Literacy ▬ Spanning North America :: Placentia CA :: Wilmington DE :: Farmington ME :: Saint John NB

Literacy In The News :: Spanning North America

@placentialib

Placentia Library Adult Literacy ▬ Meet Our Learners and Tutors
Literacy eXPLORE: Spring/Summer 2021

Isha shares her experience tutoring her learner, Marisela:

As a college student involved in creative writing, poetry, and teaching English literacy, I strive to make every meeting with my student Maricela very engaging and inspiring.

When Maricela first joined the library’s literacy program, she was eager and ready to dive straight into goal-oriented lessons, go page by page in the workbook, and learn flashcards. Though this progressed well, I realized that introducing her to some light reading, poetry, and current events could be a major breakthrough for her understanding of English. With this in mind, we started planning out all the activities we could do together on Zoom all while staying safe at home.

While preparing for her citizenship exam and interview, Maricela has been especially interested in the current issues regarding the US election and the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the topics that made headlines this past year were not always uplifting. Together, Maricela and I chose to balance this by splitting our time between reading the news, and reading a short story or poem that reflects a positive outlook on life and learning.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

@litdelaware

Delaware's Literacy Advocates Seek New Volunteers
Delaware News Journal Letters to the Editor: 4.13.2021 by C Laveglia

I’m writing to invite my fellow Delawareans to help Literacy Delaware fulfill its mission of empowering adult learners to realize their potential as confident, self-sufficient and productive employees, family members and contributors to their communities. Literacy Delaware trains volunteer tutors to work with learners at mutually convenient times.

I was interested in teaching ESL and found Literacy Delaware through a course I took through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. After completing my training, I was matched with Paco, a musician from Senegal.

Paco speaks English pretty well but reading and writing are greater challenges. In working with Paco, I learned he enjoys biographies, texts provided by Literacy Delaware geared towards beginning readers.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: very difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

LVFSC

Literacy Volunteers Announces Winners Of Poetry Contest
Daily Bulldog: 4.16.2021

Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties announces the winners of the eleventh annual Literacy Volunteers Poetry Contest, sponsored by Western Maine Financial Services and Susan and Fritz Onion. LVFSC wishes to thank all of the contributing poets, and the judge, Laine Kuehn.

🔽
Students of Literacy Volunteers

First Place: Anna Crockett, Pinewood Angels
Second Place: Joanna Ladd, Learning in Important to Me
Third Place: Lorrie Chicoine, My Dog Casey Rae

Pinewood Angels, by Anna Crocket

The three angles at Pinewood
Were Rosie, Betty and myself
As Sus left for the day she said
“My residents are safe my angel team is here watching over them’
I love them, enjoyed being in their life
Taking care of the residents
Just small thing made them happy
Like set the radio station.
Make molasses cookies.
Putting good smelly lotion on them
Take time to give a smile and a touch
Sit and talk to them
I said to my friend
‘I was a angel’
She said ‘not you a Anna a angel’
Ask Sus ‘If I was a angel
Rosie and Betty were angels too
I remembered it was a good feeling
To take care of the residents
It takes a special person
To be an angel
The angels live on forever
Our residents are angels
In heaven watching over
The pinewood angels
Anna , Betty and Rosie.

Learning is Important to Me, by Joanna Ladd

I come here to be taught different things.
I come to learn how to do poems.  
I keep learning because I think it is fun.
I keep learning to prove to myself I can graduate. 
When learn I feel like need to learn a lot more than what I do. 

My Dog Casey Rae, by Lorrie Chicoine

I got my dog at
8 weeks old
She was a spoil rotten Dog she was a
Good dog.

The collection of winning poems are published on the LVFSC website and will also be published in a poetry chapbook.  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

@readsaintjohn

READ Saint John Raises Literacy Awareness Through Fundraiser
Country 94: 4.16.2021 by Elizabeth MacLeod

Non-profit volunteer organization READ Saint John’s “Lotto for Literacy” campaign and updated website and social platforms are helping mark a brand new chapter in its commitment to adult literacy.

Vice President of READ Saint John, Josh Adams says the focus is on helping adult learners with literacy and basic math skills through one-on-one, confidential tutoring.

“The reality is for so many of our learners, they’ve got these practical goals that they want to reach,” says Adams.  “Sometimes it’s about being able to encourage your child to become a bookworm and read to them and sometimes it’s the practical life goals, things like getting a driver’s permit or carrying through with being able to help children read.”

🔽

@LaubachNB

Laubach Literacy NB reports more than 50 per cent of New Brunswickers aged 16 and older, (or approximately 300,000 people in the province), are at either literacy Level 1, (having few basic skills great difficulty with text), or Level 2, (having limited skills and cannot read well).  READ MORE ➤➤

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 15

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bath ME :: Cleveland :: Claremore OK

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

Midcoast Literacy

Midcoast Literacy Presents Free Readers Theater Online April 25
Wisscasset Newspaper: 3.25.2021

Get ready to enjoy storybooks in a whole new way!

Midcoast Literacy, a non-profit organization that provides free literacy tutoring to people of all ages, is putting on its second free, live Readers Theater production on Sunday, April 25, at 4 p.m. It will feature local, professional actors reading “Doctor DeSoto” by William Steig and “Today I Will Fly!” by Mo Willems. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the event will be held over Zoom. Viewers will need an online performance link which you can get by going to www.midcoastliteracy.org or by contacting Midcoast Literacy at admin@midcoastlit.org

“A Readers Theater performance is a great way to experience children’s books in a whole new way. It’s a read-aloud and a theatrical show all in one,” said Don Lader, Midcoast Literacy’s executive director. “After our debut online event in December, we heard so much positive feedback from families we decided to do another production this spring.”

🔽
“We’re making Readers Theater a tradition at Midcoast Literacy,” said Lader, “and are optimistically looking forward to hosting a live performance in a local theater in the not-too distant future.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

 

@seedsofliteracy

✽ Illiteracy Creates Hurdle For Clevelanders Looking For COVID Vaccine Information
Seeds of Literacy Blog: 3.24.2021 by Steven Hernandez

Maria Rodriguez did not learn how to read full documents until she was in her 50s.

Now, she’s helping others with similar struggles at Seeds of Literacy in Cleveland’s West Side, while encouraging them to find the right information about the coronavirus vaccine.

“I feel what they feel, and I feel the scare, the worry, the tension,” Rodriguez said.

While many Clevelanders want to get their dose of the vaccine, adult illiteracy means they are easily swayed in the wrong direction by rumors and false information. According to research from Case Western Reserve University, 66 percent of Clevelanders are functionally illiterate.

Rodriguez, who has interacted with residents with similar struggles, has heard of these faulty reasonings first-hand.

“‘I’m allergic to this kind of food,’ or ‘I’m not going to take the Covid [vaccine] because someone told me if I take the [vaccine] with my issue I might die,’” she has heard.

Adult illiteracy is also a significant hurdle to overcome for minority communities. The same Case Western study notes that some neighborhoods have an illiteracy rate of 95 percent, predominantly in areas with high numbers of minorities.  WATCH  01:55

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 12

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 17-18 yrs. old

(Twelfth graders) 

@seedsofliteracy

✽  Seeds of Literacy Helping Ohioans Receive Accurate Information About COVID, Vaccines
Seeds of Literacy Blog: 3.25.2021 by Kevin Freeman

Many Ohioans complain about the troubles they encounter, trying to make a reservation for a COVID-19 vaccine. But for people who struggle to read and write, getting accurate information about the coronavirus and vaccines, in general, can often be a daunting task.

“When you’re a student who struggles with literacy, then being able to make sense out of all the information that’s out there, that can be very challenging,” said Carmine Stewart, vice president of programming for the Seeds of Literacy.

Sorting through information and misinformation, related to coronavirus and how to get the COVID-19 vaccine can be mind-boggling for just about anyone. But for someone who is functionally illiterate, it can be overwhelming.

“They struggle with basic tasks, like reading, writing, taking information, numerical or printed and then being able to understand what they’re reading and then being able to apply that,” said Stewart.

Stewart says 66 percent of Cleveland residents are considered functionally illiterate. 88 percent of people in the program lack the most basic computer skills, which puts them at a major disadvantage when trying to schedule a COVID-19 vaccination.  WATCH  02:02

 

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

RCLC Offers Citizenship Classes
Claremore Progress: 3.22 2021

Rogers County Literacy Council (RCLC) will be offering Zoom Citizenship Classes beginning March 29-June 10 2021. Interested Learners can contact Malinda Brown, 918-923-1338, by calling or texting, or contact Edel Godwin, RCLC Director at 918-277-4331. Classes will be designed on days and at times most convenient for the greatest number of Learners. Youtube videos will also be provided for information review.

The RCLC has been awarded a grant from the Library Services Technology Act (LSTA), which is administered by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and Oklahoma Museum and Library Services. “The demand for Citizenship Classes has increased and the RCLC is proud to have once again been awarded the LSTA grant to serve this community need,” says Edel Godwin, Executive Director of the RCLC.

These small-group classes are designed to help strengthen the learner’s language and literacy skills as he or she prepares for the United States citizenship examination.

“Learners must learn the rights and duties of citizens as well as utilizing the basic English skills needed to understand the questions on the naturalization exam,” Godwin explains.  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)

✽   Newsletters ◻ Blogs ◻ Stories

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bath ME :: Philadelphia PA :: Lincoln NE

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

@MidcoastLit

Midcoast Literacy To Present Free Readers Theater Online
Press Herald: 12.03.2020

Midcoast Literacy, a non-profit organization that provides free literacy tutoring to people of all ages, announces a free, live Readers Theater performance of two children’s books to be streamed online. The event will be held one time only on Saturday, Dec. 12, at 7 p.m. It will feature local professional actors reading “Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse,” by Kevin Henkes and “Mr. Willowby’s Christmas Tree,” by Robert Barry.

“We are thrilled to be trying out a new way to share children’s literature with families in the towns we serve,” said Don Lader, Midcoast Literacy’s executive director, in a news release. “Originally, we had planned to launch our first-ever Readers Theater performance as a live, in-person event. Now, having made accommodations for the pandemic, we think this online version will be just as entertaining.”

The Readers Theater production will feature actors performing all the parts in the two books over Zoom.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 9

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 13-15 yrs. old

(Eighth and Ninth graders)

 

How thousands of Philadelphians Are Overcoming Literacy Barriers To Cast Their Vote
WURD Radio: 12.05.2020 by Sojourner Ahebee

           CLC   @FreeLibrary      @Center4Literacy

Linda Hyden cast her first ballot shortly before the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The year was 1964, and she had recently moved to Philadelphia. She was 20 at the time and remembers voting for Lyndon B. Johnson in that presidential election.

“I was 16-years-old when I left North Carolina,” recalled the 75-year-old Philadelphia resident.

Hyden is one of the six million African Americans who left the rural south between 1916 and 1970 in the advent of the Great Migration.

Though the 19th Amendment granted Black women in the United States the right to vote, voter disenfranchisement in the South persisted into the late 60s. It was common for white election officials in the south to tell Black voters they got the election day or polling location wrong.  And Hyden is from the same rural south that instituted literacy tests as a way to disenfranchise Black voters from casting their ballots.

That means theoretically, by law, Hyden would have been eligible to vote in North Carolina when she turned 18.  When she moved to Philadelphia and could take part in the next Presidential Election, she was free of the many voter intimidation tactics that characterized the south.

She’s never missed an election since then, even though she’s one of the 550,000 adults in the city who struggle to read.

And the obstacles to voting when you have low-literacy skills abound.  LISTEN 03.29

Community Learning Center

Free Library of Philadelphia

Center for Literacy

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

 

The Refinery

Refugee Women Learning To Run A Small Business With The Help Of Mentors And Businesswomen
Journal Star: 12.08.2020 by Cindy Lange-Kubick

Friday night was graduation night for the entrepreneurs.

The six women made up the first class at The Refinery, a program designed to give immigrant and refugee women the opportunity to achieve economic independence and social capital.

A 10-week program that offered business education and professional mentorships — by women, for women.

The virtual ceremony, courtesy of COVID-19, lasted 15 minutes.

═════════►
Their mentors’ faces appeared in the video, too, and so did the businesswomen who taught them, and Kelly Ross, who dreamed up the nonprofit, created a program and made it happen.

═════════►
She started the nonprofit in September and launched its first program — The Refinery — the day after Labor Day. She plans to have three more classes in 2021.

The idea was born out of work with refugee and immigrant women and a need that she saw going unfilled, particularly for women who were still learning English.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Wilmington NC :: Farmington ME :: Carlsbad CA :: Hopkinsville KY

Literacy In The News :: Spanning the US

@cfliteracy

The Ripple Effect
Wilmington Biz: 10.31.2020 by Danielle Saintard Valiente, Board Member-Cape Fear Literacy Council

I know you have heard the saying it only takes one seed...

Sometimes, we feel if we plant many seeds, but only one grows, then it was worth our time, patience, care and effort. The CFLC plants many seeds, and those seeds are monitored and cared for until they flourish, but what happens after they flourish? Oh, please do tell!

My husband Jean-Pierre was that one little seed. He moved from Santiago, Chile to Wilmington in 2006. He was 26 years old, raised in a Spanish-speaking household and attended a French school, but did not know any English. Actually, JP had failed English in elementary school, but here he was, moving to the United States as an adult, with no knowledge of the language.

When JP was in Chile, he was a successful personal trainer managing a fitness facility. He was competent, educated and intelligent. However, when JP came to the United States, he felt incompetent, uneducated and unintelligent. His employment opportunities were difficult because he was unable to communicate. He was depressed and discouraged, so he sought for help. He found free English classes at the CFLC, which he attended during the day, while he worked as a bus boy a night- a job that did not require him to speak.

After taking English classes for several months, JP was able to start working in gyms once again, but he was told he needed to shadow other employees and work unpaid until he improved his English. Even though he had the experience and the skillset, without knowing English, he felt he was being demoted for being less competent. The language barrier became a dream barrier.

JP remained consistent with his English classes at the CFLC so that he could work with clients again, giving him his career back, but in the United States.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

 

LVFSC

Literacy Volunteers Hold Annual Meeting, Recognize Contributions Of Volunteers, Donors
Daily Bulldog: 11.01.2020

Literacy Volunteers of Franklin and Somerset Counties held their 2020 Annual Meeting open to the public on Oct. 28. It was produced using “smart” television technology and the internet in all three of their learning center locations - Farmington, Livermore Falls, and Phillips - and following the Maine Center for Disease Control guidelines. This enabled participants to attend virtually as well as in person. There were 22 people in attendance.

The meeting featured poetry readings from four of this year's poetry contest winners: Margaret Bremner, Katrina Machetta, Nancy Romines-Walters and Anna Crockett. Annual business was conducted and members of the community were recognized with the Hope, Health and Happiness Honors.

“Pillars of Support” Honors went to United Way of the Tri-Valley Area, Franklin County Adult Basic Education, Spruce Mountain Adult Basic Education, and the Maine Humanities Council for their partnership in achieving the LVFSC mission (to empower adults through tutoring in reading, writing, math, technology, and ESOL and promote literacy in the community).

“Community Connectors” Honors went to volunteers who gave invaluable time, energy, ideas, courage, and tenacity to utilize their literacy work to strengthen the bonds of community. Collectively, they keep the learning going: mailing teaching packets, sorting and delivering books, trying new teaching tools and digital platforms, teaming to build programming, creating videos to share, making sure learners can get to class, and staying in touch. They are Rita Cantor, Becky Jasch, Emily scribner [sic], Dan Palmer, Maggie Davis, Brianna Rush, Elizabeth Cooke, Marlene Bryant, Danielle Hamlin, and Susan Thorson.

“Learners who Lead” Honors went to students who use their courage, tenacity, creativity, and passion to keep the learning going, despite many odds, and they are Brittanny Savage, Dorothy Richard, Lorrie Chicoine, Anna Crocket, Cindy Welch, and Matilda Holt.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 14

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 21-22 yrs. old

(college level)

 

@carlsbadlibrary

The Benefits of Reading in Difficult Times
Learning Connection: Oct/Nov 2020

Let’s face it— times are tough, and many of us may struggle to find a healthy coping mechanism to reduce our stress. The good news is, there are proven, research backed benefits that show reading may help!

Reading has been found to:

• Strengthen connectivity in our brains

• Increase our ability for empathy

• Increase vocabulary

• Fight age-related cognitive decline

• Reduce stress

• Promote a good night’s sleep

• Provide a healthy escape that may alleviate depression

• Increase life expectancy up to two years

So next time you’re feeling a little “blue,” grab a book and take your mind to a healthier space.

Introducing News Crew

Join us at our weekly News Crew meeting, Wednesdays from 3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. on Zoom. Here, with Library Assistant Sandra, we will discuss current events and articles from News for You, a publication with easy-to read news stories. READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

 

@CCLitCouncil

Literacy Council To Have Virtual Community Reader Day
Kentucky New Era: 11.04.2020 by Tonya S. Grace

Organizers of Christian County’s annual Beverly Whitfield Memorial Community Reader Day wanted to find a way to offer this year’s event in spite of the restrictions of COVID-19.

They found it online, with a format that will feature 12 volunteers from the community reading two different books live on the Christian County Literacy Council’s Facebook page.

“We want to encourage children to read, (for) their curiosity to be peaked as well as (for) their parents and anyone around them just to encourage reading,” noted Francene Gilmer, the council’s new executive director who was hired in August to lead the organization.

Gilmer said the council wanted to be able to offer something for youth this year, and she noted that hosting a virtual event was the next best thing to having the in-person program.

“We invite anybody to check out our Facebook page,” the director said, noting that people can find information about the council, get book recommendations and tips for family reading.

She observed that the digital platform is another way to use the council’s services, and Gilmer added that members hope to pick back up with their larger team of reader volunteers in 2021.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 15

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate