Literacy Breakthroughs: Carlsbad
Library Learning Center Literacy Pairs
Learning
Connections: January/February 2019 by
Carrie Scott
Even
with the most effective tutoring pairs, plateaus can happen. Sometimes, you may
find you’re in a rut, struggling with a new learning theory or needing a
different approach.
Here
are three Carlsbad
Library Learning Center literacy pairs who shared their recent
breakthroughs and leaps forward! We hope that their stories will inspire you to
try new techniques, tools and ideas.
Andrea
G. and Anastasio S — Writer to Writer
Anastasio
had never typed a letter before. He'd written some paragraphs, but never a
complete letter, and certainly not to an author! Last year, he entered the Writer to
Writer Challenge, a contest for adult learners to read a book and write a
letter to the author about how the book impacted their life. Anastasio chose
the book "Road Trip" by Gary Paulson. He said he liked the book,
because he enjoyed how the characters became friends on the trip. His tutor
Andrea helped him by asking a lot of questions! Who were your favorite
characters? Why do you like them? What questions would you have for the author?
When asked what he would tell a fellow learner about writing a letter, he said,
"It's not that hard. Just express yourself!"
Stephanie
S. and Adriana M. — Phono-Graphix
Tutor
Stephanie had been working with her learner on Phono-Graphix for about six
weeks. Because her learner had been in the program before, she flew through the
initial lessons and even the advanced code sound lessons, because the words
were familiar to her. Stephanie wondered whether she was getting any benefit
from the exercises. However, they had just started reading a novel that had
many complex words. Several times, the learner came across an unfamiliar word,
and she would pronounce it correctly (or correct her initial mispronunciation)
and explain why a vowel sound was the correct one. They are both encouraged
that she could pronounce a word correctly and, more importantly, understand
why!
Rylee
C. and Souad B. — Read Live
This
pair had been meeting for about 6 months, and even though they were making
progress, the learner was eager to learn faster. That's when we introduced them
to Read Live, a computer program where the learner reads along with a story,
while learning new vocabulary. According to Souad, "I'm learning a lot
with reading and spelling. The sounding out of the words is very good and so is
the repetition." The program is timed, and tutor Rylee noticed that Souad
wants to finish the paragraph before the time is up. Rylee remarked,
"The
timer keeps her wanting to read. She likes the challenge!" READ
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