Sunday, July 21, 2019

Los Angeles Public Library :: Spring Spotlight On Adult Literacy


Spring Spotlight on

Adult Literacy
LAPL Literacy Blog: 2.06.2019 by Megan Katz, Librarian, Office of Education and Literacy

Looking for a way to contribute to your community? Consider becoming an adult literacy volunteer with the Los Angeles Public Library! Statistics show that an estimated 33% of the adult residents of Los Angeles lack basic prose literacy skills. This means that, at best, they may be “able to locate easily identifiable information in short, commonplace prose text, but nothing more advanced” (National Center forEducation Statistics, 2003). Of course, many of these people cannot read at all.

Los Angeles Public Library tutor Luisa Latham says of her students: As a result of being illiterate, these individuals have felt isolated and alienated and not able to function fully within their communities… [They] have expressed to me their fear and hesitancy around any experience where they would be asked to read—to fill out a job application, to vote, to do so many things that we take for granted and that they cannot participate in. You can help alleviate literacy inequality by becoming a volunteer. We have many different opportunities, including teaching classes, working one-on-one with a student, and more.

Tutor Claire Chandler decided to use her time to help others, “When I retired, I thought about volunteer opportunities and about how to work toward changes I would like to see in the world. Even though I had no experience teaching anyone how to read, I applied to be a tutor at the Adult Literacy Program.”

Adult literacy volunteers change lives, but the most inspiring thing about volunteering may be what you will gain from it. Tutor Lorena Lordanic tells us, “Tutoring Carmen this past year has benefited my life in so many ways. Not only do I get to think of innovative ways to help her reach her goals, but Carmen also inspires me to continue learning.”

Are you ready to have your life changed by becoming an adult literacy volunteer?

Contact us today! Call 213-228-7037 or find the Literacy Center closest to you.  READ MORE >>

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Learn to Earn Toolkit via NCFL


Learn to Earn Toolkit

Use the Learn to Earn Toolkit to build skills to prepare you for the workforce. Through your training on the Learn to Earn Toolkit, you will:

Create your personal account and profile
Be introduced to 10 topic areas of learning for the workforce
Learn specific lessons within each topic area
Explore career possibilities
Learn new vocabulary in context

What is the Learn to Earn Toolkit?
Learn to Earn Toolkit is a free online collection of articles that focus on work skills. Articles focus on ten skills that employers say are important for new employees to have. The skills are also ones that employers say many new employees do not have. There are a total of 30 articles at each level that focus on these ten skills. Adult students can read articles and take quizzes on their own. The topics can also be used in adult education or family learning programs. Instructors can track a learner’s progress, and learners can print a list of the skills they have learned.

What is included in the content?
Learn to Earn offers a topic overview for each of the ten focus skills. Skill overview pages include a short introduction to the skill, an activity to practice with a partner, and a link to explore for more information about a specific job that uses the skill. On each skill page, you can link to three lessons for deeper learning about specific concepts of that skill.

What is the grade level of the text on Learn to Earn Toolkit?
Intermediate texts on Learn to Earn Toolkit are written at an average 4.7 grade level. Advanced texts are written at an average 7.7 grade level. Grade levels were determined using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level.

How are the quizzes structured?
Each quiz consists of six content questions, one idiom question, and three vocabulary questions.

Choose a skill and start learning!
You’ll find an introduction to read for each skill. Read the overview, practice the skill, and explore more information about the topic. You will find three articles for each skill.

You’ll find vocabulary words to help you learn more. You can use the Word Wheel to see how many words you learn. Take a quiz after each article to add that skill to your work-related skills list.

Critical Thinking
English Language
Oral Communication
Reading Comprehension
Teamwork
Diversity
Information Technology Application
Professionalism
Social Responsibility
Written Communication


Saturday, July 13, 2019

Newport Beach Library :: Literacy Bingo


Literacy Bingo Is Coming . . .

Newport/Mesa ProLiteracy
Literally Speaking: Mar/Apr 2019

BINGO is a classic game that most people are familiar with.

Did you know that BINGO actually dates back to Italy in the 1500’s? And it is still as popular as ever in schools, churches, community centers and now.... LITERACY.

From March 1st to March 31st all learners are encouraged to participate in a game of literacy BINGO.

Read, Connect, Discover challenges the learner community to read various genres, connect with other community members, and discover new experiences.

Orange squares = READ
example – read a memoir or biography

Blue squares = CONNECT
example – swap recipes with a friend

Green squares = DISCOVER
example – visit a local, state or national park

The Literacy BINGO challenge runs from March 1 – March 31, 2019.

How to Play

Pick up your NMPL Bingo Card from the Literacy office and make sure you are registered.

Complete 5 squares in a row (vertical, horizontal, or diagonal) to make a Bingo.

Write what you read or did in each square.

Raffle tickets awarded for each Bingo.
Drawings to be held each Monday from 3/11/19

Grand prize raffle ticket awarded for completing all 25 squares.

Bingo card entries accepted through

Have Fun

Enjoy reading books in your favorite format: books, eBooks, audio books.

Check out resources in the Literacy Office and library to complete a square.

Need help with any square? Ask a librarian.

Prizes

Raffle tickets earned for each Bingo achieved may be entered for gifts.
Grand Prize Raffle will be held the first week of April.

Tutor Workshop :: July 17 & 24
5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Tutors are required to complete online orientation (approximately 20 minutes)and attend tutor training. Orientation must be completed before attending the training sessions. Online orientations can be taken at any time.

You must complete and submit the online application at the end of the orientation in order to be scheduled for one of our Tutor Training sessions.

Tuesday, July 9, 2019

Easy News – June 2019 :: United Response

Easy News
June

Easy News – June 2019

Easy News (UK) is the first news magazine designed to be accessible for people with learning disabilities.

Features
Tragic fire at Notre-Dame cathedral
Deadly church bombs in Sri Lanka
Theresa May's resignation as Prime Minister
Wikileaks’ Julian Assange arrested

Quick news
New Royal baby
Climate change protests in London
First ever black hole picture taken

Previous issues
You can read every issue of Easy News, plus our Special Editions, in our archive


Sunday, July 7, 2019

Carlsbad Library Literacy Services

Building Skills, Changing Lives
ws Radio Literacy for All: 2.12.2019 with Jose Cruz, CEO - San Diego Council on Literacy

We are joined by Carrie Scott, Community Outreach Supervisor for the Carlsbad City Library in San Diego County. Carrie shares her passion and adventures in her work at the Library Learning Center, a community learning center for all, and that, years later, is a jewel in the community that is worthy of replication.  LISTEN 29:54

Literacy for All radio show is here to enhance access to information and promising practices that support the national and international literacy network and those they serve.

Saturday, July 6, 2019

Adult Literacy in the United States :: NCES 2019-179


Adult Literacy in the United States

What are the rates of literacy in the United States?

Four in five U.S. adults (79 percent) have English literacy skills sufficient to complete tasks that require comparing and contrasting information, paraphrasing, or making low-level inferences—literacy skills at level 2 or above in PIAAC (OECD 2013).

In contrast, one in five U.S. adults (21 percent) has difficulty completing these tasks (figure 1). This translates into 43.0 million U.S. adults who possess low literacy skills: 26.5 million at level 1 and 8.4 million below level 1, while 8.2 million could not participate in PIAAC’s background survey either because of a language barrier or a cognitive or physical inability to be interviewed.

These adults who were unable to participate are categorized as having low English literacy skills, as is done in international reports (OECD 2013), although no direct assessment of their skills is available.

Adults classified as below level 1 may be considered functionally illiterate in English: i.e., unable to successfully determine the meaning of sentences, read relatively short texts to locate a single piece of information, or complete simple forms (OECD 2013)

What is the make-up of adults with low English literacy skills by nativity status and race/ethnicity?

U.S.-born adults make up two-thirds of adults with low levels of English literacy skills in the United States. However, the non-U.S. born are over-represented among such low-skilled adults.

Non U.S.-born adults comprise 34 percent of the population with low literacy skills, compared to 15 percent of the total population (figure 2).

by nativity status: 2012 and 2014. FIGURE 2

White and Hispanic adults make up the largest percentage of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy, 35 percent and 34 percent respectively (figure 3).

By race/ethnicity and nativity status, the largest percentage of those with low literacy skills are White U.S.-born adults, who represent one third of such low-skilled population. Hispanic adults born outside the United States make up about a quarter of such low-skilled adults in the United States (figure 3).

Using the data from the Program for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC)this Data Point summarizes the number of U.S. adults with low levels of English literacy and describes how they differ by nativity status1 and race/ethnicity.

PIAAC is a large-scale international2 study of working-age adults (ages 16–65) that assesses adult skills in three domains (literacy, numeracy, and digital problem solving) and collects information on adults’ education, work experience, and other background characteristics. In the United States, when the study was conducted in 2011–12 and 2013–14, respondents were first asked questions about their background, with an option to be interviewed in English or Spanish, followed by a skills assessment in English. Because the skills assessment was conducted only in English, all U.S. PIAAC literacy results are for English literacy.  READ MORE >>


Adult
2019: Adult Literacy in the United States, NCES 2019-179
2013: OECD Skills Outlook 2013: First Results-Survey of Adult Skills, OECD
2009: Literacy of America's Least Literate Adults, NAAL 2003
2006: Literacy of America's College Students, AIR
2007: Literacy in Everyday Life, NAAL 2003
2003: National Assessment of Adult Literacy, NAAL
2000: Programs for Adults in Public Library Outlets, USDE, NCES
1992: National Adult Literacy Survey, NALS


Tuesday, July 2, 2019

Huntington Beach Library :: Literacy Update - Spring

Literacy Volunteers-HBPL News

Greetings dear reader!

It has been forever and a day since our last newsletter. If you've been staying in touch with us via social media, you'll know how busy we have been in the past few months.

On November 1, 2018 learners and tutors spoke on behalf of the literacy programs for our application for Community Development Block Grant Funds. One of our learners, Maribet, shares her speech in our newsletter. It is a wonderful reminder of why we are all committed to literacy and changing learner's lives.

"Welcome to our Oak View Branch Library. I hope you enjoy this wonderful day and continue to enjoy.  It's an honor to stand here in front of you and at the same time, a challenge for me to say these words in English. My name is Maribet. I am married and God blessed me with a son. He is seven years old and my son is the reason I decided to come to the library and learn English.
Why my son is the reason? I said to myself my son is growing up. He is going to speak English and I want to understand what he says. When my son started kindergarten, the homework they gave him should have been simple for an adult to be able to help him but I could not help him. Not because I didn't want to help him, but I didn't understand what he needed to do. And my son realized that I didn't know English. He asked me "Mami, why do you not understand English, didn't you go to school?"  READ MORE >>

Next Tutor Training
July 10, 17 and 24

Completion of online Tutor Orientation prior to registration is required
Email literacy@surfcity-hb.org for details

714 . 375 . 5102