We have all heard of Walk-a-thons and Bike-a-thons, but what is a Read-a-thon?
A Read-a-thon is an opportunity for you to have fun and help others appreciate the importance of reading by simply picking up any book and reading for a few minutes. You get to choose which library, school, or organization gets credit for your reading points. It's that simple. Together we can raise awareness about the importance of reading. We may also achieve a world record for reading.
The Read-a-thon is now open to everyone. The system was originally designed for public school classrooms. Teachers asked for a fun and easy way to keep track of at home student reading. The paper reading logs were causing problems. Paper based logs allowed some students to win the classroom reading contests without even reading a single book. There was no way to accurately measure reading activity at home.
The teachers asked for suggestions. We created an easy to use telephone based system for the students to call anytime and read. The system automatically listened to the student reading the story and then calculated the reading points. It was simple and easy to use. Almost all of the students completed their reading assignments and the academic progress level of the students increased significantly. Reading is a foundation skill required for almost every academic subject, so improved reading skills can help in all academic subjects.
The Read-a-thon is now available to everyone. It's simple and easy. We have also added an option to let you choose which library, school, or organization gets credit for your reading points.
- Pick up any book.
- Call the 2012 Read-a-thon phone number. 951-262-3818
- If you want a school, library, or other organization to get credit for your reading time you can press the 6 digit code for the organization. Here is the current list. Remember, press only the 6 digits. You do not need to press #
- Say, "The name of this book is _____________", and the author is _________".
- Start reading. Hangup when you are finished.
It's that easy. You can read as much as you wish. The more that you read, the more points get credited to your favorite school, library, or organization. The points are automatically calculated and published. The organizations with the most points go to the top of the list. Next to every organization name is a link to the donation page on their website. The higher ranking on the page generates more publicity and a higher probability of more donations for that organization. Reading a book is an easy way to help your favorite school, library, or organization to get additional publicity and enhanced donations.
If you would like to suggest a favorite school, library, or organization that is not currently on the list please send an email to additions (at) Readathon.US
Why is reading so important? Education is the foundation for achieving almost everything in life. The benefits extend far beyond careers and income potential. Health and longevity are also affected by education levels.
Illiteracy is a national problem. The United States Department of Labor estimates illiteracy costs the country $224 billion in welfare payments, crime, remedial education for employees, work errors, lost productivity, and many other problems. Three out of every four people on welfare are illiterate, as are 85% of juvenile offenders and 75% of prison inmates. The health care industry estimates that $73 billion of medical costs are caused by illiterate patients who are not able to read medication labels or other health information.
The illiteracy problem is huge and getting worse. Every 26 seconds, another student drops out of high school. One fifth of high school graduates cannot even read their own diploma. Employers are spending $20 billion a year on remedial reading classes for their employees. Colleges are spending many billions of dollars on remedial classes for students. We now have over 32 million adults who cannot read anything more challenging than a child's picture book.
Illiteracy is an expensive national problem that we are all paying for.
We all need to read. Even proficient readers benefit from continued reading. Current research has indicated that reading helps the brain stay healthy and helps delay cognitive decline.
Let's all pick up a book and join the Read-a-thon.
It's fun and it's easy.
Privacy Note: When reading a story for the Read-a-thon,
only read the story. Readers will never be asked for their name, or
other personal information. Readers will never be contacted by anyone
from the Read-a-thon project. You do not need to register to use the
Read-a-thon system. You can remain totally anonymous by blocking all
callerid information before calling any of the numbers. On most phones,
this can be accomplished by dialing *67 before dialing the phone number.
Telephone Note: Participation in the Read-a-thon is free and open to everyone. You should always check your telephone calling plan to understand any restrictions on calling minutes or calling areas.
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Readathon
