Read Around the World

Last year, the RAW inspired 240 Wedgwood kids to read over 1800 books, and with PTA funding we fortified our library’s multicultural collection by over 100 books. Moreover, the RAW’s grand finale at Multicultural Night (MCN) was a blast, attended more than 125 students with their parents. It was an evening of dancing, singing, and African storytelling, combined with a raffle for geography prizes where students’ chances of winning were tied to their reading. So……why not do it again!

The RAW read-a-thon encourages students to read books about (and by) people from other countries, and in turn earn “visas” to advance across the globe from continent to continent - to be tracked on a map in the school lobby. Prize incentives will be awarded after the first and last book read. The goal is to get kids to read. In addition, students will be entered in a drawing at MCN - based on the number of books they read - for bigger and better geography prizes. Classrooms are encouraged to decorate and then doodle something about each book on a large classroom poster which will be displayed at MCN to show the immense amount of reading by the kids. Students also record facts they learned from books in their passports which will be stamped upon completion of each continent during library time. These passports will hopefully be a source of pride once they are filled out and stamped with each of the continents.

This year we added a geography-focused component to the RAW. This optional packet of activities is designed to engage students in geography at a grade-appropriate level. We are providing each teacher with these activities to incorporate into classrooms as they wish. Your child’s teacher may elect to send some of these materials home for your student to do as homework or extra credit. Encourage your student to discover the answers—you may learn something, too! Otherwise, your child may simply be encouraged to do some of the activities on their own during class free time. Ask your student if he/she has participated in any Geo Challenge activities! For each activity completed, students will receive credit just as they would for reading the RAW books (and receive entries into the raffle at MCN). You can download extra copies of the Geo Challenges by clicking on the links below.

The program culminates in a celebration on Multicultural Night (MCN) on April 30th, when we will celebrate the kids' journey and the diversity of our Wedgwood community. Each book a child reads, and geography challenge they finish, will earn them a raffle ticket (up to 25) at MCN for a chance at prizes. This is an unprecedented effort of the PTA, staff, and parent volunteers working together to develop an in-depth educational experience for our students. If you haven't already, please consider volunteering during your child’s library time to help your child's classroom travel the globe through books (please contact Julie Stevens at bryceandjulie@comcast.net).

Moreover, the Wedgwood library is still in need of books to promote cultural awareness during the read-a-thon and throughout the year. So, PLEASE DONATE BOOKS. Run out to Seattle's plethora of used bookstores or go online and find a book that strikes a chord with you or your child. You can check out the RAW book list online below to see what the library has already and for recommendations by the American Library Association's (ALA) Growing Up Around the World program. The goal of this national program is to make books that accurately depict contemporary life in other countries more widely available to American children. If you want to make sure your child has access to these recommended books - since the Wedgwood stacks may only have one copy - you can access below ALA’s list of recommended books organized by continent which is linked directly to the Seattle Public Library web site. Here’s a link to a list of recommended books at Amazon.com to make a donation easier: http://www.amazon.com/wishlist/1HU465HECC5F6/; just have it delivered straight to the library!

So, for 7 weeks your child will be encouraged to check out books and learn about places and people around the globe. Please see the schedule below so you can stay up on your child’s weekly continent, and maybe spark a conversation about your own travels. Also check out the resource links below to help you find books for your kids, especially as we continue to build the Wedgwood library collection. And don’t hesitate donating a cultural book to the library, especially as it may relate to your own heritage. We hope the new RAWgeo will be a way parents and teachers can together promote our kids’ cultural and geographical awareness - and give them the tools to intelligently navigate our ever-shrinking world. Thanks to Wedgwood teachers and staff for making RAW something worth continuing. If you have any questions or would like to help with RAW or the Geography Challenge component, please contact John Jansen (RAW) at jansenjk@gmail.com, 206-518-1963 or Kathy Sitchin (Geo Component) at sitchin@comcast.net, 206-789-9748.

RAW Book List by Region (PDF)

RAW Book List (PDF)

RAW Book List (Excel)

RAW Passport K-1st Grade (PDF)

RAW Passport 2nd-3rd Grade (PDF)

RAW Passport 4th-5th Grade (PDF)

Geo Activities K-1st Grade (PDF)

Geo Activities 2nd-3rdGrade (PDF)

Geo Activities K-1st Grade (PDF)