R.E.D. Event with Taylor Swift

Today, my class enjoyed viewing a live, 30-minute Scholastic webcast with Taylor Swift.  Many of my girls are huge fans of hers, so they loved it!  This webcast was not about music or her success as a singer; she actually spoke about the power of literacy and encouraged the students to Read Every Day (RED).  Red, incidentally, is the name of her album that debuted two days ago. 

Anyway, she shared how literature inspired her writing and she encouraged the students to "read, write, and be creative."  At one point, she said, "Read all kinds of books so you know what interests you."  Loved that!  You know, I can tell my students to try reading different genres and explore various books to see what they like, but when Taylor Swift tells a 10-year-old these things, it means more.  She spent time answering questions from students all over the world.  We pinpointed on a map where the questions came from--New York, New Jersey, Texas, Michigan, Alabama, and even Singapore! 

It was really neat to hear her talk about middle school and offer tips on "surviving middle school" since this is my students' last year of elementary school.  To close, Swift performed a song from her new album and my students were thrilled!
   
The webcast was a lot of fun and very inspiring.