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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.”

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“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)

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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.

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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.

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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)

The Space between The Letters :: Eva von Schweinitz :: a Performance Piece about Adult Literacy

The Space between The Letters

@what_eva_saw

Work-in-progress

Brianhurricano: 2018

A dot of light turns into a line, into a shape, into words. Writing becomes a physical, virtuosic feat. Easels swirl in an intersectional flipchart ballet that unpacks the legal, social, and political dimensions of adult literacy in the United States. In this ensemble lecture, performers weave personal stories, handmade infographics, and histories of discrimination and disenfranchisement. 

Created by Eva von Schweinitz in collaboration with the ensemble

Performances
Fall 2019 | Planned Premiere
Jan 5 + 10, 2019 | Incoming! Under the Radar Festival | The Public Theater
May 5 + 6, 2018 | JACK Brooklyn

Eva von Schweinitz explores “The Space between the Letters”

Extended Play: Civilians R&D In Process: 3.27.2018 by Eva Von Schweinitz

Eva von Schweinitz, the lead artist of "The Space between the Letters," discusses how her deep dive into adult literacy inspired her most recent work. Incorporating interviews and devising techniques, this project is being developed in the Civilians R&D Group.

In 2004, I came across a short newspaper clipping about an 84-year-old man, Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge, who decided to attend elementary school in Kenya after the government’s decision to offer universal and free education. This earned him a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s oldest person to begin primary school. What fascinated me about the story was the simple, yet extremely powerful thought that it’s never too late for anything — and that we’re never done learning. The image of an 84-year-old sitting in the classroom among a bunch of children struck me as humorous, but even more so as a break with societal norms, a rebellion against assumptions about what is possible, an act of bravery.

Looking at the statistics for adult literacy in Germany at the time, I learned that the issue was also present in my own country, albeit extremely invisible. And it seemed nearly impossible to estimate an accurate statistical number, which fluctuated between 500,000 and 4 million people or between 0.75 percent and 6.3 percent of adults. I learned that many people who struggle with reading and writing are so overcome by feelings of shame and guilt that they put a lot of effort into hiding their condition, resulting in large numbers of unreported cases. I wondered what a life looks like spent in such silent survival.

Years later, after moving to and becoming a citizen of the United States, after working on projects that investigated aspects of homelessness in the streets of Brooklyn (“Reenvisioning the Homeless” 2013/2015) and child poverty in Germany (“All about Nothing” 2016), I am starting to artistically explore the subject of adult literacy in the U.S.

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My interest in the subject has continuously shifted and grown. As I approach it now, it has turned into an onion, its complexity rendered into layers and layers to be peeled and unpacked. At its center, I see the individual and their day-to-day reality. How do low literacy skills affect and shape a person’s life in regards to their job, health, finances, relationships, and day-to-day decisions? How do feelings of inadequacy factor into these decisions? Which strategies are employed to manage everyday life in a world that is dominated by written language?  READ MORE >>