Family Literacy Day: January 27

Family Literacy Day: January 27

Every year on January 27, families and communities across Canada celebrate this special day at literacy-themed events coordinated by literacy organizations, schools, public libraries and families. In addition to the thousands of individuals, groups, businesses and families across Canada who have embraced Family Literacy Day, many corporate and media partners have donated time and services to help ABC CANADA get the word out about FLD.

There are some fun family literacy activities and tools to help the whole family learn together.

~ Family Literacy Calendar
~ Fun Family Literacy Activities
~ Family Literacy Tips from A to Z
~ Ten Wacky Family Literacy Ideas
~ Learning While on the Road

The 2008 Cuffies

Children's booksellers choose their favorite (and not so favorite) books of the year. Compiled by Diane Roback -- Publishers Weekly, Jan 19, 2009 for complete list.

Favorite Picture Book of the Year10 Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes by Mem Fox, illus. by Helen Oxenbury~ extraordinary but simple—less is more !

Favorite Novel of the Year
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins (“absolutely riveting”)
by Terry Pratchett (“funny but deep”)

Most Unusual Picture Book
The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin, illus. by Rosana Faria

Funniest Book (tie)Frankenstein Takes the Cake by Adam Rex; Knucklehead by Jon Scieszka

Book You'd Like to See Win the Newbery MedalMasterpiece by Elise Broach

Book You'd Like to See Win the Caldecott Medal (tie)We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball by Kadir Nelson
Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein, illus. by Ed Young

Book You Were Happiest to See Back in PrintThe Three Robbers by Tomi Ungerer

Book You Were Sorriest to See Go Out of PrintBlueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey

Read On @ Your Local Library: CalCat or WorldCat

Play: How It Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination and Invigorates the Soul by Stuart Brown and Christopher Vaughan - Avery, March 2009

As we become adults, taking time to play feels like a guilty pleasure—a distraction from “real” work and life. But as Dr. Stuart Brown illustrates, play is anything but trivial. It is a biological drive as integral to our health as sleep or nutrition. In fact, our ability to play throughout life is the single most important factor in determining our success and happiness.

James Earl Jones - Life Achievement Award

Congratulations to James Earl Jones
Recipient of the 45th Annual
Screen Actors Guild LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

SAG President Alan Rosenberg: "James Earl Jones' distinguished career on stage, in film, on television, in commercials and as a vocal presence without peer commands our admiration and respect. His long and quiet devotion to advancing literacy, the arts and humanities on a national and local scale deserves our appreciation."

The 15th Annual SAG Awards will be simulcast on TNT & TBS on Sunday, January, 25 at 8 pm ET/PT. Forest Whitaker will Present SAG’s 45th Life Achievement Award to James Earl Jones.

James Earl Jones narrated the Academy Award Nominated film Enrique’s Story. Enrique Ramirez tells how he came to learn to read as an adult and how it changed his life and the lives of his family. Enriques's Story (1994) can be used to promote your literacy program and motivate learners. Produced by the California State Library for the Families for Literacy, FFL, program. Available in 2 versions: adult literacy or library literacy. Each version is 7.5 minutes long. $25.00

Check Out

James Earl Jones: Voices and Silences
by James Earl Jones & Penelope Niven – Scribner, 1993

@ Your Local Library: CalCat or WorldCat

LAMP: depiction, discussion and promotion of literacy and reading
on television and radio, in film, in print and in cyberspace.

Literacy Tribune: January 2009

Literacy Tribune: January 2009 issue

United Literacy, a non-profit organization, provides resources and support to adult literacy learners in the United States. Its aim is to make literacy education accessible and worthwhile for adult learners.

A History Lesson: Inauguration Day - On January 20, Barack Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States.
Main Story: Shape Up - Every January, millions of Americans make the same New Year’s resolution: get in shape.

Member Spotlight: Refuse to Cry, Refuse to Give Up
By Sharon Briones, Hoosier Hills Literacy League in Indiana

A Learner's Poem: My Darling
Rudolfo Diaz, Adult Learner-Montebello Adult School

Call for Writers !

Are you an adult learner ?
Do you want to write ?
Do you want to publish your writing ?

The Literacy Tribune is looking for adult learner writers.

You can write about:
Literacy resources you like
Your literacy organization
Your road to literacy
You can write book reviews, poetry, short stories
You can write articles about health, finance, or technology
You can write just about anything

Reading On The Rise - More American Adults Read Literature According to New NEA Study

More American Adults Read Literature According to New NEA Study

Literary reading on the rise for first time in history of Arts Endowment survey
NEA: January 12, 2009

Washington, D.C. -- For the first time in more than 25 years, American adults are reading more literature, according to a new study by the National Endowment for the Arts. Reading on the Rise documents a definitive increase in rates and numbers of American adults who read literature, with the biggest increases among young adults, ages 18-24. This new growth reverses two decades of downward trends cited previously in NEA reports such as Reading at Risk and To Read or Not To Read.

"At a time of immense cultural pessimism, the NEA is pleased to announce some important good news. Literary reading has risen in the U.S. for the first time in a quarter century," said NEA Chairman Dana Gioia. "This dramatic turnaround shows that the many programs now focused on reading, including our own Big Read, are working. Cultural decline is not inevitable."

Some Key Findings:

~ For the first time in the history of the survey - conducted 5 times since 1982 - the overall rate at which adults read literature (novels and short stories, plays, or poems) rose by 7%.

~ There were 16.6 million more adult readers of literature in 2008. The growth in new readers reflects higher adult reading rates combined with overall population growth.

Some Demographics:

~ Young adults show the most rapid increases in literary reading. Since 2002, 18-24 year olds have seen the biggest increase (9 %) in literary reading, and the most rapid rate of increase (21 %). This jump reversed a 20 % rate of decline in the 2002 survey, the steepest rate of decline since the NEA survey began.

~ Since 2002, reading has increased at the sharpest rate among Hispanic Americans (+20%), African Americans by 15 %, and among Whites at an 8% rate of increase.

Some Trends in media and literary preferences

~ Fiction (novels and short stories) accounts for the new growth in adult literary readers.
~ Reading poetry and drama continues to decline, especially poetry-reading among women.

Nearly 15 % of all U.S. adults read literature online in 2008. READ ON

NAAL 2003: State and County Estimates

NAAL 2003: Indirect County and State Estimates of the Percentage of Adults at the Lowest Literacy Level for 1992 and 2003 just released.

The *2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NAAL) assessed the English literacy skills of a nationally representative sample of 18,500 U.S. adults (age 16 and older) residing in private households. NAAL is the first national assessment of adult literacy since the *1992 National Adult Literacy Survey (NALS).

State estimates – Tables

~ in Full Report (pdf file), Table B-1:
Indirect estimates of the % lacking Basic prose literacy skills and corresponding credible intervals, by state: 2003

County estimates - Tables @
~ can view county-by-county for each state
~~~ note: can copy counties table and then sort by %'s
~ can view state numbers by individual state or compare 2 states
~ the only table of all 50 states is Table B-1 mentioned above

*2003 SAAL states: KY, MD, MA, MO, NY, and OK
*1992 SALS states: CA, IL, IN, IA, LA, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, and WA