Redlands Library ◯ 3 Adult Literacy Students In Redlands Honored For Their Writing

3 Adult Literacy Students In Redlands Honored For Their Writing

Redlands Daily Facts: 4.26.2020 by Diane Shimota, Adult Literacy Coord-AK Smiley Library

The cornerstones of literacy are reading comprehension and effective writing. Over the past two years, the Redlands Adult Literacy Program has offered tutor training and learner workshops to help learners develop stronger writing skills. The focus on writing led to 10 adult learners from the Redlands Adult Literacy Program entering into the Writer-to-Writer Challenge, sponsored by the Southern California Library Literacy Network (SCLLN). 

The SCLLN annual Writer-to-Writer Challenge invites adult learners throughout Southern California to write a letter to an author, living or dead, whose book has inspired them. This year, 95 adult learners from the Southern California region submitted letters to the challenge. Literacy coordinators screened the letters and selected the top five in each of four categories. Panels of adult learners then judged the top letters and selected one winner and two runners-up for each level of writing.

The Redlands Adult Literacy Program is happy to announce that three adult learners, Marisela Casillas, Maria Hernandez, and Tanya Jauregui, earned runner-up recognition from SCLLN.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, however, the awards ceremony that would have recognized these learners has been postponed. The Redlands Adult Literacy Program acknowledges the achievement of all adult learners who submitted writing to the challenge and celebrates the three runners-up from Redlands.

Here is what the awardees said they had gained from their experience:

Marisela Casillas

Casillas read the book “Seedfolks” and wrote a letter to author Paul Fleischman. “Seedfolks” was the first book Casillas had read on her own. She chose to write the author because she could relate to the characters in the book.

Maria Hernandez

Hernandez entered the challenge with her letter to Stephanie Sammartino McPherson, reflecting upon the book “Peace and Bread” about the life of Jane Addams. Hernandez was moved by the compassion Jane Addams felt for the poor, especially children and immigrants. Hernandez’s mother shared Jane Addams’ compassion for others and passed this along to her daughter.

Tanya Jauregui

Jauregui read Michelle Obama’s “Becoming” and wrote, “… you gave me courage to find my voice and speak louder for the Adult Literacy Program … I need to keep using my voice to advocate for such an amazing program.”  READ MORE ➤➤

Automatic Readability Checker

Readability Consensus

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)

Santa Monica Library ◯ Mariana Boliarova, Adult Learner in LEAF Program ◯ Won SCLLN "Writer to Writer"

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!

Sandra Cisneros

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 ➤➤

2020 SCLLN Literacy Conference ◯ March 21

2020 SCLLN Literacy Conference

March 21, 2020. 8:00 am–3:00 pm

Holiday Inn, Buena Park

Hotel and Conference Center

STRAND 1: 9 am -10:15 am

_ Brainstorming

Higher Order Thinking – Gateway To Success in Writing

_ Sticky Situations – What Happens When Lines Are Crossed

_ Dyslexia For A Day – Overview

Learners & Tutors

_ Urban Possibilities – Games & Writing To Find Your Story

STRAND 2: 10:30 am – 11:45 am

_ Tech & Teaching

_ What Every Tutor Should Know About Pronunciation – Color Vowel Chart

_ Remediation & Instruction For Dyslexia – Orton Gillingham Method (Part 1)

Learners & Tutors

_ Naturalization & Citizenship

LUNCH ◯ Writer To Writer Ceremony

12 Noon - 1:30 pm

STRAND 3: 1:45 pm – 3 pm

_ Remediation & Instruction For Dyslexia – Orton Gillingham Method (Part 2)

_ Tutor Ready Writing

_ U S Census – FAQs Updates Materials

Learners & Tutors

_ Writer To Writer Learner Panel

Please Choose a 1^st and 2^nd Choice in Each Strand

Registration

Early Bird - Feb 21

$35.00: Tutors, Volunteers, Staff

$15.00: Learners

After Feb 21

$50.00: Tutors, Volunteers, Staff

$20.00: Learners

LUNCH ONLY: $35.00

Email

SCLLN2014@gmail.com

Mail

Los Angeles Public Library

Adult Literacy / SCLLN

630 W Fifth

LA  CA  90071

 

Carrie Scott

Community Outreach Supervisor
Carlsbad City Library Learning Center

3368 Eureka Place

Carlsbad, CA 92008

760-931-4515

SCLLN Writer to Writer Awards ◯ 2019

SCLLN Writer to Writer Awards ◯  2019

We are excited to announce the winners and runners-up for the 2019 Writer to Writer Challenge!  We had a great response—95 entries—and the quality of the letters was amazing!

We are so proud of all the learners who wrote letters.  Each letter was a beautiful expression of the learner’s thoughts and feelings.  The ones selected as winners and runners-up most closely met the contest criteria, but as one coordinator said, every letter had its own “pizzazz.”

Please join other writers, tutors, coordinators and their guests at our conference lunch presentation on Saturday, March 21, at the Holiday Inn Buena Park

The winners and runners-up will each receive a cash prize and a certificate, and all letter writers will receive a certificate of participation.

We encourage all coordinators to invite and sponsor all your writers and their tutors for this special event.

The registration fees are only $15 for learners and $35 for tutors/staff (early bird, SCLLN member) and are an appropriate use of CLLS grant funding.

Inviting your Writer to Writer participants would be an excellent way to recognize our writers and their tutors.  Congratulations to all our letter writers! 

Emerging Category ◯ Winner

Alvin J

San Diego Public Library, READ/San Diego

March by John Lewis and Andrew Aydin

Runners-Up

Marisela C

A.K. Smiley Public Library

Seedfolks by Paul Fleischman

Lora M

San Diego Public Library, READ/San Diego

My Spirit Soars by Chief Dan George

Beginning Category ◯ Winner

Wendy G

Oceanside Public Library

Hana’s Suitcase by Karen Levine

Runners-Up

Maria H

A.K. Smiley Public Library

Peace and Bread: The Story of Jane Addams by Stephanie McPherson

Feri R

Newport Beach Public Library

The Secret by Rhonda Byrne

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

Advanced Category ◯ Winner

Sarah K

Newport Beach Public Library

What to Do When I’m Gone by Suzy Hopkins and Hallie Bateman

Runners-Up

J.J. B

Santa Monica Public Library

Girl, Wash Your Face by Rachel Hollis

Petranila H

Chula Vista Public Library

Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens

Carrie Scott

Community Outreach Supervisor
Carlsbad City Library Learning Center

3368 Eureka Place

Carlsbad, CA 92008

760-931-4515

SCLLN

Adult Literacy Tutor and Learner Conference

Writer To Writer Awards

March 21, 2020

Holiday Inn Buena Park

Let’s Make Better Slideshows via Cult of Pedagogy

@cultofpedagogy

Let’s Make Better Slideshows

Cult of Pedagogy: [Podcast 22:25]

OK, look. We need to have a talk. A lot of you are out there giving lectures, presentations, and workshops, and your slideshows need work. Maybe not all of them, but definitely most. I thought I got the message out there a few years ago when I urged people to read Presentation Zen, the book that forever changed my own slideshows. But I didn’t have much of an audience back then, and since that time I’ve seen far too many PowerPoints and other slideshow presentations that still appear to be suffering from some very fixable problems.

So I’m going back in. I’ve put together a list of seven things you can do to make your slideshows better. A lot better. Here we go.

1. PUT IT IN PRESENTATION MODE (PLEASE!!)

I can’t count the number of times I’ve sat down to listen to a presentation, and watched in horror as the presenter simply scrolled through the slides while still in editing mode, where the featured slide takes up about half the screen, the thumbnails of the other slides are visible on the left, and the editing toolbar is still visible across the top. No no no no nooooo!!!

In both PowerPoint and Google Slides, there’s a button you can click to put your slide deck in presentation mode, where the entire screen is filled with just one slide and the animations work as they are supposed to. Doing this gives the audience a rich, full-screen experience with each slide, one at a time, which is much more pleasing than looking at the back end of it all.

2. CUT WAY BACK ON YOUR TEXT

Slides are meant to supplement and enhance your presentation, to provide visual interest and add new dimensions to your message. If your presentation is going to be memorable, the audience should get something from both you AND the slides. The slides themselves shouldn’t BE the presentation.

This seems like common sense, but somehow we have arrived at a place where many, many presenters use the slideshow to deliver the whole presentation: They put ALL the information on the slides and assign themselves the role of simply dictating that information to the audience. Once your audience realizes this is what you’re going to do for every slide, they immediately start looking for ways to occupy their brains for the foreseeable future.

➧ Shorten your bullet points. Instead of writing long sentences or phrases on your slides, try sticking to just short phrases. Then use the notes panel to script out what you’re going to actually say.

➧ Make more slides. Take one slide that has a lot of information and spread that text over several slides, rather than cramming it all together on one.

➧ Create a handout. Many presenters and instructors want to put lots of information on their slides so they can provide those slides to students or audience members after the presentation, for reference.

3. UPDATE YOUR ASSETS

One of the simplest ways to improve your slideshows is to update outdated artwork and fonts.

═════════►

NEED SOME FRESH TEMPLATES?

I have just created a set of four slideshow templates that you might want to get for yourself. They’re available in PowerPoint for Windows and Google Slides. Each one contains 27 different slide designs, and they also come with a separate template for a 2-page handout, styled to look similar to the slideshow, so you can create a PDF to accompany your presentation.

The templates also come with a collection of video tutorials that show you exactly how to customize them for your use. Click on each design below to preview the whole template, or scroll to the bottom to get the bundle of all four designs at a discount!  READ MORE >>

San Diego Public Library :: READ/San Diego :: Tutor Conference :: June 10

READ/San Diego’s 27th Annual

Tutor Conference

Saturday, June 10, 2017

Joan B. Kroc Institute for Peace & Justice

University of San Diego

Join READ/San Diego, literacy tutors, teachers, and literacy professionals from across California for a day of informative and enjoyable hands-on workshops. Twenty-four workshops are scheduled in four strands, with a catered luncheon served between the strands featuring keynote speaker Dr. Stephen Krashen.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Dr. Stephen Krashen

Literacy Development: The Easy Way is the Only Way

Dr. Stephen D. Krashen, professor emeritus at the University of Southern California, is a linguistics expert specializing in the theories of language acquisition and development, a field in which he has authored nearly 500 publications.

Workshops

Smartphones Meet Literacy: Engage your Learners with an App

Strategies for Success: Supporting our English Learners’ 21st Century Readiness

Comparative Approaches to Teaching Phonics

Test-taking Tips: Top Ten Strategies for Student Success GED

The Refugee Experience and Vocational ESL

Poetry of Tupac Shakur as a Bridge to College Level English Composition

Building Fundamentals in Mathematical Reasoning

Picture Books Aren’t Just for Children

Knowing a Word v. Owning a Word: Best Practices for Deeper Vocabulary

Using Qualitative Data Collection Methods as a Means to Capture Tutor-Learner Progress

Register online: Friends of READ/San Diego

or fax form to (619) 533-3217

June 5 Early Registration: $35

After June 5, the registration fee is $45

Please make your personal check or money order payable to:

Friends of the READ/San Diego Literacy

READ/San Diego is a free literacy instruction service for adults 18 years and older. This award winning program has become a model for the country. It is staffed with literacy professionals, who work with community organizations and coordinate the efforts of volunteer reading tutors to teach adults to read and write, and improve literacy in San Diego.

CLA Advocacy Training with Patrick PC Sweeney

CLA Advocacy Training with Patrick PC Sweeney

CLA Advocacy & Legislation Committee & EveryLibrary

Register Today!

March 9, 2017: 9am – 12N

Millbrae Branch

1 Library Ave, Millbrae, CA 94030

March 10, 2017: 1pm – 4pm

North Natomas Library

Sacramento Public Library

4660 Via Ingoglia, Sacramento, CA 95835

March 13, 2017: 9am – 12N

San Diego Central Library

330 Park Blvd, San Diego, CA 92101

California needs well-trained librarians to take action to support legislation at the state-level as well as state-wide bond initiatives. There is currently a Senate Constitutional Amendment being brought forward by Senator Bill Dodd to lower the threshold for Bond measures for libraries down to to 55 percent instead of the current required supermajority of 66 percent. This amendment has the potential to drastically improve the quality of library infrastructure in California if passed by legislators in Sacramento and then passed by the voters in 2018. 

Patrick “PC” Sweeney will be conducting a training from EveryLibrary, the National Political Action Committee for libraries, about best practices for visiting and building positive and proactive relationships with legislators and how to take action to support CLA's efforts to move SCA-3 through Sacramento. In this training librarians and library staff will also learn about SCA-3, CLA’s goals and commitment to supporting this initiative, as well as how they can help build local and statewide political support for a future state-wide ballot measure.

Register Today!

$25 - Members

$45 - Non-Members

Orange Public Library :: Volunteer Literacy Tutors Needed

Volunteer Literacy Tutors Needed

City of Orange: 2.07.2017

Did you know the library has a new adult literacy program? We are recruiting volunteers to be tutors, and if you are reading this, you just might be one of them.

Last year, library literacy programs in Southern California helped thousands of adults improve reading and writing skills. 

In 2016, we received funds from the California State Library, North Orange Rotary Club, City of Orange Public Library Foundation, Friends of the Orange Public Library, and the Community Foundation of Orange, to establish an adult literacy program in the City of Orange.

Our program is available to English-speaking adults.  Those who cannot speak and understand English are referred to local programs to learn conversation first, then they may enroll in our reading and writing program.

A person seeking help with reading is given an assessment and then matched with a volunteer tutor.  Materials are provided for each tutor-student pair.

Additional books, worksheets, and computer-aided instruction are provided through the Literacy Office.

Tutor Training Class

March 28: 1pm – 4pm

Also: Mar 30; Apr 4, 6

714 – 288 -2467