance at the event.
On World Read Aloud Day (and every day) students can celebrate the joy of reading and sharing stories. Microsoft offers dynamic, easy-to-use tools to help create inclusive environments where all students can practice and build confidence in their reading ability.
Reading Progress
Microsoft Reading Progress in Teams for Education is a free tool that helps students practice their reading fluency. Students read a passage out loud while recording video and audio and share the recordings of themselves with their teachers who can then track the progress, provide feedback, and discover trends and opportunities for student growth.Equipped with Immersive Reader features, Reading Progress further empowers students to build in their own differentiation and complete fluency checks independently at school or at home, building confidence as they go.
“Reading Progress is a wonderful tool for understanding the reader, and together on World Read Aloud Day, we celebrate it, for it uses the read aloud as the key ingredient, broadens teachers’ knowledge of their students, and students’ own perceptions of themselves.”
– Pam Allyn, creator of World Read Aloud Day
Immersive Reader
Microsoft Immersive Reader is a free tool, built into Word, OneNote, Outlook, Office Lens, Microsoft Teams, Reading Progress, Forms, Flipgrid, Minecraft Education Edition and the Edge browser, that implements proven techniques to improve reading and writing for anyone regardless of their age or ability.
Immersive Reader can help improve reading and build confidence by:
With features for needs ranging from attention support to eye fatigue, Immersive Reader is designed to be non-stigmatizing and easily personalized.
Free Literacy Tools to Support K-12 Students Quick Start Guide
First Book offers an easy-to-use quick start guide to support literacy using Microsoft tools including Reading Progress, Immersive Reader, and Education Insights. This guide provides three easy steps for getting started:
Dyslexia Thinking Learning Pathway on Microsoft Learn
In partnership with Made by Dyslexia, Microsoft offers free dyslexia training for educators and families on Microsoft Learn. This free, online training is comprised of multiple modules which cover dyslexia awareness, dyslexia teaching, and most recently added dyslexia and technology. In Dyslexia Teaching: Part 2, learn strategies to transform teaching and learning, specifically as it applies to reading. The newest module Dyslexia and Technology offers opportunities to explore tech tools to support learners through building on their strengths, as well as supportive technology to mitigate challenges learners with dyslexia often face.
Whether it is a classroom book party, school-wide celebration, or community event, join millions of others on World Read Aloud Day to honor the joy of reading and sharing stories.
Literacy has long been a strong predictor of students’ future career paths, financial stability, and overall health. Unfortunately, reading achievement scores in the United States have declined “significantly”, according to the 2022 National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) reading assessment.
At Microsoft Education, we are proud to showcase how our technology solutions can lead to remarkable improvements in student outcomes. With a thoughtfully researched approach, Sarah Buist, Head of Digital Strategy, and Tom Harman, Modern Foreign Language Teacher and Digital Leader from The Royal Grammar School Newcastle, UK, studied the impact of using Microsoft Teams and Reading Progress with students.
The school year has begun and we’re here to help! Microsoft offers a range of teaching, learning, and work solutions with built-in AI that can help you and your students thrive this year. We are committed to designing, developing, and deploying responsible AI solutions that are fair, reliable, secure, inclusive, and transparent to support educational settings.
Leave a Reply