Volunteers needed in December!   Click here to sign up.
 Site Areas: 
  HOME  
  ABOUT US  
  FRIENDS & SUPPORTERS  
  HOW TO HELP  
  NEWS  
  READING CLUBS  
Go to Reading to Kids Home Page
Reading to Kids News
March 4, 2021
 

Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,

MARCH 4TH READING CLUBS
RSVPS NOW OPEN!

Zoom reading clubs

Hooray, we have opened the March 13th reading clubs RSVPs!

If you have ever read with us at any of our prior reading clubs (face-to-face or virtual), please RSVP now at our homepage at www.readingtokids.org or keep checking back to submit your RSVP for our virtual reading clubs on March 13th!

We are again limiting RSVPs for these virtual reading clubs only to returning volunteers - people who have volunteered with us at least once before at any of our previous face-to-face or virtual reading clubs. See further below how virtual clubs work.

MORE SPOTS MIGHT OPEN OVER THE NEXT WEEK!

If you check the website and find it is full, please keep checking back throughout the next week - we may have additional teachers confirm as Zoom hosts, allowing us to open additional volunteer spots.

EXPERIENCED
SCHOOL AMBASSADORS WANTED
ON ZOOM NEXT WEEK

Volunteers at Charles White Elementary

Help promote Reading to Kids at our partner schools' Zoom sessions next week!

If you have participated in our virtual reading clubs before, then you are qualified to encourage the kids on Zoom next week.

It's a lot of fun and we'll supply the very brief talking points. You may not get to speak at all, and it's great if you can speak Spanish (even a little), though there's always someone from the school on a Zoom session who can translate for you.

If you can be a Zoom Ambassador next week, please reply email us at info@readingtokids.org and we'll send you the Ambassador info!
_______________________________________________

HOW VIRTUAL READING CLUBS WORK

Because LAUSD teachers are using Zoom to reach their students, we will use Zoom for these virtual reading clubs. The reading clubs will be hosted by participating teachers at each school using their school Zoom accounts, but you will need your own Zoom account to join the reading club. If you don’t already have a Zoom account, you can sign up for a free, Basic account here: https://zoom.us/pricing

IMPORTANT: You will need to use Zoom from a desktop or laptop computer. The phone and tablet versions of Zoom do not have the necessary features for our virtual reading clubs.

Ideally, anyone who volunteers for these virtual reading clubs will be comfortable using Zoom. If you wish to test out your Zoom connectivity prior to the reading clubs, we encourage you to email us at info@readingtokids.org so we may do a brief test run with you before the virtual reading clubs.

The Friday before the reading clubs you will receive a link for a Zoom "check-in" session with your Site Coordinators that will begin promptly at 9:00 a.m. that Saturday. Click here to review the schedule for these virtual reading clubs.

Once you and your fellow volunteers are checked in, that same Zoom session will have a Zoom Volunteer Orientation / Virtual Reading Club Training that will start promptly at 9:15 a.m.

At 9:30 a.m. you and your volunteer partner will leave that Site Coordinator session and then join the teacher's Zoom session. The teacher will host the Zoom call and make you co-hosts. The first 30 minutes will be for troubleshooting and a prep session for just you and your reading partner and the teacher.

The kids will join that same reading club Zoom session at 10:00 a.m., and it will likely go until 10:30 or 11:00, at the teacher's discretion.

After the reading clubs end you will then rejoin your Site Coordinator's Zoom call for a brief wrap-up.

To screen share the book you will be reading with the children, you will need Adobe Acrobat or the free Adobe Reader from https://get.adobe.com/reader.

We will provide you a PDF of the read-aloud book so you can prepare for the reading clubs. You can see the read-aloud book titles for this month at https://readingtokids.org/Books/BooksMonth.php.

We will provide at the above link activities and simple craft ideas the kids can do at home. You would prepare to lead the kids in an activity and craft, though you may not actually do a craft, depending upon how the Zoom session goes. The kids may just want to talk to new faces!

_______________________________________________

HELP US FIND GRANTS!

Jessica Brown-Clark with Target grant check

Did you know Reading to Kids receives about half of our funding from corporation and foundation grants? For example, over the last five years alone six of our volunteers helped us receive $140,000 in grants from their employers!

Please check to see if your employer offers grants that Reading to Kids can apply to and let us know! You may help us buy thousands of books for kids!

_______________________________________________

PLEASE HELP US FIND
BINGO PRIZE & AUCTION ITEMS

Reading to Kids' Legendary Bingo fundraiser

We're starting to plan our next Virtual Legendary Bingo on Zoom fundraiser for April or May, and we need your help gathering prizes for the bingo winners!

To help you get started, here is information about Reading to Kids to share with potential donors, as well as a donation form for them to complete.

We especially enjoy awarding gift certificates, gift bags, and autographed items! Anything unique is great, too!

If you work at or have a connection with products or services to offer, please help us by asking for a donation to our events.
_______________________________________________

Thanks, and we hope you can submit your RSVP for our March 13th reading clubs today or over the next week if we get to open more spots!

Sincerely,

Charlie Orchard & Talethe Jackson
Reading to Kids
1600 Sawtelle Blvd, Suite 210
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 479-7455
(310) 479-7435 (FAX)
info@readingtokids.org
www.readingtokids.org
www.facebook.com/readingtokids
www.twitter.com/readingtokids
www.readingtokids.blogspot.com

Make a donation:
www.readingtokids.org/HowToHelp/HelpDonate.php

MARCH 2021
Reading Club RSVPs
School RSVPs Capacity
Alta Loma 3 6
Esperanza 3 15
Gratts 5 12
Los Angeles 4 13
MacArthur Park 3 8
Magnolia 3 6
Politi 3 4
White 4 8
TOTAL 28 72
MARCH Books. . .
Kindergarten book
Kindergarten
First Grade book
First Grade
Second Grade book
Second Grade
Third Grade book
Third Grade
Fourth Grade book
Fourth Grade
Fifth Grade book
Fifth Grade

Reading to Kids is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Visit www.readingtokids.org for more information.

To unsubscribe from the Reading to Kids update e-mails, please click on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of the email.