Jim Briggs and Kitty Adler, Literacy Tutors, celebrate with some of the learners
14 learners, 17 classes, and 2 tutors equals a winning combination at the Cagan Crossings Community Library! It has been an amazing journey that has already resulted in 1 learner passing the citizenship test, others submitting their applications & awaiting their appointments, and the rest preparing to complete their applications over the next few months.
Between the efforts of Jim Briggs and Kitty Adler, citizenship tutor team, the support of the other Cagan tutors, and Maria Martino, Literacy Contact, the citizenship class was a great success. The participants were all smiles on their last night but, admittedly, sad that they would no longer be coming together as a group – they have become friends and enjoyed it tremendously! It doesn’t end here, though, they are excitedly awaiting the launch of a conversation group so that they can continue to improve their English skills. Congratulations to all!!
Interested in the materials this class used? This is the first LCLS citizenship class to use the Citizenship - Passing The Test series, a New Readers Press publication. It contains 3 workbooks, audio cd-roms, and teachers guide. Combining the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services (http://www.uscis.gov/portal/site/uscis) flash cards and other downloadable resources and this series made for an amazingly interactive and fun class. The tutors felt very comfortable facilitating the group and the learners were fully engaged from beginning to end!
I just saw a post about the history of music, cartoons and literacy in WWI and WWII. I would like to hear your comments on how you use music and cartoons in teen and adult literacy instruction. Do any of you use graphic novels? If so, which titles?
Many soldiers did not have basic skills, and thus the Army provided instruction using cartoons and songs. Below is part of a post by Thomas G. Sticht on the National Institute for LiteracyAdult English Language Learners mailing list EnglishLanguage@nifl.gov. It is a busy list. To subscribe go to http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage
Here is part of the post:
One innovation introduced in the literacy training programs was the use of a cartoon strip featuring fictional soldiers Private Pete and his sidekick Daffy. These cartoons were usually two page spreads in a special newspaper for literacy students called Our War. Our War editors understood that the hearts and minds of the troops were on family and friends, often girl friends, back home. The cartoons sometimes told stories about visits with girl friends and included scenes in which Private Pete and friends were singing songs. One popular song of the time was aimed at making separations between the soldiers and their sweethearts more bearable. In the August 1943 issue of Our War the cartoon strip was about a letter Private Pete got from another soldier friend of his who told about how he was going overseas. A cartoon frame shows him and a group ofhis buddies travelling in the back of an Army truck singing a song called
Don't Sit Under the Apple Tree:
Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me
Anyone else but me, anyone else but me
No! No! No!Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me
Till I come marchin' home
Don't go walkin' down Lover's Lane with anyone else but me
Anyone else but me, anyone else but me
No! No! No!Don't go walkin' down Lover's Lane with anyone else but me
Till I come marchin' home
I do remember this song and "hear" it my head as I read the words. If you are interested in old cartoons go to http://www.barnaclepress.com/ Today's Blog Post is by Sandy Newell, President of VALF
Two years ago VALF implemented a persistence and retention study of five volunteer literacy programs in Florida. We learned that retention of students was challenging, a fact backed up by other studies and observations by program managers.
We also explored how volunteer programs could do a better job at keeping students and volunteers. We learned that ongoing support for students and volunteers was extremely important.
If you want to know more about how to improve your program, attend this free workshop.
Balancing Act: Volunteer Adult Literacy Program Management Workshop
Learn how quality volunteer literacy programs manage all aspects of running a program. Find out how they pay equal attention to both support as well as to intake of volunteers and students. Learn concrete strategies to help plan, manage and package your literacy program in challenging times. The workshop is based on the experience of VALF members, the book, Maintaining the Balance: A Guide to 50/50 Management and the 2007-2008 VALF student retention and persistence study.
Location: Duneden Public Library 223 Douglas Avenue, Dunedin, FloridaDunedin Florida 34698 Date: September 12, 2009 Time: 9:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. ET
REGISTER TODAY! at literacyflorida@hotmail.com, 850-245-6624
I am sure that you will be able to relate to one of the struggles we have been experiencing in the volunteer adult literacy arena – increased demand and fewer resources to train volunteer tutors quickly enough.Recently there has been much discussion surrounding volunteer tutor training.There are many literacy groups discussing how many hours sufficiently prepares a new volunteer; do you train before or after the tutor starts tutoring; should you train on a single curriculum or incorporate realia and a sampling of tools; and what type of follow-up program should you have for your volunteer tutor team? As we decide what makes sense and serves our community best there might be a few immediate gratification options out there for us!Do I have your attention?
Self-paced learning sites…Of course!They are not appropriate for all of our adult learners but they may offer just what you and the learners need.Let’s consider the pros and cons:
Pros –
·Provides immediate access to literacy learning for programs with a waiting list;
·Offers additional learning opportunities for dedicated learners craving more than the face-to-face tutoring can offer;
·Offers an alternative approach for those learners who enjoy using the computer;
·Ensures learning doesn’t stop when a tutor goes on vacation or is temporarily unavailable or even if the learner is unavailable – they can study on their own from home!
Cons –
·Learners must have access to a computer and, if using the library, the computer must be in a location that the learner can practice speaking skills (if that is their goal);
·Learners need to have basic computer skills;
·Not very effective if the learner has very limited English skills or needs direct guidance or direction;
·May have to consider having a tutor available to assist learners when/if they get ‘stuck’.
Here are a few websites that we think are excellent resources:
USALearns http://USALearns.org U.S. Department of Education just launched U.S.A. Learns, a free Web site to help immigrants learn English. This site is an easily accessible Internet learning tool providing instructional materials developed to teach basic English skills and help adults improve their English proficiency.
Activities for ESoL Learners http://a4esl.org/ This site has over 1,000 quizzes, exercises and puzzles to help you study English as a Second Language.
Pumarosa - English for Spanish Learners http://www.pumarosa.com This website is designed for Spanish-speaking learners. It has beginner and intermediate levels. It has grammar lessons that are visual as well as auditory. The words are written as well as said if you have speakers. It offers the Spanish version too.
ESL Desk - Learn English as a Second Language http://www.esldesk.com/ A site for ESL students who want to learn English online. "I am not an ESL teacher or a professional linguist. In fact, English is my second language and I am still learning it." quote from site manager.
Dave's ESL Cafe http://www.eslcafe.com Resources for you as a tutor and interesting learning opportunities for the learners. Links include: idioms; tip of the day; phrasal verbs; quizzes; slang; and much more. Learner friendly!
ESL Resource Center http://www.eslus.com/eslcenter.htm A website for learners and teachers of English. FREE ENGLISH - ESL LESSONS. This may also be good for beginner or low-intermediate basic literacy learners.
English Daily http://www.englishdaily626.com/ Links to Idioms; common mistakes in English; English Grammar; American English slang; TOEFL Vocabulary...and more.
Workforce Education LAB http://slincs.coe.utk.edu/gtelab/ The LAB collects and distributes high-quality learning activities that focus on the basic skills and knowledge adults need to be effective in the 21st Century workplace. Learner friendly!
Visual Dictionary Online http://visual.merriam-webster.com/index.php From Merriam-Webster and QA International, an interactive dictionary with an innovative approach that will help ESL students to learn English in a visual and accessible way. A quick glance at the index is all it takes to connect words with images. Or students can explore the 15 major themes to access more than 6,000 images and see words like never before. Additional features include a Game of the Week, played by associating words with images, and audio pronunciations spoken by real voices.
English Club http://www.englishclub.com/index.htm A FREE site to help you learn English or teach English as a second language. You'll find everything from lessons for students to jobs for teachers, including interactive pages such as forums, games, quizzes, chat, help and penpals.
Many Things http://www.manythings.org/ A fun study site for learners of English as a Second Language. Word games, puzzles, quizzes, exercises, slang, proverbs and much more.
Livemocha: learn languages... http://www.livemocha.com/ Community--Livemocha is the first-of-its-kind online language-learning community. Lessons -- Fun and interactive lessons that move at the right pace for you. Motivation -- Track your progress and reach your goals with Livemocha tools. Interesting perspective -- online, chat room, peer interaction...might be just right for some of the learners!
English Exercises http://www.edhelper.com/language/language.html?gclid=CO_3vfbAr4UCFQxrNAodrV44vA More than 200 online quizzes, organized by themes and topics (reading, spelling, grammar, vocabulary, parts of speech, punctuation, & other language skills), allow learners to get instant feedback and keep a running tally of their scores.
So there you have it…quite a few choices that should engage and satisfy many different learners with a multitude of goals!We have found that directing learners to these websites has been extremely useful and enabled us to provide extra learning activities as well as provide a stop gap measure for those locations with waiting lists and/or snowbird tutors.
VALF held their annual meeting May 8 and awarded a series of grants dedicated to volunteer literacy for a second year. Five programs across the state are receiving $500 grants. This year more than 15 friends and colleagues of Jack Newell donated to Jack's Literacy Grant Program to honor the contributions Jack has made to adult and family literacy over the years.
The following lists the programs successfully earning the grants.
Learn to Read Jacksonville – grant will be used to purchase books to use with adult students including Living in America Teacher Resource Series: Using Official Documents and Understanding key Health Issues, Citizenship: Passing the Test, Endeavor Student Books and Teacher’s Guide 3-5 and Voyage Student Books and Teacher’s Guide Foundation – Level 3
Learn to Read of St. Lucie County, Inc. – grant will be used to buy 20 Laubach Way to English Teacher Manuals, Laubach, 20 Laubach Way to English Illustration Books and 20 Laubach Way to English Workbooks for use in 6 intensive tutor training workshops and 2 in-service workshops.
Literacy Volunteers of America-Monroe County Inc. – grant will be used to pay part of the trainer’s fee for one 18-hour tutor training and one-three individual mini trainings.
Volusia Literacy Council – grant will be used to purchase 32 Challenger’s Teachers’ Manuals
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida, Inc – grant will be used to purchase Skills Bank Reading software (from Houghton Mifflin Learning Technology Division) and a printer
The Jacksonville Public Library’s Center for Adult Learning was recently recognized by the Division of Library and Information Services for a project targeting lower-level adult readers and their tutors. This initiative, Volunteers as Special Educators, was selected as the “FY 08-09 Exemplary Project” among those supported by Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Volunteers as Special Educators has allowed the Jacksonville Public Library to expand services to adult basic education and English language learners by recruiting and training volunteer tutors. However, instead of utilizing workbooks traditionally used by adult literacy programs, this project developed new materials, teaching strategies and tutor-training modules based upon Orton-Gillingham principles. The project has received accolades for its innovative way of teaching syllable division and syllable types to tutors and students. Jacksonville Public Library staff will be demonstrating components of this new curriculum at the 2009 Florida Literacy Conference in Clearwater, FL.
The Jacksonville Public Library’s Center for Adult Learning first began providing reading instruction to adult learners in 1985. They currently offer small group and computer-assisted instruction in reading, math, pre-GED and English language skills to more than 800 adults annually. For more information about the Center for Adult Learning or the Volunteers as Special Educators project, please contact Sharon Jaskula at sharonh@coj.net.
