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Volunteer Nation's Latest News

 

Stay in the know with your fellow volunteers and learn about current events happening in the Volunteer Nation

 

    

 

 

 

Volunteer Nation Blog

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Stay in the know with your fellow volunteers, read the latest volunteer spotlight, and learn about current events happening in the Volunteer Nation.


Metric Update: Falling in Love with Reading!

We help students fall in love with reading!As the Great Reading Games continue, we keep helping students with learning differences fall in love with reading!

 

More GRG Data…..
Schools opted in: 2858

Students Reading: 37,367

Pages Read: 7,719,183

 

 

Beloved Books
Here are the top 5 books that were added to bookshelves and kept our students reading for the fourth week of our 2020 Great Reading Games! 

 

KT019 Mr. Granite Is From Another Planet! 
NB956 Diary Of An Awesome Friendly Kid: Rowley Jefferson's Journal 
KM769 To Kill a Mockingbird 
NC382 Dog Man: For Whom The Ball Rolls 
NB707 Trapped In A Video Game
 

 

Everyone is still loving Dan Gutman's books - one of the titles that we started promoting out last week is now #1 on the list! 

 

Something to Tweet About…
 As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words.  Check out the photos below of some of our amazing readers!  

 

Kelli Zicha tweeted about two of her students, Cynthia and Tyrese:


Cynthia is enjoying Jason Reynolds’ Ghost during the @Learning_Ally Reading Games 💛 #GRG20 #shelfie #wearereaders #tellyourstoryxrds @BonnieCapes @sondra_hinson @mjkmiec @LamprechtPaula

Cynthia sitting in a purple chair with her laptop in her lap and facing the camera. Her laptop is showing her bookshelf. She’s wearing white pants and a white shirt. She has long black hair and has white headphones draped around her neck. She’s giving a sly smile!

(Image of Cynthia sitting in a purple chair with her laptop in her lap and facing the camera. Her laptop is showing us her bookshelf. She has long black hair and has white headphones draped around her neck. She’s giving a sly smile!) 
 

Tyrese just downloaded the Learning Ally app on his phone! He’s excited to read and participate in the @Learning_Ally Great Reading Games 💛 #GRG20 #shelfie #wearereaders #tellyourstoryxrds @BonnieCapes @sondra_hinson @mjkmiec @LamprechtPaula

Image is of Tyrese. He is sitting at his desk facing forward. He’s wearing a white hoodie with the words that say, “The future is yours”.  He is holding a phone in his lap and is giving a handsome smile.

(Image of Tyrese sitting at his desk facing forward. He’s wearing a white hoodie with the words that say, “The future is yours”. He is holding a phone in his lap and is giving a handsome smile.)

 

Finally, what Joelle Nappi tweeted and the picture she captured is an opportunity for us all to make connections to what Maryanne Wolf described in her keynote speech at Spotlight on Dyslexia last year as “deep reading”.  The student pictured below was able to read with Learning Ally, then stop, think about the text, play it again if she needed and begin to think deeply about the what she was reading.  She may be making connections, finding the author’s purpose, or citing evidence.  Take a minute to think about the brain changes that are going on for her with the power of what Learning Ally audiobooks is able to bring.  We ALL make this happen every single day!  
 

Joelle Nappi, Middle School ELA teacher in NJ, tweeted out several great strategies:

 

Listening while following along with text, stop & jots, thinking about our thinking! We are growing as readers everyday by using ALL our tools and strategies! #GRG20 #ddeempower

Image is a screenshot of a middle school girl.  She sitting in a blue bean bag chair, has on a warm fuzzy jacket and warm boots. Her legs are crossed with a book propped on her leg. She has headphones draped around her neck. She has a pencil in her right hand, looking intently at the page and is jotting notes in the book. There is a poster behind her that reads, “Kindness is the new cool.”

(Image  of a middle school girl sitting in a blue bean bag chair, with a warm fuzzy jacket and boots. Her legs are crossed with a book propped on her leg. She has headphones draped around her neck. She has a pencil in her right hand, looking intently at the page and is jotting notes in the book. The poster behind her reads: “Kindness is the new cool”.)


 

Hear directly from Dan Gutman about the “There’s Nothing Weird About Reading” author webinar coming up on February 27th! Please share this far and wide.  You will start to see it on our website, in emails and on our social media channels.  

 

Our readers overall this week increased to 186,238 with over 76 million pages read and 28,053 at frequency – a 22% increase for schools!
Our readers this week overall increased to 191,092 with 81 million pages read and 30,218 at frequency – a 23% increase for schools!
 


New Volunteers and Students Need Your Help

Hello Volunteers!


2020 has started strong for Learning Ally but we're just getting started.


Building Books for Student Success

 

Building Books for Student Success Logo

Every year we ask our volunteers to join us in a special fundraising drive. This year March 2nd is the kick-off date for our campaign. Look for special messages with instructions on how to set up your personal fundraising page and reach out to donors. We'll have video demonstrations, reference guides, and even news about recognition rewards. However, you don't have to wait until BBSS if you don't want to! You can get started early if you go set up a fundraising page here.
 

New Arrivals


The New Year always brings an outpouring of volunteer interest, and 2020 is no exception. If you see some of our latest additions to the volunteering team show up in the Google chats or on the volunteer portal pages, please say hello, introduce yourself, and let people know what you're doing to help us serve our students. Every year thousands of people make the resolution to get involved in volunteer work and your welcoming them to our team helps cement that Learning Ally isn't just a service; it's a community of people working together to better the lives of students.

 


Interested in Mentoring?Computer Mentoring
 

We're always looking for experienced volunteers who are interested in taking some extra time to be peer mentors for our newcomers. Our peer mentors review auditions and coach new trainees. If you've volunteered with Learning Ally for over a year, or have a strong background in teaching or training and are interested in getting involved, contact voltraining@learningally.org for details.


Congratulations To Our Training Graduates!


Kimberly S., Jason O., Lisa J., Sura S., Yvonnette C., Daisy B., Elaine N-B., Janet D., Richard K., Susan H., Jerald H., Buddy S., CJ H., Chris D., Lucy B., Julie N., Becky C., Jami J., Akracha B., Elizabeth B., Jason R., Jeremy D., Van H., Kyle D., Rachel S., Kenneth B., Karen W., Sonia S., Jason C.