Monday, March 30, 2009

Santa Fe Springs Library - Reading at the Library and Beyond

Reading at the Library and Beyond
Whittier Daily News: March 28, 2009
by Sandra T. Molina

For more than two decades, Jerry Edwards has headed the city's literacy program.

And in that time, it has grown from a few tutoring sessions and other classes to a program that expands outside the city's library.

Edwards and his staff make weekly visits to area elementary schools to reinforce what's already being taught by teachers during daily classroom lessons."It's been a tremendous help to our students, especially with their comprehension skills," said Lakeview Elementary School Principal Bill Crean.

"The kids, from kindergarten to fifth grade look forward to someone from the library come read to them," he said.

The staff feels the same way.

"It's a pleasure going into the schools and bringing the library to them," Edwards said. "They learn about the values of libraries."

It's not only a place for books, he said, but a place to research a favorite subject and fun activities.

That includes fun events such as the upcoming Battle of the Books.

The nine schools in the Little Lake City School District are currently getting ready for the fourth annual event that pits teams from the different schools against one another, testing their comprehensive skills.

"They are broken down into teams of six and are asked specific questions on the books they read through the year," Edwards said.

The last two teams standing compete for the trophy.

"It's very intense," he said of the event to be held May 29 at Town Center Hall.

He expects to equal, or even exceed last year's crowd of about 400 cheering parents, teachers and district personnel.

"It's a great, fun way to cap off a year of reading and learning," Edwards said.
READ MORE


Monday, March 23, 2009

SCLLN Literacy Conference: 2009 - Highlights


Southern California Library Literacy Network

Literacy Conference: March 2009

Highlights - Notes - Related Information

1. Science of Dyslexia & Orton-Gillingham Approach:
Tracy Block-Zaretsky
Dyslexia: The Science, The implications, The intervention
~ a pdf. file of presentation at CLA

Tutor Training: What Every Tutor Should Know
~ a powerpoint presentation

What is Dyslexia ?: April 3 - 24, 2009
~ an online workshop about the signs and symptoms, recent scientific reports and simulations of dyslexia. Dyslexia Training Institute.

2. Free Software for Tutoring & Beyond:
Diane Moseley, Literacy Consultant
learning how to use a mouse, typing, grammar, ESL, and puzzlemakers

~ mousercises & games @ Palm Beach County Library
~ typing practice & games @ Powertyping
~ grammar exercises @ Grammar Bytes or Guide to Grammar
~ vocabulary exercises & games @ Vocabulary
~ ESL @ English Club or Literacy Tools (Ireland)
~ puzzles @ Discovery Ed or Puzzlemaker

3. Wacky for Wikis:
William Byrne
overview of blogs and wikis: brief look at the where and how they began, reasons to have a one or both, how to, and a brief demo on how easy it is to post, to link, to upload photos, etc.


Friday, March 20, 2009

Monrovia Library - Welcome to Monrovia Literacy Services’ Blog !

Welcome to Monrovia Literacy Services’ Blog !

Welcome to all our tutors, learners and others interested in literacy. Please feel free to share questions about literacy, tutoring ideas, or anything else literacy-related !

Several of us attended the annual SCLLN conference last Saturday, which was great. One of my favorite workshops was Free On-line Resources. Lauren will expand the list of literacy links on our website in the next few days. What did we do before the internet? Lauren is awesome at finding on-line resources, so please feel free to post any questions for her or for me about on-line resources.


Thursday, March 19, 2009

2009 SCLLN Literacy Conference - Highlights


Southern California Library Literacy Network
Literacy Conference: March 2009


Highlights - Notes - Related Information

Pharmacy Literacy, Strand 1
by Ron Scott, AVP-St Joseph Health System

-some related info & links to:
'What Everyone Needs to Know About Their Prescription Medicines'

Protecting U.S. Citizens from Inappropriate Medication Use
(excerpt from ISMP Call to Action White Paper)

An increasing number of U.S. consumers are taking medications.
2 out of every 3 patients who visit a doctor leave with at least 1 prescription for medication, leading to a record volume of nearly 3.4 billion prescriptions dispensed in 2005. This is an increase of nearly 60% since 1995.

~ 81% of adults in the U.S. take at least 1 medication during a given week and 27% take at least 5.
~ When used safely, medications contribute to better health and to a longer and greater quality of life. However, a vast number of Americans take prescription medications without being fully informed about the associated risks, contraindications, and adverse effects.
~ Misuse of medications can interfere with desired treatment and cause harmful reactions. In the year 2000, the annual costs of drug-related illness and death in ambulatory care settings alone were estimated at more than $177 billion.
~ The most common types of medication misuse include:

• Taking the incorrect dose
• Taking a dose at the wrong time
• Forgetting to take a dose
• Stopping medicine too soon





Stop — Learn — Go —
Tips for Talking with Your Pharmacist to Learn How to Use Medicines Safely

Center for Drug Evaluation & Research, FDA

Learn how to use your prescription and over-the-counter medicines safely and to increase the benefits and decrease the risks. You can also use these tips when talking with your other healthcare professionals.

Strategies To Improve Communication Between Pharmacy Staff and Patients Training Program for Pharmacy Staff - Curriculum Guide
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

designed to introduce pharmacists to the problem of low health literacy in patient populations and to identify the implications of this problem for the delivery of health care services.


Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Santa Barbara Library - Pronunciation Workshop

Pronunciation Workshop
SBPL Literacy Newsletter: Winter 09by Heidi J. Sinavsky

The Adult Literacy Program kicked off 2009 with a Pronunciation Workshop for tutors on January 12. Pronunciation expert Bonnie Blakley, who teaches ESL and Spanish at City College’s Adult Education division, shared knowledge about how to help your learner with their pronunciation.

If you are working with a second language learner who would like help with pronunciation, keep in mind some of the following:

~ Getting a “yes you can attitude” is essential for learning.
~ Practice pronunciation as a regular topic and when the opportunity presents itself.

~ Regular reinforcement is important !
~ Become aware of what you, the tutor, are doing with your mouth.

~ When you say words, notice how your mouth, tongue, and face move.
Bonnie also recommended a website for demonstrations and diagrams of the mouth and tongue making different sounds. These can really help your learner when trying to form words, or pronounce syllables. Bonnie also recommended these useful tips:

~ When pronouncing the “p” or the
“wh” sound hold a strip of paper in front of the mouth and puff the paper out when making the sound.
~ Use a CD as a mirror to look at the mouth when saying a word.
~ Let your learner feel their lips and mouth with their hands.
~ Let them relax the muscles in lips and mouth for English intonation.
~ You can use dialogues and “jazz chants” to improve your learner’s intonation and rhythm.

~ We have jazz chants books at the Literacy office, so come and check them out !


Friday, March 13, 2009

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 5

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 5

March 13:

Technology and Reading - What the Future Holds is
hosted by Elizabeth O. Dulemba at Dulemba.com

Audiobooks with Bruce Coville of Full Cast Audio
and Mary Burkey of Audiobooker

E-books with Harold Underdown of The Purple Crayon
and Sheila Ruth of Wands and Worlds

Podcasts with Andrea Ross of Just One More Book! and
Cheryl Rainfield of cherylrainfield.com
A resource of links to audiobooks, e-books, podcasts and webcasts at Dulemba.com

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 4

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 4

March 12:

A Visit to the Library hosted by Eva Mitnick
Eva's Book Addiction

From Cozy to Cool - Library Spaces for Everyone - Eva
Eva's Book Addiction

Lions and Marble and Books, Oh My - Betsy Bird
A Fuse #8 Production

How to Make the Library Work for YOU - an interview with Adrienne
What Adrienne Thinks About That conducted by Jules
Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

The World Beyond the Library's Walls - Melissa
Librarian by Day

ABC Storytimes: Taking the Library Home - Pam Coughlan
MotherReader

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 3

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 3

March 11

Reading Aloud - It's Fun, It's Easy
hosted by Susan Stephenson, Book Chook

Ten Terrific Tips from Read-aloud Queen, Mem Fox
Book Chook

Conquering Stage Fright - Interview with Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone @ the Book Chook

Reading Aloud With Kids: A Dad's Perspective - hosted by Steven and Brian
Book Dads: Fathers that Read

Using Technology for Read Alouds - Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone

What to Do When the Reading is Done - Aimee Buckner
hosted by the Stenhouse blog

Reading Aloud with Independent Readers - Donalyn Miller
The Book Whisperer

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 2

Share a Story - Shape a Future: Day 2

Mar 10

Selecting Reading Material hosted by Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone

The ABCs of Reading: Infants, Toddlers & Preschoolers - Valerie Baartz The Almost Librarian

How to Help Emerging Readers - Anastasia Suen
5 Great Books NEW LOCATION!

Helping Middle Grade Readers - Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone


Booklists and Read Alikes - Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone


Using Non-fiction - Mary Lee Hahn of A Year of Reading
hosted by the Stenhouse blog

Monday, March 9, 2009

Share a Story - Shape a Future

Share a Story - Shape a Future

Literacy bloggers got together to organize a week where anyone passionate about sharing stories with kids could join with others and celebrate that passion.

From March 9 - 13, there will be tips on sharing stories with kids, audiobooks, finding material to read, raising readers and using libraries. Guests on blogs will offer tons of ideas to incorporate shared reading into our lives. Some blogs will have giveaways like lists of tips and hints useful for sharing with others in our own communities, both online and in real life.


March 9:
Raising
Readers hosted by Terry Doherty
Scrub-a-Dub-Tub, the Reading Tub blog

Finding Time at Home - Tricia Stohr-Hunt
The Miss Rumphius Effect

Making Time in the Classroom - Sarah Mulhern
The Reading Zone

Helping a Reader in Need (remedial readers) - Sandra Stiles
guest post on Scrub-a-Dub-Tub

It's Bigger than the Book: Building Strong Readers at any Age
with a Daily Dose of Read Aloud - Cathy Miller interview
on the Share a Story - Shape a Future

Keeping Gifted Readers Engaged - Donalyn Miller
The Book Whisperer