World Read Aloud Day 2016 – A Call for Skype Read-Aloud Volunteers!

Hey, author-illustrator friends! To help schools plan their celebrations for LitWorld’s World Read Aloud Day I’m putting together a list of author & illustrator volunteers who would like to read aloud to classrooms on that day. 

(image courtesy of LitWorld)

World Read Aloud Day 2016 is Wednesday, February 24th. For the past several years, some authors & illustrators have spent part of their day reading aloud to classrooms via Skype to help schools celebrate. These aren’t long, fancy presentations. They typically run 10-15 minutes each, and a typical one might go like this:

• 1-2 minutes: Author introduces himself or herself and talks a little about his or her books.
• 3-5 minutes: Author reads aloud a short picture book, or a short excerpt from a chapter book/novel
• 5  minutes: Author answers a few questions from students about reading/writing
• 1-2 minutes: Author book-talks a couple books he or she loves (but didn’t write!) as recommendations for the kids

 Interested in volunteering? If you’re a traditionally published* author or illustrator, here’s how to sign up:

1. Send an email to worldreadaloudskype@gmail.com.
2. In the subject line, write WRAD Skype volunteer.
3. In the body of the email, please put these SIX pieces of information, in this exact format, so that it can be copied & pasted into the list:

-YOUR NAME

-YOUR PUBLISHER

-GRADE LEVEL FOR WHICH YOUR BOOKS ARE MOST APPROPRIATE

      (Younger Elementary, Older Elementary, All Elementary, Middle School, or High School) 

-HOURS YOU’LL BE AVAILABLE AND YOUR TIME ZONE

-YOUR WEBSITE

-EMAIL WHERE YOU’D LIKE TO BE CONTACTED WITH WRAD SKYPE INQUIRIES OR A LINK TO YOUR WEBSITE CONTACT PAGE

 

So…the body of your email should look something like this example:

Laurel Snyder
Random House Books for Young Readers
Elementary
8 am- 2pm EST
http://laurelsnyder.com

Laurel-email@gmail.com

 

Thanks for using this exact format. It saves so much time. Once I have all of your information, I’ll add you on the list and share it. 

IMPORTANT: Whenever your schedule for WRAD is full, please send another email to worldreadaloudkskype@gmail.com to let me know that, and I’ll cross your name off the list so you don’t keep getting requests.

 

*This list is limited to traditionally published authors/illustrators to limit its size and scope. I’m one person with limited time. However, if someone else would like to compile and share a list of self-published and ebook author/illustrator volunteers, I think that would be absolutely great, and I’ll happily link to it here. Just let me know!