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

Mayor Eric Adams and Chancellor David C. Banks joined World Read Aloud Day founder Pam Allyn at P.S. 123 in Harlem to read to a group of third graders.

Mayor Adams read Life Doesn’t Frighten Me by Maya Angelou, while Chancellor Banks and Ms. Allyn read I Am Golden by Eva Chen and Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin, Jr. And John Archambault, respectively.

Photos of the events can be found here. The videos will be published on NYC Public Schools’ social media channels.

Across the city, more than 40 readers from NYCPS leadership and partner organizations read to over 1,200 students, for a more than 1,000 minutes of reading aloud.

“Literacy is at the forefront of everything we do. Under this administration, we are going back to basics to ensure that every single child can read at grade level through NYC Reads,” said Chancellor David C. Banks. “World Read Aloud Day is the perfect opportunity to help instill a love for reading.”

"I'm so thrilled to be here today with Chancellor Banks and Mayor Adams to spread the joy and benefits of reading aloud," says Pam Allyn, creator of World Read Aloud Day and author of Every Child a Super Reader. "Children who regularly read aloud perform better academically and become more empathetic to others; it is an extraordinary tool for success for the classroom and home. Best of all is to have great role models to show our children the profound power of reading today and every day!"

Under Mayor Adams and Chancellor Banks, NYCPS has made historic, nation-leading investments towards closing the literacy gap through NYC Reads, outpacing the state in English Language Arts (ELA) test scores while closing racial disparities. This school year, NYCPS opened the South Bronx Literacy Academy, the first public school dedicated to supporting students with print-based learning disabilities, and last year was the first school system to pilot a secondary set of screeners designed to identify students who are at risk for dyslexia.

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 Ambassador Program

The NYC Reads Ambassador Program is a way for families to support their children as they learn to read. This program will instruct families on how to build literacy skills with their children and will give families the opportunity to prepare for and practice these skill-building activities together with their children. The science-based modules encompass all facets of brain-based reading, the science of reading, and science of reading frameworks. Interested individuals can sign up to learn more 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.