Literacy Now

World Read-Aloud Day brings classrooms, families, libraries, and communities together through the power of shared stories. A single voice and a meaningful book can shape students’ identities, nurture empathy, and ignite a passion for literacy that lasts a lifetime. Reading aloud does much more than build decoding, fluency, or oral language and listening skills—it creates a communal learning space where every reader belongs.

In addition, reading aloud can:

• Encourage a lifelong commitment to reading as a joyful habit
• Help shape positive reading attitudes, particularly for developing readers
• Expose students to a wide range of literature, genres, and perspectives
• Promote vocabulary and language development through authentic oral models
• Widen students’ views of themselves, others, and the broader community
• Foster communal experience—a sense of belonging around a story

How to get started

The right book can transform a read-aloud moment. During your search, consider the following:

• Use trusted sources such as The Reading Teacher, Language Arts, The Horn Book, and the School Library Journal.
• Check reliable websites and local bookstores for curated recommendations and thematic lists.
• Prioritize diverse book options from platforms like We Need Diverse Books and publishers such as Lee & Low Books, Kokila (Penguin Books), and Groundwood Books (House of Anansi Press).
• Preview the book at least once before reading it aloud, shelving it in your classroom library, or recommending it to colleagues. A pre-read helps you note discussion points, sensitive areas, pacing, and places to pause for questions or reactions.

Videos featuring read-alouds

Below are curated examples of videos that feature authors or organizations reading books aloud with permission or through official partnerships.

Author Read-Aloud Example: High-quality read-aloud videos with permission from the author (the author reads aloud their book).

WeAreTeachers Storytime Series: A storytime video series featuring children’s book authors.

Reading Is Fundamental Read-Aloud Collection: Features authors and professional readers sharing beloved titles.

Storyline Online: Features actors reading popular children's books. The app also provides another platform for digital read-alouds.

TeachingBooks Collection: Multimedia author interviews, readings, and book guides.

E Train Talks Books: A nonprofit created by a student, dedicated to celebrating stories and changing the world for the better one book at a time.

Authors Everywhere: Author-created videos for literacy learning.

Reading Rainbow: A space to discover digital read-alouds and related content.

Publisher Permissions: Many publishers provide read-aloud guidelines for educators and promote read alouds by their authors on YouTube and other digital platforms.

More read-aloud resources

World Read-Aloud Day invites every educator, caregiver, child, and community member to share the power of story. Whether you choose a classic, a contemporary release, or a beloved childhood favorite, the act of reading aloud strengthens literacy, deepens empathy, and unites us through shared experience.

All throughout February, ILA is sharing resources to support read-alouds in classrooms or shared with families to support read-aloud practices at home. Be sure to review the full list!

World Read Aloud Day is the perfect time to think about how to expand our school celebrations of highly effective, engaging read-alouds to reach our students at home. Families want the best for their children and look to teachers for guidance on how they can support their child's literacy. Read-alouds, paired with effective interactive strategies, are an easy and effective way to support early comprehension, vocabulary, and a love of reading at home. This article presents ten research-based read-aloud strategies and how to share them with families.

10 Read-Aloud Strategies

Strategy	What It Builds	Sample Prompt	What to Look For
1. Identify rhyming words	Phonological awareness (hearing sounds in words)	What two words sound the same at the end?	Rhyming words on most pages
2. Talk about word meanings	Vocabulary (understanding word meanings)	That word means...	Some words for which children do not yet know the meanings
3. Make connections	Comprehension (story understanding)	Did anything like this ever happen to you? Does this remind you of anything?	Events or characters are like children's life experiences
4. Make and check predictions	Comprehension monitoring (checking understanding while reading)	Predict: What do you think will happen? Check: Were you right?	You can usually use clues to guess what's going to happen next on each page, or every few pages
5. Think critically	Reasoning	What do you think...? Why do you think that?	Books that have moral dilemmas or multiple possible endings (i.e., what happens at the end isn't clear)
6. Make inferences	Inferential comprehension (understanding the story by "reading between the lines")	Text clues: What do you notice in the words or pictures that could help you? Background knowledge: What do you know about the world that could help? What can you infer based on these clues?	There are clues that help you figure out what happened in the book when the words and pictures don't tell you directly
7. Point and read	Concepts about print (how print works)	(Point to the text as you read each word.) Encourage your child to point to words as you read.	Some words stand out to help children notice them (e.g., different color or size)
8. Find a letter	Letter knowledge	Can you find the letter ___? Point to and name the letter.	Alphabet books have a letter, pictures, and words related to that letter on each page
9. Say a letter sound	Letter knowledge	What sound does it make? (Point to and make the letter sound.)	Alphabet books have a letter, pictures, and words related to that letter on each page
10. Identify words that start with the letter	Letter knowledge	Which word starts with ___?	Alphabet books have a letter, pictures, and words related to that letter on each page

Sharing Strategies with Families

You can support families’ implementation of these practices by sending just one strategy home to practice per week (except for the last three letter knowledge strategies that can be taught together). Providing incremental tips (rather than an all-at-once approach) about read-aloud practices helps families slowly make transformations in their practices without feeling overwhelmed. 

Research strongly supports showing rather than telling families about desired practices. So, a video clip of you doing each strategy will yield much better results than sending an email about each strategy. Additionally, sending home bookmarks with each strategy and a sample prompt to use can provide a physical reminder of the new practices to support their implementation. 

If possible, also send home appropriate books to practice the strategies. You might partner with a school librarian, public librarian, or curriculum supervisor to access sets of appropriate books for this purpose. If physical books are not possible to acquire, you could provide a link to an appropriate read-aloud video (e.g., YouTube) and prompt parents to pause-and-talk during the video to practice the strategy. Further, if books cannot be found in a child’s home language, video-based books that are in the home language or that can be translated via caption options might also provide a solution. 

Finally, find a way for families to share and celebrate. If you have a class social media account (e.g., Facebook), cloud service account (e.g., Google Drive), or parent platform (e.g., Class Dojo), ask parents to share photos of them reading the books with their children and a post about what prompts they used aligned with the strategy of the week. This will encourage participation in the strategies and provide a platform for families to learn from one another. 

Empowering Read-Alouds

World Read-Aloud Day is a reminder of the power of effective read-alouds. Sharing ten read-aloud strategies with families can empower their read-aloud conversations at home. You play a critical role in supporting your families’ read-aloud practices.

Learn more about ILA's World Read-Aloud Day resources.

Ernest Morrell, an honored member of the International Literacy Association (ILA), passed away on February 4.

Throughout his distinguished career, Ernest dedicated himself to advancing powerful, equitable literacies for all learners. A recognized authority in literacy, critical pedagogy, and the intersections of popular culture and learning, he served as the director of the Notre Dame Center for Literacy Education and associate dean for the humanities and equity in the College of Arts and Letters. His work was rooted in the belief that literacy is not merely a set of skills, but a force for human dignity and transformation.

Ernest’s influence was felt far beyond Notre Dame. At ILA, he provided leadership as an inaugural member of the Literacy Research Panel, serving a three-year term between 2015 and 2018. He was a featured speaker at the 2012 annual conference, and in 2020, Ernest led a Learning Lab at ILA Next, exploring the issues that arise when students have an uncritical reading of media. He also published numerous articles across all three of ILA’s journals, exemplifying his dedication to academic research.

“Ernest Morrell’s contributions to the International Literacy Association are rooted in research leadership, helping guide professional literacy knowledge and practice that ripple throughout ILA’s global membership and resources,” remarked Dana Robertson, President of the ILA Board of Directors. “His presence will be truly missed.”

A prolific author, Ernest wrote and edited more than 100 articles, research briefs, and book chapters, as well as 15 influential books. His works—including Educating Harlem: A Century of Schooling and Resistance in a Black Community and Critical Media Pedagogy: Teaching for Achievement in City Schools—challenged educators to embrace culturally sustaining engaged literacies that honor students’ lived experiences.

Ernest also served as an emeritus board member of LitWorld and was a past president of the National Council of Teachers (NCTE). Most recently, he was an elected member of the National Academy of Education and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, honors that recognized Ernest’s exceptional scholarship and impact on education policy and practice.

Ernest’s peers admired not just his scholarship, but his generosity of spirit, his mentorship of emerging educators, and his unwavering commitment to uplifting every voice in the classroom.

“Ernest Morrell’s scholarship in literacy and critical pedagogies raised up the voices of children so their brilliance could shine,” shared Danielle Dennis, Vice President of the ILA Board of Directors. “A scholar of the highest caliber, his scholarship always focused on classrooms and the children within them.”

Ernest’s legacy will continue to shape the work of educators, scholars, and students for generations to come. As we grieve his passing, we also celebrate a life that lifted up so many voices, broadened the horizons of literacy education, and reminded us that teaching—at its best—is an act of love and possibility.

We extend our deepest condolences to Ernest’s family, friends, colleagues, and all whose lives were enriched by his extraordinary contributions to education. Though he is gone, his vision for meaningful, equitable literacy will endure.

If you would like to share a personal remembrance of Ernest, please email social@reading.org.

Every educator has insights, strategies, and stories that offer ways to transform teaching and learning about literacies. Yet, too often, those powerful ideas stay within bounded learning spaces (i.e., classrooms, community centers, and libraries)—without reaching the wider scholarly community. 

For this reason, the Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy (JAAL), in partnership with the International Literacy Association (ILA), has launched the JAAL Mentorship-to-Publication Program—a new initiative designed to help educators, including practitioners who work directly with learners, move insights from drafts into publication. Voices of educators from expansive literacies contexts can encourage new insights in support of all learners across adolescent and adult learning spaces.  

This supportive mentorship program connects educators, practitioners, and literacy leaders from U.S. and international contexts with experienced JAAL authors and reviewers to support the development of new scholarship.

Why Mentorship Matters

The program bridges the long-standing gap between practice and research to bring grounded, practice-based perspectives into literacy scholarship. Mentors can offer valuable experience in academic writing, peer review, and publication.

The JAAL editorial team is deeply committed to inclusive representation in literacy research, centering equity, and expanding opportunities for new voices. This mentorship program supports educators and scholars from underrepresented backgrounds and global contexts—ensuring that literacy research reflects the diversity of those who teach and learn.

How the Mentorship Program Works

A mentor will meet and guide new authors through the process of refining a draft of a manuscript into a publishable product for submission to JAAL. Together, mentors and mentees will re-develop, revise, and refine an existing draft, bringing real-world literacies practices to academic journals. Selected mentees will be paired with JAAL authors, reviewers, or editorial board members who will guide them through the publication process. The program supports scholars who have strong ideas but limited access to publishing networks, mentorship, or institutional resources. Applicants should submit a complete draft and abstract upon entry and commit to revising their manuscript for submission to JAAL by the end of the cycle.

Mentors should have experience publishing practitioner-oriented work in outlets like JAAL from U.S. or international contexts. Mentors participate in a brief JAAL orientation, provide two rounds of written feedback, and meet with mentees at least twice via Zoom during the mentorship period. Their contributions will be recognized in JAAL and across public platforms. 

Mentor-mentee pairs are matched by topic, research method, and, when requested, by identity or geographic context. Whether exploring critical literacy, multimodal storytelling, AI in education, or any ways that literacies are situated in context, the program celebrates diverse perspectives and methodologies, and pedagogical approaches.

Mentees may include teachers and practitioners from the U.S. and international contexts. For mentees, the partnership with a mentor offers:

• A minimum of two rounds of written feedback on a draft manuscript
• Individualized guidance from a published literacy scholar
• Confidence and skills to publish work that reflects authentic classroom or community experiences
• Learn more in the Mentee Interest Form

For mentors, the partnership with a mentee offers:

• Meaningful engagement with emerging scholar
• Recognition across JAAL’s online platforms
• A chance to shape the next generation of literacy researchers
• Learn more in the Mentor Interest Form

Matching and Criteria: Editorial Recommendations

Matching Area	Recommendation
Topical Expertise	Match based on manuscript topic (e.g., multimodal literacies, critical literacy, AI in education, etc)
Methodological Fit	Align mentors and mentees based on shared methods (e.g., qualitative, mixed-methods, participatory research)
Identity/Context	Offer optional identity-based matching for scholars from marginalized backgrounds or underrepresented global contexts

Get Involved

If you’ve published with JAAL or similar journals, consider joining as a mentor. If you’re an educator or practitioner from U.S. or international contexts who is eager to share your classroom inquiry and/or literacy innovations, apply as a mentee.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. To get started as a mentee, please complete the Mentee Interest Form. If you are interested in serving as a mentor, please complete the Mentor Interest Form. 

If you have additional questions or suggestions, contact the JAAL editorial team via email.

Together, we can ensure that the voices shaping literacies every day are also shaping its future in publication.

Learn More

ILA's full list of literacy journals

The latest issue of Literacy Today magazine: Global Perspectives

The International Literacy Association (ILA) has announced the next editor team to lead Reading Research Quarterly (RRQ), the leading global journal publishing multidisciplinary, peer-reviewed scholarship on literacy among learners of all ages.

Representing institutions across the United States, Central Asia, and the Asia-Pacific region, the incoming editorial team brings deep disciplinary expertise and global perspective to RRQ’s leadership:

 
• Chase Young, professor and associate director of assessments in the School of Teaching and Learning, Sam Houston State University

 
• Juan Araújo, professor and director of the School of Education, Texas Woman’s University


 
• Michelle Bedeker, associate professor and head of department, New Uzbekistan University


 
• Janet S. Gaffney, professor and director of the Marie Clay Research Centre, University of Auckland



• Bethanie C. Pletcher, professor in the Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning Sciences Department, Texas A&M University

New editors to focus on amplifying international and underrepresented voices

Dr. Young’s extensive editorial experience—including service as a reviewer, guest editor, and editorial board member—positions him to lead RRQ with a steady, discerning, and strategic vision. Together with his fellow editors, the team is unified in their vision for RRQ in an era where the field of literacy continues to evolve.

“We are energized by the opportunity to amplify international and underrepresented voices, deepen the journal’s engagement with critical and interdisciplinary perspectives, and support research that employs innovative and emerging methodologies,” the team stated. “RRQ must continue to foster scholarly dialogue that is inclusive, theoretically grounded, and methodologically rigorous—research that leaves a lasting imprint on the field.”

The team spans a wide range of research paradigms—quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods—with demonstrated expertise in psychometrics, discourse analysis, cognitive and sociocultural theory, and cross-contextual literacy research. In addition, their shared editorial values form a unified foundation for collaborative leadership, equipping them to engage with the full spectrum of submissions to RRQ.

“We see RRQ not merely as a publication, but as a scholarly community—one that values transparency, thoughtful peer review, and intellectual courage,” the team stated. “We are dedicated to upholding the high standards that define the journal while ensuring it remains responsive to the evolving contours of literacy scholarship worldwide.”

The incoming team’s term begins this year and concludes in 2029. The first year of the new team’s term will overlap with the final year of outgoing editors Jennifer Rowsell, Christian Ehret, Natalia Kucirkova, and Cheryl McLean.

RRQ provides high-quality, classroom-tested ideas as well as reflections on literacy trends, issues and research. The reach and influence of the journal is extensive. RRQ had over 589,000 article views in the last year and has a circulation of more than 6,500 academic institutions.

Learn More

The latest issue of Reading Research Quarterly

Literacy Today magazine: Global Perspectives