PHA, Read by 4th and Sixers Star Help Kids “Get Lit”


books each for their home libraries. Shown here: a pickup site at the John F. Street Community Center in North Philadelphia.
Read by 4th is a coalition of partners working to protect every child’s right to read while putting in place common strategies to ensure that kids read at grade level by the time they enter the 4th grade. The organization is delivering approximately 25,000 books to children and families through its partnership with Tobias Lit Labs in Philadelphia during the current health emergency. PHA is the first recipient of these books. The other donations will include schools, churches, and community groups.
Fourth grade is the year when instruction shifts from learning to read to reading to learn. As a result, students who are not reading proficiently by the 4th grade may struggle in school and fall behind their peers. Research has shown that all children are capable of making great strides in their reading ability as long as they have support from adults inside and outside the classroom.
Read by 4th partners have six goals that include recruiting a Reading Captain for every block in Philadelphia, creating literacy rich neighborhoods, and supporting perfect school attendance each week because every day counts, start to finish.