MILWAUKEE COUNTY - Classes may be canceled, but school is still in session, on Facebook after a hashtag on social media prompted dozens of people around Milwaukee County to spend time reading aloud.
“I think it’s really cool,” 12-year-old YouTuber, Amira Owens said.
Owens is no stranger to reading aloud and sharing book reviews. She does it often on her YouTube channel, Golden Geek.
“Since I was really little I’ve been writing stories and reading books,” Owens said.
And now because of the hashtag “Winter Storm Readin” started by educator Monique Liston, Owens and dozens of others are sharing their favorite stories and reading them aloud for 15 minutes each day this week on Facebook live.
“The response has been really cool. It’s another way for people to engage around books in a way that they hadn’t had an opportunity to do before,” Liston said.
Liston launched the hashtag Tuesday doing a reading of her own, she said her goal is to rid cabin fever while keeping students engaged and allowing them access to books they may not have at home.
“Then you have a chance to go back and say that book was really cool, let’s listen to someone else other than me read it to my young person,” Listen said.
Liston’s pleased with the hashtag’s success, and how it’s connecting strangers one book at a time through the magic of storytelling and social media.
