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Literacy: Spanning North America

@JamLibService

Library Worker Teaching Adults To Read Virtually

Jamaica Star: 5.14.2020 by Akera Davis

Realising that many of the adults she has encountered were unable to navigate their way through simple reading material, Kayon Williams is administering online literacy classes.

With more persons being at home due to COVID-19 restrictions, Williams, a records clerk at the Jamaica Library Service, thought it was a good time to offer the classes.

"Looking at what we are going through with COVID-19 and the changes it has brought about, this is a good time for persons to uplift themselves through reading and comprehension," Williams told THE STAR. "I am cognisant of the fact that persons have their financial constraints and even though I am teaching them, my aim is not to break their pockets but to make them better versions of themselves."

Being in an environment where persons are constantly seeking to harvest information, Williams knows the challenge it posts for persons who are illiterate.

"In my field of work I realise that a lot of adults are not reading and comprehending well," she said. "Sometimes adults come into the library to collect information and they have a problem to search for the information they need and apply it. When I do my observation, I realise that they cannot read."

She said that contrary to popular belief, many persons who are considered illiterate can handle smartphones and are able to navigate the Internet and set up Zoom, the platform through which she runs her classes.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)

Houston Link 

To Learning

* Linking Food And Literacy

The Decoder: May 2020

Houston Link to Learning uses food programming as a great way to teach literacy skills and to provide food for families.

Like many organizations we are really concerned about our vulnerable learners during the COVID-19 crisis. Many of the programs and places they go to access food are shut down except for the food bank.

During these times when we can’t get together, we decided we would put together ‘recipe bags.’ Each bag includes a recipe, instructions and all the ingredients to make the recipe. To keep the cost low and the recipe simple, we chose Shepherd’s Pie for the first bags. We approached our grocery store for help. Our friends at Buy-Low Foods Houston were amazing. They gave us a $300 gift card to put toward the 30 bags. They also put our grocery list together to give us the best deal. Thanks to them, our total cost was just $60.

For families with children three to six years we also gave out craft bags. Vulnerable families may not always have craft supplies on hand, as they are expensive. We had bags with a book, crafts and activities relating to the book, and all the supplies they needed for the craft. We did this in partnership with our Family Resource Centre.

We provided a collection time and place with appropriate social distancing, as well as delivery service for families without vehicle.  READ MORE ➤➤

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Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: fairly easy to read.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

@READSanDiego

Google Read and Write

READ/San Diego Adult Literacy Program: 5.06.2020

Read and Write for Google

Summary of the Read and Write for Google

R&W for Google is an extension for Google Chrome that is primarily a reading support, but also provides writing supports.  There are two different versions of R&W for Google, a free version and a premium version.  The Premium version is available for free for teachers to explore and costs $99 for a yearly subscription for student accounts.

Free: The free version provides text to speech and dual highlighting (yellow & blue) for any text on any website! (AWESOME!)  It also provides an in the text translator.

Premium: The premium version provides the same text to speech, dual highlighting, and translator features.  It also includes supports for Google Docs, specifically, multi-highlighting options for active reading, extracting highlights, a vocabulary chart, a regular and picture dictionary, and word prediction.

Limitations

Premium Version: $99 a year for students
➧ Premium version will read PDFs in Google Docs, not free version

Free version - limited options

➧ Text to speech ONLY READS TEXT (no flash supported)

➧ Tools run on internet speed, causes a lag for word prediction and text to speech.

➧ Word choices have to be clicked with a mouse (no number hot keys or arrow down and enter to select)

➧ Limited voice speed options (only 4)

Conclusion
I would highly recommend the free version of Read and Write for Google to be downloaded on every computer so that ALL students can have access to speech to text while reading ANYTHING online (for pleasure or school assignments).  If your school district works heavily with Google Docs I would also recommend the premium version to reinforce active reading and studying. But, take advantage of the FREE version for teachers and explore away!  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders)

@LCNV

* LCNV Shares a Story of Innovation at the Adult Education & Literacy 2020 Conference

Literacy Council of Northern Virginia Newsletter: May 2020 by Dr. Carole Bausell

Every year LCNV sends representatives to the Virginia Adult Education and Literacy Conference.  Supported by the Virginia Department of Education and the Virginia Adult Learning Resource Center of Virginia Commonwealth University, it is a meticulously planned conference where one learns about best practices and future trends by attending sessions with subject matter experts, joining critical meetings with State education officials, and visiting with colleagues over delicious meals. It is always a good opportunity to find out how others are dealing with similar challenges and bring back home a slew of creative ideas. The conference models a real spirit of collaboration and sharing. For our part, we try to share some of our own innovations by submitting to the selection committee a presentation about something we have done that addresses a common problem and thus could be of service to others.

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The theme of this year’s conference was Vision for the Future. Every innovation we have tried at LCNV has been designed to help us fulfill our mission and vision more completely. The part of our mission where we explain why we teach folks English—so they can access employment and educational opportunities and more fully and equitably participate in the community—flashes through my mind whenever I get to explain one of these innovations. The key word for me is equitably. In truth, we talk a lot about equity at LCNV.

Several months before the conference, Roopal Saran, Soo Park and I had submitted a presentation to the selection committee entitled, Stackable Credentials that Propel Beginning English Learners along Career Pathways: Partnership Development that Leads to Innovation. It was accepted and I was there to present on behalf of our team. What are stackable credentials?  According to the Department of Labor, stackable credentials are “…part of a sequence of credentials accumulated over time to build up an individual’s qualification to help them move along a career pathway or up a career ladder to potentially different and higher paying jobs.”

Since most of our learners do not have the gift of unlimited time to devote to studies, the idea of providing them with stepping stones along a career pathway is appealing. Each credential attained shows potential employers that they have acquired job-relevant skills. Each credential attained develops confidence and motivation to pursue the next one. But what happens when the lowest hanging fruit—the most accessible credential— is still out of reach for some learners? That is the problem that we had confronted. The story about what we did next led to this year’s conference presentation.

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The LCNV IET program.

IET stands for Integrated Education and Training, a teaching model wherein an English teacher and an occupational trainer team up to prepare students to earn a nationally known, industry-recognized credential. LCNV selected an IET course that leads to the Guest Service Gold credential from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute. We selected this particular credential for several reasons. First among them, there are a plethora of hospitality jobs in our area so the credential could help lead to a job. Second, upon examining the book content and the test, we believed that we could get many of our higher level learners (those in our level 3 Beginning English classes) successfully though the course. Finally, customer service in general is very much part of the American workforce culture. We would be able to provide students examples of customer service outside of the hospitality industry as well, thereby making it relevant to an even wider swath of students.  READ MORE ➤➤

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Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 13

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 18-19 yrs. old

(college level entry)