Summer for Georgia Readers Begins Today
You can read anywhere, anytime, and virtually anything this summer, because Get Georgia Reading partner myON is delivering thousands of free books to your computer and mobile devices that you can access 24 hours a day—every day—from May 3 through Aug. 31.
You can search from more than 50 different categories and genres, fiction and nonfiction, picture books, graphic novels, chapter books, titles for struggling and reluctant readers, and Spanish and bilingual titles. It’s like having your own personal library right at your fingertips.
Ready, Set, Read
Last summer, kids throughout the state read 248,901 books and spent 55,831 hours reading. This year, we are challenging Georgia to top last year’s numbers by reading more than 250,000 books and spending over 60,000 hours reading.
You are also challenged to light up your community on this heat map:
We’ll keep our eye on who’s reading the most and give shout-outs to the leading regions throughout the summer. Polk County generated the most heat last summer for the second year in a row, followed by Fulton, Liberty, Lowndes, and Augusta counties.
Getting started is quick and easy!
Check out this short video with your students for tips on finding and reading great books on myON. Then follow these simple steps to access the myON platform.
1. Visit http://about.myon.com/GetGAReading to get registered. Under the Job Title field, type in: Reader. Once you have registered, instructions on your county-specific log-in will be sent to you within 24 – 48 hours.
2. Go to myON.com and click the Log In Now button.
3. Enter the following information:
- School Name: Get Georgia Reading, Georgia Campaign for Grade Level Reading (Note: DO NOT cut and paste. Start typing “Get Georgia…” and select the school from the drop-down menu.)
- Username: included in registration instructions
- Password: included in registration instructions
4. Click on the Sign In button, select a book, and start reading!
Tip: To be sure your system is myON-ready, click here.
We Want to Hear from You
The only thing better than reading a good book is sharing it with others. We encourage all readers—kids, dads and moms, grandparents and caregivers, teachers, and librarians—to send written and video book reviews that we will publish on getgeorgiareading.org.
Get social this summer by sharing book recommendations, snapping selfies with your favorite titles, showing off where you’re reading and who you’re reading with, and telling us how you’re incorporating myON into your everyday life.
Send your reviews, videos, photos, and more to Bill Valladares at william@gafcp.org, and be sure to use the hashtags #GetGAReading and #myONreader with your social media posts.
Giving ALL Kids Access to Literacy
For healthy growth and reading success, all children and their families need year-round access to educational and supportive services. By providing this summertime access to digital books in homes, schools, and libraries for the fourth year in a row, myON is helping to Get Georgia Reading in a big way.
The amount of books Georgia kids read during the summer more than doubled from over 103,000 in 2015 to over 248,000 in 2016. According to Get Georgia Reading Campaign Director Arianne Weldon, myON has played a vital role in this increase.
“We’re grateful to myON for providing this amazing resource during the summer months when so many kids lack access to books,” said Weldon. “If we are to achieve our shared expectation that every child will be on the path to achieving reading proficiency by the end of third grade, we have to provide all children with access to learning opportunities like this all year long.”
Research shows that students can lose up to three months of reading ability over the summer. By offering a wide array of quality digital titles, myON is aiming to ensure that students don’t fall behind while school is out of session.
“myON continuously strives to provide unlimited access to reading beyond the classroom walls,” said myON Account Manager Saralee Parker. “myON works to inspire a love of reading and learning by leveling the playing field with unlimited access to books and furthers the ability to provide unlimited opportunities for all students.”
More than an electronic reading application, myON tracks the habits of its readers and generates a list of “just right” books for each student while providing educators more insight into what works for kids—books read from start to finish—and what doesn’t—books are rarely opened, or opened and not finished.
myON’s books come with features that create a student-centered, personalized “literacy environment,” with an optional audio component, word and sentence highlighting, and a sidebar with a built-in dictionary. This suite of helpful tools helps kids connect with the text while reading independently or working on assigned reading and writing projects.
For more information about myON, contact Saralee Parker at sparker@myon.com, or at 678-910-6661.