There is nothing International Reading Association would ask educators to do that we aren’t willing to do ourselves. So when the International Literacy Day 60-for-60 challenge was launched, asking teachers to engage their students in an extra 60 seconds of literacy-focused activities every day for 60 days, we wanted to get in on the fun, too. As a staff, we agreed to take part in the challenge and squeeze an extra minute into our days. Every weekday for 12 weeks, we’ll complete an activity from the ILD 2014 kit (get yours here). The kit contains suggested activities for ages 4 to 15+, including a category that’s appropriate for students of all ages. We’ve chosen variety of activities from each of the age groups and are tackling them in two-week intervals. For example, today we are finishing up the “Would You Rather…” activity (from the ages 4 to 8 section). Every day our social media strategist, Jayme Gravell, sent a question to the entire staff at IRA. We took a minute to think about it and debate our answers with co-workers and/or email a response to Jayme.
Here’s a sampling of our questions and answers:
Would you rather watch a Quidditch match or the Triwizard Tournament?
Anette Schuetz, creative services manager: "Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on broomsticks. Having been accused of riding a broomstick to work, I find this sport engaging!”
Would you rather live in Narnia or Oz?
Sara Long, web content manager: “That is a really tough question! I definitely wouldn't want to live in Narnia when it's winter all of the time without Christmas. After spring returns, though, Narnia is beautiful with all of the talking animals and creatures, but so is Oz. I guess I'd choose Narnia because I'd rather live in a place with a powerful Aslan than a bumbling Wizard.”
Would you rather take a ride in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang or Stephen King’s Christine?
Vicki Morris, accounting and finance assistant: “This is an easy one for me. I would rather ride in Christine since I am a huge Stephen King fan (and I would be nice to her), as opposed to the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (I don’t fly in anything anymore).”
Would you rather have the power of invisibility or the power to fly?
Lara Deloza, communications manager: Hands down: power to fly. Because who wants to be invisible? Sure, it SOUNDS good in theory, but in practice? You’d end up seeing things you could never unsee, hearing things you could never unhear. Plus, flying is just awesome. And you’d save a heck of a lot on gas.
Would you rather take Ophelia or Juliet to the prom?
Bill Hyman, purchasing/facilities/contracts manager: “Can I go with neither? I mean they both died, and who needs that aggravation, am I right?”
Play along with today’s question: “Would you rather have street smarts or book smarts?”
As for our next activity, Jayme will send out a “word of the day” and its definition to staff. The challenge will be to see who can work the word into conversation as much as possible each day. Want to join in? Follow @IRAToday on Twitter starting Monday, September 22. Tell us how you’ve made the word yours over the course of the day!
Don’t forget to share all of your 60-for-60 activities with us. Email stories and photos to social@/ or post them to Twitter or the IRA Facebook page using the hashtag #ILD14.
April Hall is the editor of Reading Today Online. She can be reached at ahall@/.