Literacy In The News – Spanning the US :: Orlando FL :: Nashville TN :: Medford WI

Literacy: Spanning the US

@ALL4Literacy

Local Organization Helps Apopka Residents Navigate Citizenship Process

Apopka Voice: 8.19.2020

Over the past few years, wait times for U.S. citizenship have doubled, making it difficult for some adults to establish a career to support themselves and their families. Beyond the pandemic, many Apopka residents and Central Floridians waiting to become a citizen are also facing other obstacles like job stability and securing permanent residency.

Vince Scalise, a tutor at Adult Literacy League (ALL) has shared a few tips below that are important to remember when navigating the citizenship process.

Aside from offering Basic Education courses and English language courses, ALL offers a course centered on citizenship and the application process. The course is available to any adult, regardless of their residency status, and aims to assist individuals in achieving their citizenship status.

Tips for Navigating the Citizenship Process  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)

Begin Anew

Local Nonprofit Focused On Education, Support For People In Poverty To Hold Fundraiser

Williamson Herald: 8.18.2020 by Tori Keafer

Most everyone could use a little hope these days, and one nonprofit team is working year-round to bring new hope and new beginnings to families with great need.

Begin Anew of Middle Tennessee will hold a virtual fundraiser next week to support its mission of helping community members overcome poverty. The organization focuses not only on the financial aspects of poverty but seeks to lift adults and their future generations out of an impoverished system.

“We’ve always seen poverty as economic, social and spiritual, so we address economic poverty through education opportunity, social poverty by mentoring and building community, and spiritual poverty by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Heather Norvell, executive director of Begin Anew. “With that said, I think one of the things that makes Begin Anew so special is the community atmosphere that constantly exists.”  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)

Taylor Co Literacy

Retzer, Kulinski Receive HL Kuse Literacy Awards

Centralwin News: 8.19.2020

Retired educators, medical professionals, local historians and writers were recognized at the 2020 Friends of Literacy ceremony on Tuesday. The annual event is hosted by the Taylor County Literacy Council and this year, due to COVID-19 concerns, the ceremony went virtual with a combination of in-person presentations and interactive streaming.

Joseph Greget, president of the Taylor County Literacy Council, was the master of ceremonies for the awards presentation.

The ceremony started with the presentation of the Friend of Literacy Awards. In August 2016 Taylor County Literacy Council began recognizing individuals, organizations, and businesses who help promote literacy among children and adults in Taylor County with their Friend of Literacy Awards. This year’s recipients were retired educators Judy Mader, Julie Scott and Susie Werner.

“I feel like I am the luckiest person in the world,” Mader said. She recently retired from Medford Area Public Schools where she served as a Wilson Reading teacher helping students with dyslexia improve their reading skills.

“It has been an awesome privilege and truly a blessing to work with the students,” Scott said upon receiving the award.

Her comments were echoed by Susie Werner who said it was a pleasure to work with the students and staff in the school district.

In addition, Greget recognized longtime volunteer Karen Rusch for her service to the Literacy Council as well as Charles Prihoda who is stepping down from the post of treasurer for the organization.

“We couldn’t exist without your personal and professional help,” Greget said of the honorees.  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)

5 Great Teaching Strategies For Adults @ ABC Life LiteracyCanada

@abclifeliteracy

5 Great Teaching Strategies For Adults

ABC Life LiteracyCanada: 7.22.2020

Developing reading and writing skills can be difficult for anyone, particularly adults, who lead complex, busy lives. That’s why keeping adults motivated to persist can be one of the most difficult aspects of running an adult literacy program. Below are five great teaching strategies for adults that can be easily incorporated into your current literacy program offerings.

1. Provide a Flexible Learning Experience

Your adult learners come from a variety of life stages and have different viewpoints and values. For example, workers with years of experience in Canada will be more knowledgeable about financial and workplace literacy versus newcomers to the country.

2. Ask for Feedback

Allow learners to contribute to their learning experience to help keep them motivated and engaged. Have them make meaningful choices regarding their course material and delivery method, such as asking for feedback on a reading selection.

3. Create a Safe, Welcoming Environment

Create a learning space where learners feel comfortable to share and respond to questions.

4. Keep Learning Practical

Use a how-to approach that covers only one topic at a time and links to concrete examples and situational practices.

5. Make It Fun

Adult learners who are engaged in fun learning environments are more motivated to learn.  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)

Alphabet City @ Summer Learning Tips to Go !

Summer Learning Tips to Go !

Start With A Book: August 2020

Sample tips

Here are examples of the kinds of tips and activity ideas you'll receive though our text messaging service.

Alphabet city

On a walk together, look for the shapes of letters in the buildings all around you. More ideas: Builders and Buildings

Ciudad del alfabeto

Den un paseo juntos y busquen figuras de letras en los edificios a su alrededor. Más ideas: Builders and Buildings

Mapmaker

After reading a favorite book, have your child draw a map of the book's setting. More ideas: Map Making

Cartógrafo

Después de leer un libro favorito, ponga a su niño a dibujar un mapa de la configuración del libro. Más ideas: Map Making

Nature scavenger hunt

Make a list of things to find outside (such as an acorn, stone, or feather). Give your child the list and let the hunt begin! More ideas: Outdoor Explorations

Casería de la naturaleza

Dele al niño una lista de cosas para buscar afuera (bellota, piedra, pluma) y ¡qué comience la cacería! Más ideas: Outdoor Explorations

Be sure to come back in May to sign up for another summer season of learning tips in English or Spanish, delivered by text message!  READ MORE ➤➤

Alphabet City - Stephen Johnson

Best Children's Books

Alphabet City is a wordless tour of NYC, with each photo-realistic illustration depicting a different letter of the alphabet. Kids will delight in finding letters depicted in ordinary street objects like a Z in a fire escape or a P in a subway handrail.

Johnson's stunning illustrations are so photo-realistic you'll have to continually remind yourself that they are paintings, not photographs! While most letters are immediately apparent in the illustration, other letters are less obvious. However, since the book is in abc order, the reader knows what to look for an the shape pops out fairly quickly.  READ MORE ➤➤

Alphabet City

Grafik: 7.21.2014

The Big Letter Hunt is the first book by a new indie publishing house in London, Tower Block Books. Living up to it's name, the book is a visual tour of east London architecture, picking out letter-shapes in the fabric, facades and structural features of buildings.

Graphic designer Amandine Alessandra and architect Rute Nieto Ferreira conceived the project in response to their children's burgeoning interest in the alphabet, which led to a game spotting letter shapes in the buildings on a favourite walk on the Regent's Canal.  READ MORE ➤➤

Kickstart Your Creativity With An A - Z Photo Project Today

ePHOTOzine: 8.12.2020

Bring the alphabet to life in an interesting and challenging photoshoot than can last a few hours, a whole day or how about an entire year?

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A Twist On The Theme

The other thing that you could try with this theme is an A - Z of photography styles. B for Black and White, S for sepia, etc. This is probably suited to more experienced photographers who know more terminology, though.

Another more fun thing you can try is getting a group of friends to pose as all the letters of the alphabet or as mentioned above, capture objects that begin with each letter of the alphabet. If you've already tried an alphabet project why not take on a number challenge instead?  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 8

Reading Level: fairly easy to read.

Reader's Age: 12-14 yrs. old

(Seventh and Eighth graders)

Literacy – Spanning the US :: Cleveland OH :: Green Bay WI :: Provo UT :: Lansing MI

Literacy: Spanning the US

@seedsofliteracy

Meet EA’s Lynne Brenner Who’s Watering Seeds and Growing Literacy

Executive Arrangements: 7.13.2020 by Peg Furnas

Could you share a bit about yourself Lynne, where you’ve lived in and outside of NE Ohio? Growing up I moved every few years and landed in Cleveland during high school. I’ve lived in multiple communities; east, downtown, and west. My husband and partner of 30+ years, Tom, and I are empty nesters with four adult children, and recently welcomed two wonderful daughters-in-law. Post college I worked in the banking industry, and then decided to stay at home with my children to be more involved with their lives and with the community, and to support philanthropic organizations.

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In your eight years with EA we have seen your heart and passion for volunteering. What other organizations have you shared your time with prior to Seeds of Literacy? I’ve held board positions for PTA and Avon Junior Women’s Club, and volunteered at animal shelters. I currently work with disabled children using horses as therapy and support families who foster children and environmental organizations. I enjoy a seasonal staff position with the Cleveland International Film Festival and volunteered for eight years prior to this role.

Speaking of Seeds of Literacy, WOW, they are doing amazing work! Yes, they are! The difference they make in adults’ lives drew me to Seeds two years ago. I began tutoring, meeting with students in one of their two locations. I have also worked on the fundraising committee and attended community events to bring awareness to the program. Since 1997, Seeds has provided free, one-to-one tutoring in basic education and high school equivalency (HSE) preparation to adults in Cuyahoga County. One-to-one tutoring offers maximum learning by building relationships of trust between the student and the tutor. It is a strong program that has student retention and graduation rates that are twice the national average. Our goal is simple: to help our students increase literacy levels, strengthen educational foundations, and grow to love learning, in order to help our students, break the cycle of poverty and find success in life.  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)

@LiteracyGB

Small Group Award Winner – Student Evaluators, Literacy Green Bay

We Are Green Bay: 8.17.2020 by Addy Bink

The annual Wisconsin Public Service Volunteer Awards Breakfast will be held virtually this year on Thursday, August 20.

The Volunteer Center of Brown County is proud to honor the volunteers who selflessly give their time and talents to help improve the community.

Meet Student Evaluators, Literacy Green Bay:

Our small group award recipients help more individuals in our community gain self-sufficiency. Low literacy, limited English proficiency and lack of education credentials affect employment opportunities and earnings for families and individuals and this in turn affects the economic outlook on our local economy. The population who strives to learn English or want to earn their high school diploma equivalency turn to Literacy Green Bay for help.

Literacy Green Bay helps to stop the cycle of societal issues with volunteers like Student Evaluators. The Student Evaluators at Literacy Green Bay are the first step to lifelong learning and an improved outlook on life and becomes a ripple effect that benefits the entire community. Improved literacy skills foster a parent’s self-confidence to participate more fully in their children’s education and within their community.  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on 7 readability formulas:

Grade Level: 15

Reading Level: very difficult to read.

Reader's Age: College graduate

@ProjectReadUtah

Shauna Brown Fights For The ABCs Of Adult Literacy While Fostering A Happy Home

Utah Valley 360: 8.17.2020 by Greg Bennett

Shortly after she graduated from BYU in 2000, Shauna Brown of Eagle Mountain volunteered as an adult reading tutor with Project Read in Provo. It was an enriching part of her life and something that fed a passion for adult literacy. In fact, she even considered applying to be the organization’s executive director, but decided against it because she and her husband were planning to move to Taiwan to teach English and enjoy international adventures before settling into careers and family.

However, just as the plane tickets were nearly purchased, she and her husband had a feeling they should stay in Provo.

“I called a member of the board and asked if they’d already found someone to fill that role,” Shauna says. “Luckily, they hadn’t.”

Despite her lack of experience, the board hired her as the executive director, a role she has now cherished for 19 years.

“Adult literacy issues can be very isolating,” Shauna says. “These are not dumb people. They have amazing skills — they just can’t read.”

Many of the organization’s participants have dyslexia or other learning disability and haven’t had access to successful techniques and treatments. They have also developed coping mechanisms and habits that limit communal knowledge of their illiteracy, making it harder to receive help.  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)

@ReadingPeople

Local Spotlight: Capital Area Literacy Coalition

Feldman Chevrolet Lansing: 8.20.2020

Did you know that approximately 20% of adults in the Greater Lansing area are functionally illiterate? That means, according to the 2010 U.S. Census, roughly 93,000 adults in the state of Michigan cannot read at a basic reading level.

The Capital Area Literacy Coalition, also known as the Reading People, was established to help close the gaps in our education system in order to reduce, and ultimately illuminate, functional illiteracy. Read more about how they’re doing it in the local spotlight below!

What is Functional Illiteracy?

Functional illiteracy is defined as the inability to read above a third grade reading level, which is the reality for many embers of the Greater Lansing community. While your first thought may be leisure reading, it’s actually much more than that.

Functional illiteracy means not being able to accomplish necessary everyday activities in adulthood like reading the instructions of a microwave dinner or completing a Social Security application.  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)