New York City Public Schools Celebrates World Read Aloud Day

NEW YORK – Today, New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) celebrated World Read Aloud Day with events in all five boroughs.  

Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos partnered with World Read Aloud Day founder Pam Allyn to lead a lesson on short-story writing to a group of fourth and fifth graders at P.S. 36X in the Bronx. Chancellor Aviles-Ramos and Ms. Allyn read Say Something! by Peter H. Reynolds and The Word Collector by Peter H. Reynolds respectively. 

Across the city, more than 1,200 readers from NYCPS leadership, staff, parent leaders, community members, and partner organizations read to over 3,100 students, for more than 6,200 minutes of reading aloud.  

“World Read Aloud Day serves as a reminder of the power of reading and sharing stories with one another,” said Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos. “At New York City Public Schools, we are committed to fostering a love of reading in every student through literacy initiatives like NYC Reads. With targeted interventions grounded in the science of reading and a community-focused approach that includes families, we are building confident readers and bold futures.” 

“This 15th anniversary of World Read Aloud Day falls at such an incredible moment for New York City students, families and educators,” says Pam Allyn, founder of World Read Aloud Day and CEO of Dewey. “I’ve never been more optimistic about how much we can do for our children. NYC Reads will ensure that they are building the literacy skills and the confidence that they need to thrive academically and socially.”

Literacy has long been a priority for this administration. The second phase of NYC Reads began this fall and now 842 K-5 schools are using high-quality, research-backed curricula rooted in the science of reading. Schools are already reporting early successes, with a 1.8-point increase in K-2 screener data.

Online Resources for Families 

To keep the momentum going and to promote strong literacy habits at home, NYCPS released today a set of resources for families. These resources and activities are available for all families to continue learning at home and will help children build important literacy skills necessary for educational, career, and lifetime success.  

These resources include:  

• Suggestions for whole family activities, such as organizing family storytelling nights, hosting a family poetry recital, or visiting the library together   

• Printable flash cards to help practice vowels, consonants, multisyllabic words, and more 

• Reading Discussion Bingo to help families discuss the books they are reading at home 

• Recommended reading lists from the Citywide Digital Library 

• Reading 101: A Guide for Parents 

These resources can be found at schools.nyc.gov/literacy.  

NYC Reads Literacy Hubs

Literacy Hubs are curated spaces inside of local businesses that give children access to diverse stories that they can enjoy in comfortable and colorful places throughout their community. A list of current hubs can be found here.

Let’s Learn Instructional Video Series 

NYCPS has partnered with The WNET Group, home to America’s flagship PBS station THIRTEEN to release over fifty short videos through June 2024. These short clips from the Let’s Learn instructional series feature NYCPS educators using science of reading-based strategies to teach foundational reading skills. Geared to students ages four to seven, the videos invite student participation and model how caregivers and educators can support young readers. The videos will be published on NYC Public Schools’ social media channels through the end of the school year and will also air on THIRTEEN. One-hour episodes of Let’s Learn, with longer literacy segments and lessons focusing on math, science, and the arts, air daily at 11 am. Videos and segments stream anytime on letslearn.org.   

Photos of the events can be found here.