It’s time for Read-A-Palooza! We will be hosting our annual fundraiser at the University of Charleston on Thursday, April 18, from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. We’ll be recognizing our wonderful volunteers and looking toward the future of Read Aloud!
Tom Heywood, a partner at Bowles Rice, led our organization in a strategic planning session last fall. He will speak at 6:30 p.m. about Read Aloud’s future work to improve literacy in West Virginia.
The event will feature appetizers and drinks in a casual environment with a happy hour feel, as well as a fun and popular “wine pull.” For $20, participants can pull a mystery bottle of wine. All bottles are worth $20 or more.
Read-A-Palooza tickets are $45 prior or $50 at the door. They can be purchased at this link: https://checkout.square.site/merchant/0VBE4K1RS7H9J/checkout/J65RME3CPZ5HR2JV2L7NJXQJ
Literacy Volunteers of Marion County invited Read Aloud WV to visit in March. Thirteen Literacy Volunteers — and their dog Ozzie, pictured here with volunteer Pam Shanholtz — attended an orientation to qualify as Read Aloud volunteers. Literacy Volunteers tutor students and adults in reading, loan books to readers, and distribute books to families in Marion County.
Jackson County Read Aloud President Janet McCauley recently delivered an in-person New Reader Orientation to these students at Roane-Jackson Technical High Center.
“What a delightful group!” said McCauley. “One gal related to me how the training impacted her thoughts about screen time. She also told of observing a football player who was reading to an elementary class and told him how he could improve! I was thrilled to know that this training made such an impact on at least one person.”
This winter, Read Aloud also conducted virtual New Reader Orientations for students at Independence High School in Raleigh County, Huntington High School in Cabell County, and Berkeley Springs High School in Morgan County!
A short story from Read Aloud board member and Berkeley County volunteer reader Casey Willson:
“We sent 22 books home with the kids in Ms. Edwards’ kindergarten class at Gerrardstown Elementary. It was ‘Waiting is Not Easy’ by Mo Willems. I kept a copy and Ms. Edwards has the balance in the classroom.
It worked well: I read the book to the class last week; we put in book plates then and the kids wrote their name in the book. Today, I read with the kids page by page, then had individuals come up with me and read a page or two. We then sent them home with the book to read to or with someone at home.
Pictured above is one student, Rhett, after the distribution. The newly independent first grade reader is reading to the baby.”
Read Aloud West Virginia has launched its 2024 BookBaby Snap-bottom Shirt campaign as both a fundraiser and reminder of the value of reading to children.
The cotton baby shirt featuring a design by Charleston artist Brenda Pinnell of HepCatz Design, makes an ideal gift. Proceeds support Read Aloud WV.
Research shows that children who connect reading with pleasure and have access to print books read more and become more proficient readers. The habit starts early as parents and caregivers read to babies.
“Singing, rhyming words, naming things, and reading books to children all help prepare children to read by school age,” said Read Aloud Executive Director Dawn Miller. “It‘s astonishing sometimes how beneficial just reading for fun can be.”
Neuroscientists have found that reading to children causes the brain to establish networks of brain cells that are used later when children learn to sound out words. Researchers have also found that the vocabulary and background knowledge that children learn from listening to stories is one of the most important factors in reading comprehension later.
“A Read Aloud onesie is a nice, gentle reminder of creating healthy reading habits,” Miller said. “You can hang the sign right on the baby’s belly. Also, you can never have too many onesies.
“We hope grandparents, aunts, and uncles like the shirts as gifts,” Miller said. “By giving a shirt to a future reader in the family, they are spreading the word about the importance of reading to kids, and at the same time supporting Read Aloud in helping kids all over West Virginia discover pleasure in reading.”
Read Aloud’s mission is to motivate children to WANT to read, because motivation is the critical first step in developing any skill. Read Aloud involves families, the medical community, businesses, civic groups, and the society at large in building a culture that values reading.
Read Aloud is a statewide nonprofit and volunteer network working to improve childhood literacy since 1986. Hundreds of Read Aloud volunteers visit classrooms all across West Virginia to read to children each week. Read Aloud distributes more than 20,000 books to children every year.
You qualify for Neighborhood Investment Program tax credits if you:
— Pay income taxes in West Virginia, or
— Pay corporate net income taxes in West Virginia, and
— Donate $500 or more to Read Aloud West Virginia.
Taxpayers can use this credit even if they don’t itemize on federal or state income tax returns.
It works like this:
Send a donation of $500 or more to a qualifying organization, such as Read Aloud WV.
Read Aloud sends you a voucher for as much as half the gift amount. At tax time, turn in the voucher to reduce your tax bill by that amount. Taxpayers may use all or part of the credit. They have five years to use all the credit.
A larger gift qualifies for a larger credit. So, a $1,000 donation gets $500 in tax credits. A $5,000 gift qualifies for $2,500 off, and so on.
The maximum tax credit allowed in any one year is $100,000. Donors cannot reduce their total state tax bill by more than 50 percent.
NIP credits are administered by the state to encourage donations to local nonprofits.
Every dollar donated to Read Aloud results in more time spent sending volunteer readers into classrooms to motivate children to read for fun, or giving kids happy, choice-filled book distributions.
As little as $100 can fund books for an entire classroom, while $1,100 can fund a month of Books for Babies, providing a new book for all babies born at Women and Children’s Hospital, CAMC, for example.
To donate:
Mail a check to Read Aloud WV, PO Box 1784, Charleston, WV 25326 (the most cost-effective method).
Go to readaloudwv.org and click the Donate button to make a secure donation through Square.
Direct a retirement account distribution to Read Aloud. If it comes straight from your financial institution, even a disbursement from a tax-deferred plan may not incur taxes, and it will also qualify for the NIP tax credit. Call or email for details.
Twenty-some years ago when Kelly Griffith was teaching first grade, her class studied honeybees for a month.
“Anything and all things honeybee,” she said. “I used my standards. We did research together. We tasted honey on biscuits. We studied beeswax and candles and crayons.
“I had a beekeeper come in, and he brought them all little test tubes of honey to taste.
“We dissected honeycombs. We watched videos.
“And we read tons of different texts and different levels of texts about honeybees and flowers.”
A month later the Title 1 teacher came in to “DIBEL” the kids, or to administer a common test called Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills.
Then one day both the Title 1 teacher and an administrator walked into Griffith’s classroom with the results. “What did you do?” they asked.
Griffith’s first graders, who had been grouped in her class because they struggled with reading, had “knocked it out of the park.”
By happenstance, one of the passages that the kids were tested on was about honeybees.
“That was powerful to me,” said Griffith. Now a coordinator for academic support with the West Virginia Department of Education, she co-leads the department’s “Ready. Read. Write.” initiative to improve reading skills across the state.
To many older readers the effort will look familiar – teach children to accurately sound out words, explicitly and systematically, using data to differentiate instruction. That is a big part of it, and it is based on decades of research illuminating how the brain learns to read.
At the same time, children must build knowledge and vocabulary with rich and fascinating texts and topics. For this knowledge-building work, everyone gets the support they need to access the same grade-level texts and topics regardless of decoding ability. That way, each child can enjoy and learn from the most interesting books and activities.
Just as Griffith’s first graders did all those years ago.
She wants community members and families to understand their role.
“Little things, like activities in the car or during bathtime can actually make an impact in how your child makes connections, and the knowledge they come to school with, which is a huge predictor of being a proficient reader,” Griffith said.
Reading aloud is an excellent way to give students opportunities to experience more challenging texts than they might be able to read on their own. Enter your classroom Read Aloud reader. Volunteers show up each week with another book or another chapter to enjoy together, full of rich vocabulary and complex ideas to explore, all while modeling reading for fun.
Or a nightly bedtime book. Or the books parents keep in the car or stroller for unexpected waits. Or any reading habit anywhere. Walks through parks or historical sites. Trying and discussing new foods or interesting documentaries.
“It’s not just decoding words,” Griffith said. “It’s having conversations. Digging in the dirt. Telling them what is in the dirt.
“I want families to hear that message, because I want them to know that they have an important role in their students’ literacy. The knowledge they bring to school helps with those literacy skills, even before they start reading on their own.
“I don’t know that I knew that even as a young teacher.”
Throughout this newsletter, you will find communities where the message has been received. Reading role models are carrying out their important role – at the Jackson County Fair, at an event for new and expectant mothers in Raleigh County, at Women and Children’s Hospital in Kanawha County, and in Read Aloud classrooms all over the state.
Story time with Read Aloud had children glued to their books all week long at the Jackson County Fair this summer.
Camped underneath a shady tree, sprawled out on a rug in front of their camper, or standing in the middle of the sidewalk, kids squeezed in whatever time they could to get lost in a book they enjoyed. Cheryl Miller, a volunteer with Jackson County’s Read Aloud chapter, said she was amazed by the passion for reading she saw at the fair.
Jackson County volunteers first set up a read-along booth at the county fair in 2019, and found success. They reached dozens of children by gathering kids around a storyteller, reading to them, and singing songs, Miller said.
Jackson County Read Aloud returned to the fair this summer. Story time was now an official event at the fair, with one hour dedicated each day. Children also browsed through the Jackson County Read Aloud booth throughout the day.
With the help of grant funding, Jackson County Chapter President Janet McCauley said they worked the Jackson County Board of Education to purchase books and supplies. They set up a barn scene in the Exhibit Hall, where kids picked up different farm animal visors and tote bags.
They sifted through eight large bins of books. They took all they could carry. Every book was gone by the end of the sixth and final day, Miller said.
“The folks who remembered us from the first event were just really happy to have us back,” said Miller.
Since kids were choosing the books themselves, they found more interest in them, and let the inspiration from accomplishment transfer to their next book. The enthusiasm for reading was present throughout the fairgrounds in Cottageville, Miller said.
“A lot of kids and their families camped out there all week, and so they just built story time into their daily routine,” she said.
When she wasn’t at story hour, Miller said she pulled a red wagon around to try and reach everyone. Some of the kids had to work most of the week at their family’s exhibit, so Miller wanted to ensure they were included too.
“Jackson County is a communinty that values reading and shows it,” said Read Aloud Executive Director Dawn Miller. “More than once since that fair, I have met people who commented that their children attended story time, and they talked about how much they enjoyed it. This made a lasting impression on these famailies.”
With the success of this year’s event, they want to come back next year. As far as outreach to children and families goes, story time at the county fair couldn’t have been a better method, Cheryl Miller said.
“One day I was walking around, and I heard a dad say, ‘Sadie, you can read that book, but you have to wait until we get back to the camper,’” she said. “Sadie was just standing in the middle of the sidewalk, trying to read her book.”
A friend told Miller about meeting a young child in a local hair salon a week after the fair, who refused to put a book down until she was finished. Her mother said she’d chosen it from Read Aloud’s booth.
The girl finished her book at the salon. She grew even more excited when another woman told her the book was just the first in a wonderful series.
“I think that children are just naturally drawn to stories, and someone who enjoys reading and telling those stories. They were caught up in the enthusiasm of the stories,” she said. “We just made it so much fun.”
NIP credits for gifts of $500 or more, while supplies last
You qualify forNeighborhood Investment Program tax credits if you:
— Pay income taxes in West Virginia, or
— Pay corporate net income taxes in West Virginia, and
— Donate $500 or more to Read Aloud West Virginia.
Taxpayers can use this credit even if they don’t itemize on federal or state income tax returns.
It works like this:
1. Send a donation of $500 or more to a qualifying organization, such as Read Aloud WV.
2. Read Aloud sends you a voucher for as much as half the gift amount. At tax time, turn in the voucher to reduce your WV tax bill by that amount.Taxpayers may use all or part of the credits. They have five years to use all the credits.
A larger gift qualifies for a larger credit. So, a $1,000 donation gets $500 in tax credits. A $5,000 gift qualifies for $2,500 off your taxes, and so on.
The maximum tax credit allowed in any one year is $100,000. Donors cannot reduce their total state tax bill by more than 50 percent.
NIP credits are administered by the state to encourage donations to local nonprofits. All credits must be distributed by March 2024. Credits are limited, so the sooner you secure yours, the better.
Every dollar donated to Read Aloud results in more time spent sending volunteer readers into classrooms to motivate children to read for fun, or giving kids happy, choice-filled book distributions.
As little as $100 can fund books for an entire classroom, while $1,100 can fund a month of Books for Babies, providinga new book for all babies born at Women and Children’s Hospital, CAMC, for example.
To donate at this time of year, it is best to call 304-345-5212 to verify that NIP credits are still available. Then, you may:
Mail a check to Read Aloud WV, PO Box 1784, Charleston, WV 25326 (the most cost-effective method).
Transfer stock.Call 304-345-5212 or email dmiller@readaloudwv.orgfor more details. Read Aloud’s DTC number is 0141.
Direct a retirement account distributionto Read Aloud WV. If it comes straight from your financial institution, even a disbursement from a tax-deferred plan may not incur federal taxes, and it will also qualify for NIP tax credits. Call or email if you have questions.
Gifts made after Jan. 1, 2024 work the same way, except that taxpayers may applytheir credits starting with taxes due for the 2024 tax year.
We invite you to join us in uplifting the success of our Summer Book Binges at Read-A-Palooza 2023: Binge on Books on Thursday, March 9 from 5:30-7:30 pm in the University of Charleston’s Riggleman Rotunda. The event celebrates the significant impact of giving books that children choose before summer break, preventing and even reversing the loss of reading proficiency that sets back many students when school is out of session.
Heavy appetizers, beer, and wine will be served. A small silent auction will be available, as well as our popular Wine Pull. For $20 per pull, this activity sends participants home with a bottle of wine selected blindly from an array of options, all worth $20 or more.
Proceeds from Read-A-Palooza help fund Read Aloud programs throughout West Virginia, which are designed to engage all members of our communities in motivating children to want to read. Tickets are $35, available for purchase at readaloudwv.org/tickets. Corporate and individual sponsorships, as well as donations in lieu of attendance, are all gratefully accepted.
Significant sponsors of last year’s Read-A-Palooza include Moses Auto Group and The Elliot Foundation. Thank you to all businesses and community members who have contributed to the success of this fundraiser in the past. Your support is essential to continue to grow research-based reading interventions like Summer Book Binge.
Summer Book Binge is just one of the choice-based book distributions Read Aloud does that has helped us put over 20,000 books in the hands of students in 2022. The method is based on research that showed that six self-selected books given to students prior to summer break could motivate children to read for fun, helping to combat learning loss that occurs when students don’t practice their skills during school breaks. This loss of reading proficiency is most prevalent with low-income students who have fewer opportunities outside of school to practice reading than their middle- and high-income peers, putting them at a disadvantage when they return to school. Learning loss is cumulative, and over time, it can set students back years behind their classmates.
Summer Book Binge showed promising results combatting this proficiency loss in three schools we served in spring of 2022. The first two were Cottageville and Gilmore Elementaries in Jackson County, where 84% of rising 4th graders either increased or maintained their Lexile level over the break. These distributions were made possible by support from the Jackson County Community Foundation.
Last year, we also worked with Chesapeake Elementary School in the upper-Kanawha valley to bring their students Summer Book Binge thanks to a grant from The Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation. We selected Chesapeake as a partner for program expansion because approximately 77% of Chesapeake students were not proficient readers in 2020-21.
After providing all students with six freely-chosen books to read during break, over half (53%) of the students gained or maintained their reading skills over the summer. Of those who experienced skill erosion, 38% were already reading above grade level prior to break and remained above grade level in the fall.
That means that 71% of Chesapeake students tested before and after summer break had a positive result in their reading proficiency scores following Summer Book Binge.
We know from past experience that the positive impacts of this program are cumulative, much like the learning loss it’s designed to prevent. As we continue to work with Chesapeake, Cottageville, and Gilmore, we anticipate consistent gains in reading proficiency that will build on each other, setting students up for long-term success in reading.
We hope you will join us at Read-A-Palooza on March 9 as we promote and celebrate the importance of choice-based book distributions on the literacy of WV students.
—
Amanda Schwartz is the Read Aloud WV Communications & Development Director.
