News for You: LitCamps Make Transformational Change to Build a World of Super Readers

LitCamps From Oakland to Atlanta

Let’s start with the numbers: 55,000 kids, 3,000 classrooms, 118 cities in 32 states across the U.S. Add it all up, and you have LitCamp--the summer program developed by LitWorld in partnership with Scholastic. The message we've received from parents and teachers around the country is clear: LitCamp is truly revolutionary. It is an exciting and dynamic solution to the catastrophic "summer slide" which can seriously interfere with a child's growth as a reader.

We have created LitCamp with a combination of exceptional lessons in reading, writing and storytelling combined with superb children's books, carefully selected by LitWorld to reflect the wide and diverse world of childhood. LitCamp serves students from kindergarten through fifth grade.

LitCamps were adopted by the New York City Department of Education as a key part of the “Summer in the City” Initiative, and by many other districts and cities across the country including Oakland, Austin, and Richmond.

LitCamp Across the Globe

LitCamps spread across the world this summer. From Colombia to Haiti to Rwanda, LitKids wrote stories, read books, formed new friendships, and grew their academic skills through storytelling. From Nepal:

"What happens when you bring nearly a hundred girls together for LitCamp? Empowerment and Magic. They learned to share, to be brave, to be open, to be helpful, and to be committed to improve themselves and their communities. These little girls found that they have big personalities and big dreams, and that they can work together to make those dreams a reality."

While the cost per child is low, the benefits are profound. Summer has ended, but we can keep summer dreams alive by getting ready for next summer and by helping many more children attend a LitCamp. Please consider making a donation to LitWorld to turn every child into a Super Reader!

Stand Up for Girls on October 11th

507 million women and girls worldwide cannot read and write.

Stand Up for Girls mobilizes people of all genders, from all corners of the world, to advocate for a girl’s right to share her story and change the world. By learning to read, write, and share stories, girls understand that their words have the power to create monumental change at the community and international level.

The HerStory Campaign was created and led by two nonprofit organizations, LitWorld and Global G.L.O.W., and works to amplify the powerful stories of women and girls in their communities and around the world. On October 11th, the annual United Nations International Day of the Girl, we invite you to Stand Up and join our global community as we take action, highlighting the stories of girls from the world’s most marginalized communities. By listening to girls’ own stories and acting on them, we can build a better world together.

This year we will celebrate our strengths by standing up for women and girls around the world who inspire us to be strong.

How will you Stand Up for Girls on 10.11.16?

Download one of our activity packets below to be a part of the movement.

The Community Packet is for anyone who would like to host event in their communities for a large group.

Download the Community Packet.

The Classroom Packet is for anyone who would like to celebrate in their classroom or a school setting.

Download the Classroom Packet.

The small group or individuals packet is for people who would like to celebrate in their homes or offices, on their own or in a small group.

Download the Individual Packet.

Pam Allyn on 'Creating Passionate Readers' on BAM! Radio

"Every day, give kids a chance to choose what they read...time and minutes spent reading things you love -- whether it's Captain Underpants or the back of a cereal box... it all matters!"

LitWorld's founder, Pam Allyn, talks with Rae Pica on the show StudentCentricity on BAM! Radio Network on how to help struggling readers become passionate, confident lovers of reading. Pam describes the kind of joyful literacy she wants for all kids. She also gives her top two tips for teachers of later grades to restore a love of reading in students who may have lost it. 

Click here to listen to the full interview.

Ten Tips with Pam Allyn and Scholastic

We don't want to raise children who are answering the questions we already know the answers to, we want to raise readers who are making new questions that we never even thought to ask!

Pam Allyn spoke with Scholastic to create Ten Tips on how to create strong readers and lifelong learners. Each quick tip is focused on one specific aspect of building reading skills, such as example, exmaple, example, and blah.

View the video below to see all Ten Tips with Pam Allyn.

UN Women, Global G.L.O.W., and LitWorld Co-Host Twitter Chat on Aug 25

The HerStory Campaign, created and led by nonprofits LitWorld and Global G.L.O.W, invites you to our first twitter chat in collaboration with UN Women. Join us on August 25th, at 9am EST on Twitter to explore storytelling as a vital part of eradicating poverty, promoting quality education and ensuring #Planet5050.

Come together with the #HerStoryCampaign to start a powerful, long-term conversation, fueled by our signature storytelling strategies, that amplifies girls' voices so we can all deeply listen and take action together.

The Power of HerStory - Twitter Chat
Date: August 25th 2016
Time: 9 am EST

Handles: 
@litworldsays
@globalgirlsglow
@UNWomen4Youth
@ravikarkara
@WorldWeWant2030
@YouthForumCSW

Hashtags: 
#herstorycampaign
#youth4genderequality
#planet5050
#LEAPsingenderequality

Questions

We will be asking the following questions throughout the hour to engage in thoughtful conversation around the role of storytelling in promoting gender equality. We encourage you to have your answers ready!

Q1. Why do we tell stories?
Q2. Why is sharing your own story so important?
Q3. What can our communities do to help girls share their stories?
Q4. Describe how the world would be different if we listened to the stories of every girl.
Q5. How can we make sure girls' stories are heard and respected?

Sample Q&A

@litworldsays: Q4. Describe how the world would be different if we listened to the stories of every girl.

@sampleuser: A4. When girls & boys voices are equal, we will achieve #Planet5050 and have a safer, better world for all! #herstorycampaign

Five Super Reader Commitments to Make the School Year Unforgettable

What are the best ways to start a new school year? LitWorld Founder Pam Allyn was asked to share her expert answer to this question over on Education Week for this week's edition of Classroom Q&A with Larry Ferlazzo. Here's Pam's advice for an unforgettable year:

The time is now to make a commitment to turn every child into a "super reader," to give them a sure way to become truly ready for the 21st century world and to experience the joy, pleasure and exaltation of an empowered reading life.

We can do this, first, by depathologizing the reading experience. We have "medicalized" reading instruction so that we are in a constant state of diagnosing children: leveling them, intervening with them, "pushing in" or "pulling out." The language we use to describe how we teach reading can be negative for children, and our methods for instruction can feel more like treating a disease than raising readers. At LitWord, I work with children across the United States and the world, and see children yearning for a positive reading experience, longing to join the literacy "club," and striving to become better at something they know will change their lives. The negative language of low expectations and intervention is inhibitive. It has prevented them from seeing themselves as super readers, from becoming aspirational in their reading goals, and from being bold and fearless in taking risks as readers. It has denied them a place at the reading table.

Click here for Pam's Top 5 Super Reader Commitments

News for You: Life-Changing Learning for Every Child, Everywhere

Summer has a whole new story.

Out-of-school months have a critical impact on children's academic success. Unequal access to summer learning programs accounts for over half of the achievement gap between lower- and higher-income youth. By the end of sixth grade, children who lose reading skills over the summer will be two years behind their classmates. LitWorld is closing the summer literacy gap with our groundbreaking LitCamp program. We have partnered with Scholastic and school districts across the country to bring LitCamp to 25,000 children this summer. LitCamp re-imagines summer learning, combining the pure joy of camp with reading and writing experiences that affirm and enhance the strengths of every child. From New York City to Detroit, Austin to Oakland, we are making it possible for all children, no matter their zip code, to grow, thrive and strive as readers.

A read aloud on wheels.

LitWorld programs are renowned for the ease with which they can be implemented in communities in urgent need of literacy support. At over six million, Pakistan has the world’s second-highest number of out-of-school children. In rural communities, only 20 percent of girls go to school. LitWorld is responding to this crisis with our year-round LitClub and library programs. In the past year, we have opened two community libraries in Faisalabad and Khushal which serve hundreds of readers each week. To extend our support to remote rural communities, we launched a mobile library program with our local partner, the Seeds of Hope Foundation. Our message is that literacy is not optional: it is a lifeline. The link between literacy levels and positive health and economic outcomes is profound. Women with high literacy levels earn 95 percent more than women with no literacy skills. Our programs and library spaces are making the effects of reading and writing visible to parents and community members, and we are changing the value placed on children's education.

A LitWorld celebration on Martha's Vineyard!

Join us on Saturday, August 6th for cocktails, hors d'oeuvres, and a celebration of the work LitWorld does to strengthen children and their communities through the power of literacy. Click here to RSVP and learn more.