Write Our World — Revitalizing language through ebook authoring
What would it be like to have an online space where kids around the world could learn about human diversity directly from one another? What if they could revitalize their own languages and deepen a positive sense of identity in the process? Better still, what if they could create a body of diverse reading material in low-incidence languages that could serve as an educational resource and cultural archive at the same time?
I’m Julie Carey, the Founder and Director of Write Our World. These are the questions that led to the inception of our organization.
Since 2015, we have engaged over 400 youth in 5 countries to create 180 ebooks in 27 languages. Authors have included Mayan teens in the Guatemalan highlands; refugee students and their parents in a family and community engagement program in Aurora, Colorado; elementary students in Islamic schools representing 7 countries of origin; 5th and 6th grade Navajo youth in a language and culture class; and many more. Our goal is to engage as wide a demographic as possible of young readers and writers in grades K-12 in any setting that would serve to make a connection between their home, their school and the world. Possibilities include classrooms, after-school programs, summer camps, homeschool settings, youth service organizations…the sky’s the limit!
Book topics are widely varied, but each is an expression of its author’s identity. Some are biographies of parents, others describe cultural traditions such as recipes, clothes, music and dance. Some are simply poems, while others tell the story of an important event, such as immigrating to another country.
The books can be created on iPads offline or on Chrome devices online. They can include text, oral recordings, original illustrations, photography or video. They are then submitted to us for publishing in the Write Our World library.
In celebration of #IYIL2019, Library Memberships are available this year for only $7/month in honor of the 7000 languages in the world. One membership provides one adult and up to 30 youth access to the complete library and a selection of teacher resources including lesson plans and software access. We also offer additional training and support to help members adapt our resource to meet their educational goals. For example, we provide professional development for schools and districts that serve multilingual students and training for enrichment program facilitators.
Please visit our website, follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and reach out anytime with questions or ideas for partnership.
We’d love to help amplify the voices of the kids in your community!
