What’s new in the Lake County Library System Adult Literacy Program …

2010 is quickly approaching and we continue to evolve and explode, aren’t we all?! I wanted to share with you some of the exciting things that we have been juggling – some new, some old standbys.

Conversation Classes – “Talk About It…in English”. These classes have been a brilliant addition to our adult literacy arsenal! We are so happy to have multiple classes meeting across the county. Currently, there are 7 groups meeting in 6 locations with more than 50 learners having joined us so far. Where possible, we have encouraged co-facilitators to lead the groups to ensure coverage during vacations and unexpected conflicts. The tutors are truly enjoying this opportunity – no lesson planning or monthly reports, what could be better? They are making great progress.

Citizenship Classes. What a great somewhat new addition to our program! We have had 3 classes so far and the tutor facilitators and learners have done an amazing job. Many learners have gone on to pass the test! We are using the New Readers Press Citizenship series – it has been an excellent multi-media tool - and is well received by both tutors and learners. The current class will soon be done and the next class is scheduled to start in March 2010.

Fast Track Reading System. We are ecstatic that 2 tutors stepped up to the plate and offered to launch our first phonics class for English language learners! The class will start on March 2, 2010 and is scheduled to run 2 nights per week for 13 weeks. This curriculum was developed by the Jacksonville Public Library (JPL) with the support of the Florida Department of State, Division of Library and Information Services. It focuses on using syllable division and syllable types as a way to strengthen the word attack skills of new readers. Thank you Sharon Jaskula, JPL Center for Adult Learning Coordinator, for sharing this tool with us.

Adult Learner Computer Lab. We have finally had the opportunity to offer a computer lab – facilitated by a lab assistant! Space with computer access has always been an issue and we are thrilled that we have a location that can support the creation of our first computer lab! Rosetta Stone, USA Learns, dvd and cd-rom series, guided learning and self-paced studies are now an option for our learners! Can’t wait to see how it develops.

Tutor Training. We are so very fortunate to have an incredible pool of volunteer tutors and more coming every day! The November graduating class is hard at work and the upcoming January training is nearly full! We are working towards reducing the ‘sit’ time and tapping into more online training options to meet the needs of our diverse volunteers. The next step is creating an interactive online learning component accessible from the adult literacy area of our Library website. Work has begun and I am hopeful that tutors will be able to take advantage of it by Spring 2010!

Professional Development Workshops. We have developed some new topics to be added to our ‘catalogue of training’ for our tutor team. Topics for upcoming face-to-face workshops include: learning disabilities - assessing challenges and developing a plan; working with a beginning ELL – a training on LWE and Oxford Picture Dictionary series; computer skills; goal setting (we thought we successfully covered in the initial training, but…); and learner transition.

Learner and Tutor Mentors. We are excited to be entering the 2nd year of this remarkable component of our adult literacy program. We would not be as successful without the continued support and dedication of our mentors!

I look forward to hearing what you are doing in your adult literacy programs!

Erika L. Greene, Literacy Coordinator

Free Book for English Language Learners

The discussion on The Adult English Language Acquisition Discussion List (englishlanguage@nifl.gov)is on serving preliterate English Language Learners. The book, Making It Real, was recommended. It is free to download. I took a look at it and it is full of the basic strategies to use with low level learners. It was created by Literacy NOW (literacynow.org) in Washington State Click on the link below and it will download as a pdf file.

If you are looking for cheap ways to provide training, take a look at this book and see if it could be used as one of the handouts in your ELL volunteer training workshop. Download the book.

Description from the post:
Making it Real: Teaching Pre-literate Adult Refugee Students
Alysan Croydon. 2005, 108 p. FREE!

Recently, refugee families have been arriving from Somalia, Liberia, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Thailand to begin their new lives in communities across Washington State. Many of the adults have never had an opportunity to attend school, so they are not literate in their first language. Some have never lived in homes with electricity and plumbing or towns with buses and shopping malls. As a result, they face many challenges during their resettlement process. As they enter beginning level ESL classes, their teachers, too, are finding the task of teaching them challenging.

With funding from the Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Section, the Tacoma Community House Training Project has developed this book containing a wealth of successful strategies and techniques for teaching both beginning literacy and speaking skills. The richly illustrated text includes:

A list of survival competencies for speaking, listening, reading, and writing

A plethora of activities for introducing, practicing, and applying these new skills to the students’ lives

Strategies for teaching pre-literate refugees in a multi-level ESL class

Reading and Writing Discussion List and your Cell Phone

Did you know you could use your cell phone to read a book. You can also use it to practice literacy skills, books are even being written for the cell phone:
Of 2007’s ten best-selling novels in Japan, "five were originally
cellphone novels, mostly love stories written in the short sentences
characteristic of text messaging but containing little of the plotting
or character development found in traditional novels.

This is a post on the new reading and writing discussion list. To learn more about the list go to http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/readwrite/2009/000000.html and read an archives of recent posts.

To sign up for the list go to http://www.nifl.gov/lincs/discussions/subscribe_all.html and select reading and reading, one of several discussion lists.

Selecting Books as Gifts for Children

The National Center for Family Literacy has released their own holiday book list. You can download it as a pdf. It is somewhat more accessible than the typical list and has short tips for parents. But it is still not on a very low level. The list is grouped by age level of the child.

Tutors could go with their students to a bookstore and use the list to help them Christmas shop for their children. To get the list go to NCFL. and select download list.

Or, if money is tight, learners could take the list to the library and ask the childrens' librarian to pull titles they could borrow for free. If the exact title is not there, the librarian can be asked to select similar titles.