Dear Friends of Reading to Kids,
We hope you had a wonderful Star Wars Day yesterday!
RSVPs for our
May 14th reading clubs are currently full this morning, but that may change over the next eight days if more teachers commit to hosting that Saturday morning.
If you have ever read with us at any of our prior reading clubs
(face-to-face or virtual), please keep checking our homepage at www.readingtokids.org to see if we were able to open new spots for our "Fantasy, Folklore, & Fairytales" virtual reading clubs on May 14th!
(If you are signed up but can't attend after all, please
click here to cancel ASAP so someone else can take your place!)
We continue to limit 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 below for how virtual clubs work.
If you check our website and find all reader spots are full today or over the next eight days, please keep checking back so we'll have enough volunteers.
STAND-BY READERS WANTED!
If all spots are full you can also let us know at
info@readingtokids.org if you are willing to be a
"stand-by" reader for Saturday, May 14th. A "stand-by" reader is someone willing to fill in for any grade at any school if we have any last-second reader cancellations.
Stand-by readers must be available that Saturday morning from 8am to around 11am and willing to read via Zoom to any grade at any school. It's a valuable role!
OPERATIONS VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
For our virtual reading clubs we need experienced volunteers to
be a second or third virtual Site Coordinator
in our Zoom reading clubs for any of our schools.
Being a Site Coordinator guarantees you a (non-reading) spot at our next reading clubs, so please e-mail us at
info@readingtokids.org if you can help us create wonderful reading clubs!
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HOW VIRTUAL READING CLUBS WORK
Because LAUSD has not yet determined when volunteer organizations can return to on-campus events, we continue to 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!
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LEGENDARY BINGO ON MAY 25TH:
JOIN US, SHARE OUR FLYER, & HELP FIND PRIZES!
It's back! On Wednesday, May 25th, join Reading to Kids
for
Legendary Bingo back in person at
Hamburger Mary's in West Hollywood!
The drinks are strong, the drag queen bingo is "R" rated,
and seating is limited, so be sure to reserve your seat in advance!
If you've been before you know it's a blast. If you haven't, click here for a video of one of our previous winners to see what you've been missing!
Please click the image above for a flyer in .PDF format and forward it to anyone you know who may be interested in going to our Legendary Bingo Night. You can also print out the flyer and post it wherever many people are likely to see it, perhaps with a note that you are going and inviting others to join you.
WHEN: Wednesday, May 25, 7pm - 8:30pm
WHERE: Hamburger Mary's Restaurant
8288 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 654-3800
bingoboyinc.com/schedule-of-events/
Cost: $20 suggested donation (cash only, please!), which includes 9 regular bingo games and one grand prize bingo game with fantastic prizes!
Legendary Bingo is very popular and there is limited seating available. Plan to arrive before 7:00 p.m.
to get a seat. We strongly suggest making a reservation at bingoboyinc.com/schedule-of-events/ or (323) 654-3800 to ensure your seat.
All proceeds go to Reading to Kids. For more details, visit our
May 25th Bingo event on Facebook and invite your friends!
HELP US FIND MORE BINGO PRIZES!
You can also help us gather more prizes for the bingo winners! To help you get started, here is information about Reading to Kids you can share with potential donors (such as where you work or shop), as well as a donation form for them to complete.
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HELP US FIND GRANTS!
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 $83,000 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 at
info@readingtokids.org!
You may help us buy thousands of books for kids!
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Thanks, and please keep checking
www.readingtokids.org over the next eight days to see if we get to open more spots for our May 14th reading clubs!
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