Literacy – Spanning the US :: Bloomfield MI :: Santa Monica CA ::Kalamazoo MI :: State College PA

Literacy: Spanning the US

Oakland Literacy

English Language Support Continues as Oakland Literacy Council Tutors Online

Oakland Co 115: 3.25.2020

OLC tutor Turesa Lewis thinks Zoom videoconferencing is “pretty straightforward” and has good options for virtual tutoring sessions.

Social distancing? Libraries closed? What would that mean for the 200 Oakland Literacy Council (OLC) volunteer tutors who are teaching adults throughout Oakland County?

For Turesa Lewis, it means doubling down on her commitment to her students. Turesa, a Southfield resident recently retired from AT&T, has been a volunteer tutor with OLC since 2014. Normally she meets in person each week with her two students, one who is an advanced English language learner and the other who is an adult basic education student.

Without the option to meet face to face, Turesa is adapting and learning new technologies so her students can keep learning. Turesa was one of over 70 tutors who attended recent OLC training sessions to learn to use Zoom to meet virtually with students.  READ MORE  ➤➤

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)

@SantaMonicaLibr

Mariana Boliarova, Adult Learner in LEAF Program, Won Southern California Library Literacy Network's "Writer to Writer"

Santa Monica Public Library: 3.26.2020

Mariana Boliarova, an adult learner in the Library's LEAF (Literacy Education for Adults & Families) program, won the Southern California Library Literacy Network's "Writer to Writer" contest with this letter to Sandra Cisneros. She shared her accomplishment with acclaimed author Cisneros and received this heartfelt response. Congrats to Mariana and her tutor Jialing Wang!

SCLLN Writer to Writer Awards ◯ 2019

Intermediate Category:

Winner

Mariana D

Santa Monica Public Library

The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros

Runners-Up

German N

Los Angeles Public Library

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Tanya J

A.K. Smiley Public Library

Becoming by Michelle Obama

READ MORE ➤➤

Kalamazoo Literacy

Now More Than Ever, Everyone Needs To Read, Says The Kalamazoo Literacy Council

Second Wave: 3.26.2020 by Mark Wedel

March 12: Michael Evans, executive director of the Kalamazoo Literacy Council, greeted me at their offices with a firm handshake.

March 13: A hand sanitizer greeted me, with a sign requiring use before entering the lobby. Then Dorothy Kemp, a tutor for the KLC, gave me an India-style hands-together bow. "I guess this is how we do it now!" she says, laughing.

The world changed quickly while we put together this story. It was going to be about the KLC's fundraising Scrabble tournament, plus their efforts to improve adult literacy.

But due to COVID-19, the tournament is postponed, and the Kalamazoo Literacy Council is trying to find new ways to help adults gain literacy skills without face-to-face interaction.

Evans was making the decisions while we met. This year would be the tenth for the Scrabble tournament, which has gone from "a little thing, now it's at the Radisson Plaza," he says.

But to slow the spread of the virus, such gatherings just can't happen. He sounds disappointed but determined when he says, "It's not canceled, it's postponed!"

Evans is disappointed, but he has bigger worries. The virus "is impacting our daily adult learning services."

KLC has 15 literacy centers, sites where tutors and adult learners meet. They are in such places as the Kalamazoo Public Library, Western Michigan University, Kalamazoo Valley Community College, and various other locations from community centers to churches. By mid-March, all were in the process of closing for the duration.

"It wasn't even like that yesterday," he says. "Wow, what do you do when you have something that's like a global pandemic, impacting a community that you love? And we work in a business of people," he says.

"We have to make sure our learners are safe, our volunteers are safe, and we can do the best we can to guide people to when and where they can study with us."

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"Literacy is part of everything we do, and there are 25,000 adults (in Kalamazoo County), 18 and over, who struggle to read. That's about 13% of our population in Kalamazoo County."  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)

@MSLCLiteracy

Community Spotlight: Mid-State Literacy Council

State College: 3.28.2020

With our community facing numerous challenges because of the coronavirus pandemic, we are inviting any Centre County business, nonprofit organization or agency to share their stories in briefs which we will publish at no charge here on StateCollege.com. Share what you'd like the community to know — what services you're offering, challenges your facing, what you've brought to the area over the years or anything else.

To break the intergenerational cycle of illiteracy, the Mid-State Literacy Council is a not-for-profit providing essential adult education instruction and promoting literacy education in Centre and Clearfield counties.  READ MORE ➤➤

Helping Patients Become Health Literate via Medical Economics

Helping Patients Become Health Literate

Medical Economics: 4.02.2020 by Joseph M. Geskey, DO, MBA, MS-PopH

The 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy reported that only 12% of American adults have proficient health literacy. Possessing limited health literacy can lead to poorer health outcomes, including earlier death, and suboptimal use of health care services. A debate exists as to whether health care organizations should use a “universal precautions” approach to health literacy where simplified information is presented to everyone undergoing a health intervention versus tailoring patient interventions based on the results of validated health literacy screening tools.

Due to the biology of aging, the potential presence of a life-limiting chronic illness and individuals who have completed a high school education or less, there is ample opportunity for widespread patient misunderstanding of their disease, their medication, how to self-manage their condition and how to appropriately access medical services.

Additionally, patients who have limited English proficiency are also at an increased risk for misunderstanding critical health care information. A recent report from Angela G. Brega and colleagues in HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice suggested a framework that organizations can use to become more health literate, which can also serve as a useful guide for an individual practitioner working in an outpatient setting.

Communication

Clear, concise communication in both the written and oral format is essential for your message to be adequately understood.  It is recommended that any patient-related material that is being given to patients be written at the sixth grade reading level or lower, preferably accompanied with pictures and illustrations.

One easy way to assess whether print materials are written at the appropriate reading level is to put the text into an ✽Automatic Readability Checker. This free resource analyzes text and converts it into a reading grade formula.

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Ease of navigation

Navigation doesn’t necessarily mean how patients manage to get to your office, or find your health system’s phlebotomy lab, radiology department, or outpatient testing area.  Although some health systems have navigation apps that can be downloaded and utilized, patients should not be expected to be proficient in digital strategies in order to have a successful visit.

Although having people assist with wayfinding in large institutions and having prominent, easy-to-understand signs that are updated when changes to service offerings occur is critical to engender trust, loyalty and satisfaction, ease of navigation should be thought of as how patients and their data move within and across organizations.

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Patient engagement & self-management support

The most important quality a health care provider can possess in helping patients with limited health literacy is empathy.  READ MORE ➤➤

✽Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 17

Reading Level: very difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

Using Your Cell Phone for Instruction via ProLiteracy

Using Your Cell Phone for Instruction

ProLiteracy Blog: 4.02.2020 by Jessica Gilmour

ProLiteracy has an excellent list of resources you can use with students during this period of social/physical distancing including instructional resources and tools. Let’s talk about some of those resources and tools. Let’s start with a tool that you and your students all most likely have—a cell phone.

If you’re working with ESL students, one of the easiest ways to use a cell phone is to set up regularly scheduled calls where you can talk with students and they can practice their conversational English. Aim for at least a 10 minute conversation two times a week. Before you end your call, determine what you will talk about for the next call so the student has a chance to think about what he or she wants to say and can practice the relevant grammar and vocabulary. If you need topics, I suggest using current events topics from News for You. News for You Online is providing the courtesy password 22667F through June 30, 2020, so anyone can access News for You Online.

If you want to have a phone call with more than one student at the same time, you can google “How to make a conference call on my [insert whatever phone you have].” Though the instructions are different for each phone, they are all straightforward and easy to find. READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: standard / average.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)

the future of literacy via Texthelp

The future of literacy

the future of literacy

Texthelp: 2017

The Future of Literacy Panel is a diverse group of global experts from technology, academia, philanthropy and publishing who have come together to create an ambitious vision of literacy for the future.

They set out to encapsulate their collective thinking and varying perspectives on what literacy can be defined as well as outlining a new and alternative approach to global literacy: The Village.

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What is Literacy?

To be literate is to be in possession of the skills and capacities that allow us to participate and thrive in the world. The term ‘literacy’ covers not only the abilities associated with accessing words, but the capacities to derive meaning and interact fully with others.

To fully understand why literacy is so important, we need to explore in depth what it means.

In simple terms, literacy refers to acquiring the functional skills of reading and writing, but this definition is reductive and ignores the deeper, more important elements of what it means to be a literate human being.

UNESCO’s internationally recognized definition of literacy is:

“the ability to identify, understand, interpret, create, communicate, compute

and use printed and written materials associated with varying contexts”.

But they articulate fascinating nuances that inform the way we think about and deliver The Village model.

First and foremost, literacy is about the ability to read and write:

In terms of communication, literacy can therefore be thought of on two levels:

Literacy in the context of taking spoken and written elements of the mother tongue and using it in ways that allow people to communicate and stimulate

their own personal success and the success of others - whether that's sharing an idea and having fun or making a worthwhile contribution to their community and society;

The deeper level of literacy – the ability to use language to engage abstract thoughts and deconstruct them to such a level that they can be communicated effectively at multiple levels of capability. This is seen in those rare individuals who can distil highly complex ideas and communicate them in both written and verbal forms to all strata of society.

With this more three-dimensional view, we can see that if we define literacy as a tool, we are taking too narrow a definition.

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What is The Village?

The Village is a new framework for thinking about literacy development – an integrated package of interdependent elements that is put forward for consideration, exploration and adoption. It is offered as a flexible, dynamic model designed to adapt to all learners in every conceivable setting.

The Village is not aligned to a specific pedagogical model – it is an approach that combines our shared understanding of what works. As such, we see it as constantly evolving based on learning and feedback that comes from its practical implantation over time.

The first iteration is outlined below, and in the spirit of inclusivity it is written in plain English, with jargon kept to a minimum.“

What’s new about The Village model? In the last 20 years we’ve gone from a national strategy-based education system to one which now is an attempt to build local capacity to solve local problems – social policy is now about working with local assets, not working top-down.”

➧ Is delivered in and by the whole community

➧ Is learner – not system centric

➧ Recognizes human variability

➧ Values the role of social and emotional learning

➧ Is enabled by technology

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 :: Columbia MO :: Mariposa CA ::Tifton GA

Literacy: Spanning the US

Literacy Action 

Corps

Literacy Action Corps: Lifting Others Up With Language

Columbia Missourian: 3.19.2020 by Liz Goodwin

It can be quiet on Saturdays at the First Baptist Church in Columbia, except for the sounds of buzzing, hissing and humming.

Your ears aren’t deceiving you, but it’s not what it seems. It’s a group of Literacy Action Corps tutors working on their consonants.

Literacy Action Corps is a local nonprofit organization that teaches English skills to adults, both native and non-native speakers.

The group is an affiliate of ProLiteracy, a nationwide literacy and education organization established in 2002.

A missionary named Frank Laubach realized that the ability to read and write could solve many problems associated with low economic status. Literacy Action Corps in Columbia is one of a network of 1,000 programs in the United States.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 11

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 15-17 yrs. Old

(Tenth to Eleventh graders)

@MariposaLibrary

Residents Share Writing On Library’s Write to Read Program On KRYZ Radio

Mariposa Gazette: 3.19.2020

The Mariposa Library recently recorded its 25th Write to Read program on KRYZ 98.5 FM, Mariposa’s community radio station.

Write to Read is a program where local people share stories, poems, essays, articles or memoirs they have written with listeners around the world. Stories have been as varied as Frank Mott’s humorous “Life on the Farm” memoir series to Wei Zhang’s lyrical poetry, written and read in both Mandarin and English. Writers have ranged in age from 17 to 91.

The half-hour show, which airs on Sundays at 4 p.m. and repeats on Tuesdays at 7 p.m., is hosted by the library’s adult literacy program for the purpose of increasing literacy among all age groups. Transcripts of recorded submissions are available at the library so that listeners can read along with the program.

The recordings and transcripts are also being made available on CDs for learners in the adult literacy and ESL programs — or other library patrons — to help them improve their reading and English language skills.

Mariposa County residents aged five and older (including homeless persons) are invited to write (or dictate if the person is a non-writer) stories following guidelines created by library staff.  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)

Literacy Volunteers 

Tifton Tift Co

Literacy Volunteers Receives Statewide Recognition

Tifton Gazette: 3.19.2020

Literacy Volunteers of Tifton-Tift County was honored Tuesday in Atlanta as a Legacy Literacy program along with 20 other agencies during the 30th anniversary celebration of the establishment of the Certified Literate Community Program (CLCP) of the Technical College System of Georgia (TCSG).

Shirley Carver Miller, Georgia’s first female bank president and widow of former Gov. and U.S. Sen. Zell Miller, was also honored and spoke during the 2020 EAGLE Adult Education Conference.

Miller’s platform as first lady was adult literacy, and she campaigned to increase the number of people passing General Education Diploma (GED) tests.

“Let me assure you, I get more than I give working with the CLCP efforts,” Miller said. “It’s the highlight of my life. There’s nothing like a GED graduation to me or being at the EAGLE awards.”

EAGLE stands for Exceptional Adult Georgian in Literacy Education and honors the Adult Education Student of the Year.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 10

Reading Level: difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 14-15 yrs. Old

(Ninth to Tenth graders)