Literacy – Spanning the US :: San Mateo Co CA :: Oaks Bluff MA :: Midland MI :: Delaware Co PA

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

Half Moon Bay library offers literacy help to non-English speakers on the coast

El Tecolote: 2.21.2018 by Max Paik

Hoping to improve literacy and English language skills, the Half Moon Bay Library is offering a number of resources to the coastal community.

The library’s adult literacy program, which currently serves more than 40 active learners in Half Moon Bay as well as twenty in East Palo Alto, is at the heart of this effort.

The program offers individual guidance in reading, writing, and speaking in English.

“A typical goal is to be able to read a book or a newspaper in English,” said the program’s coordinator Joanna Arteaga La Spina.

Volunteer tutors make up the backbone of the program. Once they have attended an orientation and training session, they’re matched with an English learner. From there, the pairs begin meeting for two to four hours each week. 

Sessions are entirely focused on the needs of the learner, which, in the past, have ranged from general equivalency diplomas to citizenship tests to simply making easier conversation. Tutors are present to provide learners with constructive feedback on writing, reading, and speaking. Pronunciation, grammar and vocabulary are all given particular focus.

“The most important thing is that people claim their education and that they can do so with our support,” La Spina said.

The popularity of the adult literacy program is evident by the continuous waiting list for new participants.  READ MORE >>

Conversation Circle Brings English Language to Life

Vineyard Gazette: 2.26.2018 by Holly Pretsky

If you are learning to speak English on the Vineyard, one word you will run into early on is “Patriots.”

In a meeting room at the Oak Bluffs library the week after the Superbowl, librarian Nina Ferry wrote the word on the whiteboard, then repeated it slowly. Gradually, the rest of the room joined in.

“Pay, tree, uhts. Pay, tree, uhts. Pay, tree, uhts.”

The cluster of consonant sounds at the turn of the second syllable proved difficult to pronounce for many of the people seated around the table. They had all gathered for the library’s new weekly conversation circle, an opportunity for non-native English speakers, mostly people from Brazil, to practice speaking English in a supportive environment with the help of native speakers.

Ms. Ferry was a Rotary Scholar and lived in Fiji for more than two years after she graduated from college.

“To be placed in a country very far away, it really opened my eyes to what it was like to be a foreigner,” she said. “You are the odd person out. And seeking services, and even trying to find a library or go into any for-profit business, you don’t know what’s going on. It’s completely uncomfortable.”

The Tuesday night conversation circle is an early step in a larger initiative to make library services relevant to everyone in Oak Bluffs, not just English speakers. In April, the library will submit an application for a $15,000 grant from the state’s Library Services and Technology Act funding to add more resources for people who don’t speak English as a primary language.

The librarians hope to include English-speaking Oak Bluffs residents in the cultural exchange as well. English speakers are encouraged to come join in on Tuesday nights.  READ MORE >>

The Legacy Center

for Community Success

Midland literacy tutors change lives one learner at a time

Our Midland: 2.26.2018 by Kristi Kline and Lorna Strautman Legacy Center, Midland

Do you want to make a positive difference in the world but are unsure how to accomplish such a worthy goal? Consider becoming a volunteer tutor for The Legacy Center for Community Success. When you help someone learn how to read or understand the spoken language, you have changed their world forever.

Since a 2011 merger with The Literacy Council, The Legacy Center for Community Success has been providing literacy services for adults and children in the Midland area. Children struggling with reading are tutored using the highly effective Barton Reading and Spelling Program. Adults receive literacy, math, and work skills assistance through three programs: Adult Basic Education, English as a Second Language, and Workforce Literacy at MichiganWorks! In 2017, the Legacy Center and their volunteer tutors made a difference in the lives of 204 learners: 109 children in the Barton Program, 47 learners in Adult Basic Education (ABE), and 48 in English as a Second Language (ESL).

═════════►‎

While student literacy services always use the structured Barton curriculum, adult literacy services are uniquely designed for every adult learner. Each adult learner sets their own learning goals, is paired with a tutor, and The Legacy Center provides the training, resources and support to accomplish those goals. Sometimes an adult learner will need some literacy or math tutoring to help them qualify for an employment opportunity. An ESL learner might desire tutoring in citizenship, help in understanding content material from a class, or instruction in applying for a driver’s license. Helping adult learners master seemingly small steps can produce huge changes in their lives.  READ MORE >>

Delaware County

Literacy Council

Delco literacy council celebrates black history with global perspective

Delco Times: 2.26.2018

The Delaware County Literacy Council (DCLC) celebrated Black History Month from a global perspective with a potluck lunch and educational program Feb. 14.

The theme “Black History, A Global View: Many Threads, One Fabric” was selected to celebrate all people of African descent, said DCLC Instructor Duane Belgrave, Sr.

“Immigrants from African and Caribbean countries are creating their own Black History as they live in the United States and work toward their goals,” Belgrave said.

DCLC Student Ola Olaseinde spoke at the event. Originally from Nigeria, Olaseinde shared information about the Yoruba, an ethnic group in West Africa who speak the Yoruban language. About 35 percent of people living in Nigeria are Yoruba.

Also on the program were DCLC Student Carey Burns, who read “I Too” by Langston Hughes, and DCLC Student Richard Barksdale, who read a haiku by Richard Wright and gave some background information on the author.  READ MORE >>

10 Staggering Statistics About Struggling Readers and Reading Growth

10 Staggering Statistics About Struggling Readers and Reading Growth

These magic numbers could help struggling readers succeed.

School Leaders Now: 3.22.2018 by Dr. Gene M. Kerns and Dr. Jan Bryan

Can reading practice help transform struggling readers into successful readers? And by doing so, can we change the trajectory of their long-term educational careers­—perhaps even influence their odds of graduating from high school and attending college? The following ten statistics about struggling readers and reading growth, originally included in a recent article series by Renaissance, show how even a small increase in daily reading practice could make a huge difference for all students.

Education Leader’s

Guide to Reading Growth

Reading Practice by the Numbers:

1. 6 More Minutes

Results from the world’s largest annual study of K–12 student reading habits found that students who started the year as struggling readers but ended the year at or above benchmark each day read just six more minutes than struggling readers who did not meet benchmark. 

2. 15 Minutes Per Day

An analysis of more than 9.9 million students found that only those students who read 15 minutes or more per day made accelerated reading gains.

3. 54 Percent of All Students

Worryingly, more than half of all students do not get enough daily reading practice. A mere 18 percent of students read 30 minutes or more per day, and another 28 percent had 15 to 29 minutes of daily engaged reading time. The remainder—54 percent—read less than 15 minutes per day!

4. 23 Percent of Third Graders

In a longitudinal study of nearly 4,000 students, researchers found that nearly 1 in 4 students (23 percent) with “below-basic” reading skills in third grade had not graduated high school by age 19. Among “proficient” third-grade readers, only 1 in 25 (4 percent) did not graduate.  READ MORE >>

Takeaways from Cause Camp 2018 :: NonProfit Hub

@NPhub

#CauseTheChange

Takeaways from Cause Camp 2018

NonProfit Hub: 4.02.2018 by Hana Muslic

Yet another Cause Camp is officially in the books. A special thanks to all who made it the best one yet. If you were unable to attend, or if you want to relive some of the magic, we’ve compiled our top takeaways from Cause Camp 2018. Stay tuned for more highlights and additional information about next year’s conference!

Overhead myth

The overhead myth was once again a big topic at Cause Camp. You know, “the false conception that financial ratios are a proxy for overall nonprofit performance.”

Delighting your donors

You know when you go to a restaurant and you receive a mint when your check comes? Or your car comes with a heated steering wheel? You didn’t go to that restaurant or buy that car because of those extra things, but weren’t the added bonuses so great? They’re what Simon Scriver calls “delights.”

Millennials

Kristen Hadeed started her career at Student Maid when she was just a college student, and over the last 10 years she’s helped make it a booming business. She spoke at Cause Camp about her obsession with leadership and how the trials and tribulations she faced as a young business owner helped her understand what her employees need in the workplace.

Diversity

Yes, we went there. Cause Camp 2018 saw us having that difficult conversation about diversity in the workplace. Speakers Vu Le, Nancy Schwartz, Simone Joyaux and Kishshana Palmer spoke on a panel and answered questions about the difference between equity and equality, representation, avoiding tokenism and why we should seek to recruit and retain diverse talent.  READ MORE >>

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Wisconsin :: W Cook Co IL :: New Castle-Henry Co IN

Literacy: Spanning the U.S.     

@LitNet 

Phillip Morgan talks about how Literacy Network helped him

YouTube: 2.21.2018

Literacy Network

“It’s one thing to help a man up, but it’s another thing to help him get his education so he can stand up on his own.”  WATCH

Literacy Volunteers

Western Cook County

If you can read this headline, maybe you can help

Chicago Tribune: 2.21.2018 by Paul Sassone

Sometimes we take it for granted that everyone knows how to read.

This, unfortunately, is a false assumption. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates there are more than 30 million adults with low reading skills, a number that represents approximately 14 percent of the population.

The estimate for Cook County is that one in five adults has low reading skills.

Yet it is by the written word that we encounter the greatest minds throughout history, and it is through writing and reading that we pass what we know to the future. In fact, reading is the way we learn there even was a past. We can't ask Plato what he thought or Newton what he discovered.

Reading also is fun. Think of all the wonderful moments you've spent flipping through the sports section on a Sunday morning or curled up on the couch, trying to figure out who the murderer is before Sherlock Holmes does.

In fact, reading can be the key to survival. For those who can't read, or barely can read, the world can be a cold and forbidding place.

How do you get a job if you can't read?

How do you know which bus to take?

How do you order from a menu?

How do you know how much medicine to take?

How do you get a driver's license?

How long do you cook a microwave dinner?

There is a lot you can't do — and a lot that is much more difficult to do — if you can't read.

For those who need help with their reading skills, the Literacy Volunteers of Western Cook County can help. Based in Oak Park, this nonprofit agency provides free tutoring to adults with reading problems or for whom English is a second language.  READ MORE >>

Library bringing back adult literacy program

Courier Times: 2.21.2018 by Travis Weik

The New Castle-Henry County Public Library wants to do more to help patrons and area residents be successful in life.

Library director Winnie Logan wants to get the Adult Learning Center back up and running strong. Specifically, Logan wants to bring someone on who can help those adults in the community who can’t read well enough to even begin studying for their high school equivalency tests.

“We need more literacy services in Indiana,” Logan said.

The library board voted Monday to let Logan hire a part-time adult learning coordinator. This person will go out into the community and recruit volunteers to help at the library with reading and basic math skills.

There are already programs in the area that are designed to help adults get their high school diploma, but people can’t even get into those programs if they cannot read at the fourth-grade level.

The New Castle-Henry County Public Library may be the only program in the area designed to help adults develop those base skills.

“The need has not gone away at all,” Logan told her board.  READ MORE >>

International Children's Book Day : April 2 :: Why Picture Books are so Important : August House

Why Picture Books are so Important

August House: 7.27.2017 by Steve Floyd

Nikki Smith

7.31.2017

One of my fondest memories as a father was coming home from work and being greeted by my two young sons who could barely talk or, for that matter, walk across the room. After a quick hug, we would head to the nearest couch, and I would read at least one, if not two or three picture books to them before I did anything else that evening.

═════════►

Let’s start with the fact that before kids can read, they enjoy looking at pictures to decode the meaning of words as they listen to a story. Think about the unique contribution that illustrations make to highlight, clarify and reinforce a story. As a child listens to a parent, an older sibling, or a teacher read a story, they can scan the illustrations to understand the action and to gain a better sense of the plotline.

═════════►

Literacy experts point out that the vocabulary, the sentence structure and therefore the storyline for text only stories need to be much simpler than stories in picture books. Well-illustrated books not only make a story more entertaining, the pictures add meaning and increase comprehension of the text narrative.

Another unappreciated benefit of well-illustrated picture books is that beautifully depicted scenes may actually develop a child’s reading vocabulary more effectively than reading written text alone. When a story is text only, without any pictures to support or complement the action, every aspect of the story has to be limited to the child’s reading vocabulary which is at a lower level than his or her speaking vocabulary.

Ironically, when picture books use higher level vocabulary words, they also expose kids to more sophisticated storylines, that also happen to be more interesting stories.  READ MORE >>

April 2 :: International Children’s Book Day

#InternationalChildrenBooksDay

The Great American Read :: PBS

The Great American Read

PBS

The Great American Read hosted by Meredith Vieira, is an eight-part television and online series designed to spark a national conversation about reading and the books that have inspired, moved, and shaped us. The series will engage audiences with a list of 100 diverse books. Audiences are encouraged to read the books, vote from the list of 100, and share their personal connections to the titles.

#GreatReadPBS

The Great American Read premieres Tuesday, May 22 at 8/7c on PBS stations with a launch special, kicking off a summer of reading and voting. Then in the fall, seven new episodes of the series will air as the quest to find America’s most beloved book moves into high gear. Episodes from the series will feature appearances by celebrities, athletes, experts, authors, and everyday Americans advocating for their favorite book.

When will the book list be revealed?

The book list will be revealed to the public in Spring 2018, before the launch episode premieres on Tuesday, May 22. The list will include 100 fictional titles spanning different themes like - love, heroes, villains, other worlds, and what it means to be an American.

When does voting start?

Voting will start when the launch episode premieres on Tuesday, May 22 and will remain open through the fall broadcasts.

How do I get involved?

Follow THE GREAT AMERICAN READ on Facebook for the latest details about the show and to learn when the book list will be revealed in the spring. Also, be sure to share with your friends and join the conversation using #GreatReadPBS.

Literacy – Spanning North America :: Victoria TX :: Bridgeport CT :: Princeton NJ :: Edmonton AB

Literacy: Spanning North America     

Victoria Adult

Literacy Council

Knowledge Bowl funds literacy programs in Victoria

Victoria Advocate: 2.18.2018 by Laura Garcia lgarcia

Learning English proved to be a challenge for the two visiting nuns at the Incarnate Word Convent in Victoria.

But seven months ago they enrolled in classes through the Victoria Adult Literacy Council, which offered a way to practice their literacy skills and learn English as a second language.

"Before I came here I used to listen and not understand," Nguyen said.

The 42-year-old nun said tutors in the program helped give her courage.

Cassidy Mangum, a work-study student studying history at the University of Houston-Victoria, started tutoring the pair a few months ago.

"It's mostly conversational to build up going back and forth," she said.

Pham, 52, said she found it helpful to learn pronunciation in the classroom.

"Some words I don't know the meaning and they can explain it to me," she said.

The council provides free instruction to improve their literacy skills to more than 300 students each year.  READ MORE >>

Mercy Learning

Center

Mercy Learning Center Teaches English-Language Literacy to Bridgeport’s Immigrant Women

Connecticut Magazine: 2.19.2018 by Michael Lee-Murphy

A twin stroller tied up outside the hulking brick building of Bridgeport’s Mercy Learning Center tells the story of the hard slog of immigrant women. There are women who might work a 4 a.m.-8 a.m. shift at the train station, selling doughnuts and coffee to the bankers who commute to New York City and Stamford. Then they might go to a nursing home to work a full shift, looking after other people’s families. Then they might go to a night shift at a bank or office building, cleaning the mess left by the employees. Then, then, then.

In between all that, these women will come to this former Catholic school on Park Avenue tucked under an I-95 overpass to learn the English language, and study for a high school diploma. The classes are free, and taught by volunteers, and there are a litany of other services. In addition to a small army of tutors, the MLC has volunteers in the fields of midwifery, nursing, social work, immigration and so on. The vast majority of the women are between the ages of 25 and 44, according to President and CEO Jane Ferreira, who has been at the organization’s helm for 16 of its 30 years. She says that it is not uncommon for the women who use the program to work two or three jobs in between raising children and taking classes.

In 2017 some 950 women, hailing from 47 countries, attended literacy classes at the MLC. In Mary Beth Clayton’s Adult Beginner 1 class, women from El Salvador, Haiti, Afghanistan and countries across Latin America are studying basic fractions.  READ MORE >>

Princeton Public Library receives grant

NJ.com: 2.20.2018 by Rich Cuccagna

Princeton Public Library has been selected as one of 20 public libraries nationwide to receive a $10,000 American Dream Literacy Initiative grant from the American Library Association (ALA) and Dollar General Literacy Foundation.

The library will use the funds for "Learn English at the Library," an initiative featuring new and expanded programming, collections and services to help adults develop English language literacy skills. The new and expanded services will help build community connections and encourage contribution to local civic discourse and engagement. Additionally, they will help the library fulfill its mission to bridge cultural divides and offer opportunities for everyone.  READ MORE >>

STAR Literacy

Literacy numbers adding up nicely

St Albert Gazette: 2.21.2018 by Scott Hayes

It’s one of those rare occasions when supply perfectly matches demand. STAR Literacy reports that it has matched all of its current clients with a volunteer tutor from the community.

“We’re steady and everybody is matched so now we’re looking for more tutors and more learners,” said the organization’s newly installed program manager Joanna Sokolic in pointing out that it’s usually a fickle balance between the two groups.

“I’m finding it’s up and down as far as learners and tutors. Just last month, I had more tutors waiting in the wings and I couldn’t match them with learners. It’s interesting how quickly it can change.”

Their current tutor roster stands at 33 although some of them have more than one student. The more, the merrier, Sokolic says. Literacy is often the hardest thing to ask for when one doesn’t have it.

“A lot of those clients don’t reach out. I think there’s still some stigma attached to it. It’s just putting the word out there that we are here to help. One in four Albertans do struggle with some form of literacy so there’s no shame in accessing tutoring.”

The local literacy business is on an upward trend lately with a recent influx of Iraqi refugee families signed on as clients…  READ MORE >>