Easy English Times ◯ Your ESL & Adult Literacy Newspaper ◯ Feb 2020

Easy English Times: Your ESL and adult literacy newspaper!

In our February issue . . .

Easy English Times: Feb 2020

What is Super Tuesday? The primary election process is explained.

Presidents Day is Feb. 17. The Lincoln Home National Historic Site and the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, both in Springfield, Illinois, and George Washington's Mount Vernon in Virginia are places where you can learn more about these presidents.

What is it like to visit the Supreme Court and see the court in action? Citizenship questions related to these stories are included. Teachers' Corner shares resources for teaching civics.

Workers are needed for the Census.

Black History Month is observed. Feb. 16 is Elizabeth Peratrovich Day in Alaska.

February holidays are celebrated and there are stories about love and friendship.

There is a love story that is told at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove, California, to "explain" the return of monarch butterflies there. The conversation activity is on making and keeping friends.

Bakersfield, California students write about happiness. A student from Chicago advocates for the legal drinking age to be increased. The movie/DVD review is on "The Two Popes." There are many instant activities in this issue including reading, writing, conversations and idioms. All this and more in the February issue.

Student Writing of the Month is from Pui Tak Center in Chicago, Illinois. Bonus Student Writing is from Bakersfield Adult School, California.  READ MORE >>

Automatic Readability Checker

Based on (7) readability formulas:

Grade Level: 9

Reading Level: fairly difficult to read.

Reader's Age: 13-15 yrs. old

(Eighth and Ninth graders)

Literacy Library Jobs ◯ READ San Diego ◯ LearningQuest Stanislaus ◯ Salinas

Literacy Library Jobs ◯ California

Literacy Tutor/Learner Coordinator - PT

READ/San Diego

Positions with READ/San Diego

Positions with Do Your Homework @ the Library

DEADLINE: FEB 18

Project Manager of Communications - FT

LearningQuest Stanislaus Literacy Centers

support communication efforts focused on increasing the awareness of LQ’s brand, services, and student stories with the community through engaging content.

DEADLINE: OPEN

Literacy Clerk – Temporary

Salinas Library

support student and family literacy programs

DEALINE: OPEN

BayNet Library and Information Network

CLA Career Center

CalOpps

Library Jobs in California

Huntington Beach Library ◯ Writer to Writer Is Coming Soon!

Writer to Writer Is Coming Soon!

Literacy Volunteers-HBPL: 8.28.2019

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

READ MORE >>

SCLLN 

Adult Literacy Tutor and Learner Conference

Writer To Writer Awards

March 21, 2020

Holiday Inn Buena Park

Automatic Readability Checker

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)

California Book Festivals & Events ◯ February 2020

California Book Festivals & Events ◯ February 2020

Books, Comics, Poetry, Storytelling, Writing and More !

San Diego Public Library – Local Authors

Feb 01               Super Book Weekend Adventures The Queen Mary

Feb 01               La Quinta Book Fest

Feb 01               8th Annual Modesto Poetry Festival

Feb 08               Native Voices Poetry Festival Banning

Feb 08               Love Letters Crafts Fest LA Arts District
Feb 22               African American Book Festival IE Moreno Valley

Feb 22               Riverside Dickens Festival

Feb 28               Charlotte S Huck Children's Literature Festival Redlands Univ

#LitWeekLA

ALOUD: Library Foundation of Los Angeles  @ALOUDla

Los Angeles Literary Calendar  @LALitScene

Poetry Flash – So & No California

Storytelling Association of California

African American Book Events

Book Fairs by State Library of Congress

Book Reporter – Book Festivals

Everfest Book Festival Calendar

Storytelling Events

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 –

visit the

Southern California Library Literacy Network

for more information

Southern California & California

 National African American Read-In

Haiku Writing Month

Library Lovers Month

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

ALOUD: Library Foundation of Los Angeles  @ALOUDla

Los Angeles Literary Calendar  @LALitScene

Poetry Flash – So & No California

Storytelling Association of California

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 >>

Dyslexia Virtual Conference

April 20 - May 8, 2020

Rewordify

Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level 8.7

Lexical Density: 55.8%

Total word count 278

Unique word count 155

21 hard words

Sentence count 17

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

Rewordify

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