Monday, February 3, 2020

Huntington Beach Library ◯ Writer to Writer Is Coming Soon!

Writer to Writer Is Coming Soon!

Writer to Writer is a unique writing challenge through the Southern California Library Literacy Network (SCLLN). Writer to Writer invites adult literacy learners to write a letter to an author whose writing has changed the way they think about life. A group of learners from Literacy Volunteers-HBPL participated in the challenge this year. We hope you enjoy some of their letters!

Women of the Silk

Dear Gail Tsukiyama,
I read your book Women of the Silk with my tutor when I was working on my English grammar. I came from China when I was fourteen. Sometimes when I read your book I felt so familiar with Pei’s culture, this made me feel close to Pei. I really love her because she is a happy person no matter what happens to her. She always has a positive attitude that teenagers today don’t always keep.
Sincerely with respect,
Michelle W

Temple Grandin: How the Girl Who Loved Cows Embraced Autism and Changed the World

Dear Mr. Montgomery,
I was so impressed about Temple’s story.  She was one of those kids who did not fit in with the rest of the crowd.  But she used her unique abilities and passions in the right way to become successful in life.  Temple is a different person because she was born with autism.  Her thinking was in pictures, not in words.  Autism helped her understand the feelings of animals, so she could make their lives better. Her love of making things and creating saved her life. She had tough times but she fought back.  As she grew up, she discovered that when one door closed, another door opened; that made her happy. Temple learned to use her autism to help her reach her goals.  Temple’s success gave autistic kids hope that success is possible for them.
Sincerely,
Hoang L.

Dear Juana Medina,
I have to thank you because I enjoyed reading your book, Juana and Lucas very much.  When I started to read the book, I loved the way you spell the name Juana who-ah-nah.  The way that you describe Bogota makes me feel like I have been there before.  Like Juana, I enjoy reading in the night.  She had Lucas with her and I enjoyed reading along.

Thank you Juana Medina for your wonderful book.
Sincerely,
Silvia

Adult Literacy Tutor and Learner Conference
Writer To Writer Awards
March 21, 2020
Holiday Inn Buena Park

Readability Consensus
Based on (7) readability formulas:
Grade Level: 6
Reading Level: fairly easy to read.
Reader's Age: 10-11 yrs. olds (Fifth and Sixth graders)


Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Southern California & Statewide Literacy & Library Events ◯ February 2020

Southern California & Statewide Literacy & Library Events
February 2020

SCLLN
Literacy & Library Events & Conferences
- Local, California and National –
Southern California Library Literacy Network
for more information
Southern California & California


Feb. 01              Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
Feb. 01              World Read Aloud Day
Feb. 01              CATESOL OC Chapter Spring 2020 Saddleback College
Feb. 01              Night of Ideas San Francisco Library 7p
Feb. 01              Literacy Action Week SCALE UNC
Feb. 02              Take Your Child to the Library Day
Feb. 02              SkillsUSA Week
Feb. 05              Global School Play Day
Feb. 06              California School Library Conference City of Industry
Feb. 06              Harry Potter Book Night
Feb. 07              El Civics Conferences CASAS Sacramento
Feb. 10              February Nonfiction Picture Book 10 for 10     
Feb. 10              Overview of Orton Gillingham Approach OnLine
Feb. 14              Book Giving Day
Feb. 14              Dyslexia & Literacy: Understanding Anxiety & Struggling Reader UCLA
Feb. 14              Southern California Writers' Conference San Diego
Feb. 20              CATE Conference Los Angeles
Feb. 21              Mother Language Day
Feb. 21              CARS+ Convention Irvine
Feb. 22              African American Book Festival IE Moreno Valley
Feb. 22              Riverside Dickens Festival
Feb. 23              Freedom to Read Week Canada
Feb. 26              Tell A Fairy Tale Day
Feb. 27              Digital Learning Day
Feb. 28              Charlotte S Huck Children's Literature Festival Redlands Univ
Feb. 28              El Civics Conferences CASAS Santiago Canyon College Orange
Feb. 28              Southern California Kindergarten Conference Pasadena


Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Dyslexia and the Nonsense Word Conundrum ◯ DTI

Dyslexia and the Nonsense Word Conundrum
Dyslexia Training Institute: 3.31.2017 by Dr. Kelli Sandman-Hurley

The use of nonsense words in intervention programs for reading and spelling to struggling readers is ubiquitous. It is ubiquitous in assessments too. Publishers use the rationale that nonsense words help the teacher and assessor know whether or not the student is able to transfer what they have learned about decoding to new words and this signals progress. The problem with this is twofold. First, many of the nonsense words that are used are not possible letter strings in the English language. (For a detailed and well-support description of this, please read Gina Cooke’s article). Secondly, the English writing system is based on meaning before phonology, so when a student is reading a word with no meaning, it can be impossible to really determine what the correct pronunciation is. In teacher trainings, we always ask the group, how do you pronounce the letter string *? The answer we always get is /chom/ or [ʧɑm] in IPA. The problem with this answer, is that the correct answer is really, we can’t know what the correct pronunciation is until we know what the word is. In the case of a digraph like the meaning and etymology of the word will drive the pronunciation. Look at the following three common words: chip, machine and ache. Their histories drive their pronunciations, so how in the world can a student know which is correct?

Today I observed a very good teacher using letter tiles to teach spelling. She was dictating a list of real words and then veered into the nonsense word territory. What happened during this time is not inconsequential, it is downright confusing to students. Here is the list of words she dictated.  READ MORE >>

April 20 - May 8, 2020

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 8.7
Lexical Density: 55.8%
Total word count 278
Unique word count 155
21 hard words
Sentence count 17


Monday, January 27, 2020

Carlsbad Library ◯ New Year, New Beginnings

New Year, New Beginnings
Learning Connection: Jan/Feb 2020 by Carrie Scott, Community Outreach Supervisor

Happy New Year! For many, this can be a time of new beginnings. We often want to set goals for our health, finances and learning, but it is easy to get overwhelmed and then  not do anything!

One of my favorite personal mottos is, “You have to start before you can finish.” So as you think about what goals you want to set for the new year, consider starting small. Start by walking one minute. Start by drinking one cup of water. Start by saving one dollar. Start by writing one sentence. Start by reading one paragraph. Pick any goal that you want, then start today and repeat tomorrow. Before you know it, you will be building on your success!

As you plan which goals to work on, consider investing in yourself by meeting consistently with your learning partner this year. We require that each pair meet nine hours per month, which is about 100 hours per year.
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Why so much focus on attendance? Because it makes a big difference in learning. Adults who participate in a literacy program show future increases in literacy levels, income, and future enrollment in education, especially for those who meet 100 hours or more.

We encourage you to start 2020 with an emphasis on attendance: Make it a priority to attend all of your scheduled sessions. Schedule make-up sessions when you miss. (Remember that we are open on Saturdays!) At the end of each month, review and discuss your attendance as a pair. Wishing you a great 2020!  READ MORE >>

Next Tutor Orientation
Feb 13 ◯ 6 pm


Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 6.7
Lexical Density: 62.4%
Total word count 250
Unique word count 156
7 hard words
Sentence count 21
Average sentence length 11.9

Sunday, January 26, 2020

SCLLN Literacy Library Tutor Training Calendar ◯ February 2020

SCLLN Literacy Library Tutor Training Calendar ◯ February 2020

For Local, California and National
Literacy or Library Conferences and Events
Southern California Library Literacy Network
Calendar

Feb 29  Great Trivia Challenge Glendora Library

Feb. 04      Adult Literacy Tutor Orientation Carlsbad Library 6p
Feb. 05      Adult Literacy Tutor Orientation Ventura Co Library 5p
Feb. 11      Adult Literacy Tutor Training READ/San Diego Central Library 10a
Feb. 13      Adult Literacy Tutor Orientation Carlsbad Library 6p
Feb. 15      READ OC Speaker Series Voter Literacy Tustin Library 10a
Feb. 18      Adult Literacy Tutor Orientation Placentia Library 6p
Feb. 22      Adult Literacy Tutor Training Placentia Library 9a
Feb. 24      Adult Literacy Volunteer Orientation Corona Library 7p
Feb. 29      Adult Literacy Tutor Training San Diego Co Library El Cajon Branch 10a
Feb. 29      Great Trivia Challenge Glendora Library 3p

Altadena Library Complete a self-paced, online training module
Chula Vista Library Mondays @ 6p Wednesdays @10a
LAPL Adult Literacy volunteers receive 7 hours of Online Instruction
Santa Fe Springs City Library Complete an online training course

Local Tutor Workshops Always Scrolling in the Right Frame

Friday, January 24, 2020

Governor Newsom Releases 2020-21 State Budget ◯ CLA

Governor Newsom Releases His 2020-21 State Budget
News From the Capitol: 1.10.2020 by Mike Dillon and Christina DiCaro, CLA Lobbyists

This morning Governor Gavin Newsom presented his 2020-21 State Budget and left no stone unturned with the press corps, as the Governor laid out details and took reporters’ questions for an unprecedented three hours.  The Governor stated that he was “excited about this year and for California’s future” as he highlighted components of his new Budget.

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Of importance to CLA, the Budget contains good news for public libraries.  The Governor continues to support two programs that he provided support for in the 2019-20 Budget – “Lunch at the Library” and Zip Books.

For “Lunch at the Library: $1 million in “one-time” General Fund dollars (meaning that it must be spent in Budget Year 2020-21 and is not “ongoing” in nature) would be provided for libraries to “develop summer meal programs for students in low-income communities.”

For Online Service Systems:  the Governor is proposing $1 million in one-time General Fund dollars in order to “support the online purchase and delivery of books through the Zip Books program.  This no-cost service is an alternative to traditional interlibrary loan and enables library patrons to more efficiently request and receive books not available at their local library.”

The Governor is also proposing $500,000 in ongoing General Fund dollars for the purpose of supporting the services provided by the Braille Institute of America in Los Angeles.   Finally, the Governor also includes $170,000 in ongoing funds for a technical issue relating to Public Utility Commission fees pertaining to the State’s public library broadband connectivity program in conjunction with the Corporation for Education Network Initiatives in California (CENIC).

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The legislature will now begin the process of reviewing the Governor’s Budget over the course of the next few months.  Budget Subcommittee hearings will be held to discuss and analyze the various proposals.  In May, the Governor will release his May Revision of the State Budget, which essentially allows him to make funding/program adjustments after having received the April tax receipts.  The Budget Subcommittees will wrap up their work in late May and the full Budget Committees and Budget Conference Committee will craft the final Budget, in consultation with the Governor’s Office.  The Budget must be passed by the constitutional deadline of June 15.  We will continue to keep CLA members updated as these issues proceed through the Budget process in 2020.  READ MORE >>

Senator Holly J. Mitchell Chair
California State Library (p 24)
Local Assistance. The budget provides the following local assistance adjustments:
• An increase of $1 million one-time General Fund to support the Lunch at the
Library program;
• An increase of $1 million one-time General Fund to support the online purchase
and delivery of books through the Zip book program;
• An increase of $500,000 ongoing General Fund to support the Braille Institute of
America in Los Angeles; and,
• An increase of $170,000 ongoing General Fund to continue participation in the
Adult Learners, Budget, CA Budget, California, CLLS, Economics, Funding, Government

Senator Holly J. Mitchell Chair
Senator Jim Nielsen Vice Chair
Assembly Member Phil Ting Chair
Assembly Member Jay Obernolte Vice Chair

Kevin McCarty Chair

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 13.9
Lexical Density: 55.0%
Total word count 398
Unique word count 219
27 hard words
Sentence count 15
Average sentence length 26.5