Wednesday, September 15, 2010
Celebrate Constitution Day with Thinkfinity Resources!
Celebrate by including a lesson on the Constitution using Thinkfinity resources. Lessons cover the Constitutional Convention, the First Amendment and also include an interactive tutorial called, Charting the Constitution.
For more information visit the Thinkfinity/Verizon website: http://thinkfinity.org/constitution-day
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Volunteers teach English lessons
By J. NIELSEN Correspondent,Sarasota Herald Tribune
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
ONLINE COMIC STRIP GENERATOR
Sincerely,
Bill Zimmerman
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Free Citizenship Preparation Resource
Free Citizenship Preparation Resource
Monday, July 26, 2010
GOOD NEWS!!!
Friday, July 2, 2010
ONLINE CLASSES THROUGH FATDEC
FATDEC, Florida Adult and Technical Distance Education Consortium, a group of public schools, school districts, and community colleges who are working together to deliver curriculum in a web-based environment for adult education and career technical programs in Florida's postsecondary public institutions.
Benefits of Online Courses
Many courses are free
Make your own schedule; 24/7 access
Work with a certified instructor by email, chat, discussion boards and phone conferences
Current courses include adult high school and career/ technical education
For complete information go to http://www.fatdec.com/
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
THE BEE!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
WRITING TO IMPROVE READING
http://carnegie.org/fileadmin/Media/Publications/WritingToRead_01.pdf
Friday, June 11, 2010
Thinkfinity Free Online Courses: Another Great Site
Access it at http://literacynetwork.verizon.org/TLN/courses
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Virtual Tutor/Teacher Trainings
TRAINING 1
- Training Topic: Strategic Reading Instruction to Improve Comprehension for Struggling Reader
- Date: June 22
- Time: 6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
- Instructor: Iris Strunc, Northwest Florida State College
- Description: Although many school hours are devoted to reading instruction, many students simply do not understand what they read. This training will explain how strategic analysis of text can help focus struggling readers on the text and task in front of them. Participants will be shown specific comprehension strategies using highlighters, post-it notes and index cards to assist ineffective readers to analyze and comprehend text better.
- Training Topic: Effective Vocabulary Instruction for the Struggling Adult Learner
- Date: June 30
- Time: 12:00-1:30 p.m.
- Instructor: Cecilia A. Hicks, Florida State College at Jacksonville
- Description: Many adult learners struggle with reading for a variety of reasons. This workshop will explore several of these reasons and offer instructors research- and evidence-based solutions to this literacy dilemma. The primary focus of this training will be on vocabulary development. Participants will leave with proven strategies and activities designed to foster vocabulary development in the adult learner.
Participate from the comfort of your own home or office. All you need is a telephone and access to the Internet. We will send you a toll-free number and web address (URL) when you register. On the evening of the workshop, you simply join the conference call and go to the web site which will allow you to access the slide show.
Register today!
Questions? Contact Yari Payne at payney@floridaliteracy.org or (407) 246-7110 ext. 203.
These trainings are collaborative learning events brought to you by the Florida Adult Literacy Resource Center, a program of the Florida Literacy Coalition. These trainings are made possible through the support of the Florida Department of Education, Division of Career and Adult Education.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
10 Resources for ESL & Foreign Language Students
Tutors: Check these out! There's sure to be something you can use with your students. Thanks to the Florida Literacy Coalition for posting this on their Facebook page. If you need help with any of this, contact Lauretta at the LCMC office 746-8197. Please leave comments on this page about the sites you reviewed.
From the site Free Technology for Teachers posted by Mr. Byrne
website: http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/05/10-resources-for-esl-and-foreign.html
Kindersay is designed for use by pre-K students. The user interface is easy to navigate using clear, kid-friendly icons. There are more than 500 activities that students can use. There is not any distracting advertising on Kindersay.
Friday, May 21, 2010
An Online Training Opportunity!
Get started now by going to:
http://www.elcivicsonline.org/
Monday, May 17, 2010
SAVE THE DATE!!!
4th Annual Adult Spelling Bee
Bradenton City Auditorium, 1005 Barcarrota Blvd.
For tickets or more information, call Lori Johnson (746-8197)or e-mail: manateeliteracy@yahoo.com
Bee Objective: The purpose of the Spelling Bee is to have fun, be entertained and raise funds to benefit the Adult Literacy Program of the Literacy Council of Manatee County.
Title sponsor receives “naming rights” for the Bee, plus your choice of team entrance fee or a table for eight (8). Also includes logo on decorative tile presented to all team participants, display of your banner at the Bee, plus name/logo in program and all publicity, and on t-shirts presented to all Bee spellers and guests.
Honey Bee Sponsor: $1000
Includes recognition in program and publicity and on t-shirts presented to all Bee spellers and guests.
Team—Speller Sponsor: $500
Includes team entrance fee and dinner tickets for three (3) spellers, plus one Spellagain card, recognition in program and publicity and on t-shirts presented to all Bee spellers and guests.
Bumble Bee—T-Shirt Sponsor: $375
Includes name on t-shirts presented to all Bee spellers and guests.
Alphabet Letter Sponsor: $100
Promote your company or organization by “sponsoring” a letter to be displayed with your name in program.
Donate a Silent Auction Item
Recognition at event through auction materials.
Sponsor a “Lifeline”
Teams (or audience members) may purchase these “lifelines” for a team, prior to start of Bee.
· Bribe-the-Judge Card: $100.00 (one per team) Allows team to continue play as if they had spelled their word correctly.
· Phone-a-Friend Card: $50.00 (one per team) Allows team to call someone in the audience or at home to spell the word. Clock will be stopped while Phone-a-Friend is being used.
· Spellagain Card: $20.00 (three per team) Allows team to spell a word again or request a new word.
Everyone is Invited
Don’t Miss It!
Ticket (includes dinner): $30
Cash Bar Available
Join nearly 500 of your friends, family and neighbors who are expected to attend to cheer on their favorite teams, enjoy a delicious dinner and “Bee” entertained.
DID YOU KNOW?
More than 20% of adults in Manatee County function at the lowest level of literacy. They can’t fill out a job application, read road signs or understand prescription instructions. Your support of the 4th Annual Adult Spelling Bee will help provide a lifetime of better literacy opportunities for thousands of adults and families in our community.
Reserve your ticket today!
The Literacy Council of Manatee County is a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation. Your donation is tax deductible in its entirety. Words are selected by the Manatee County Library staff without input from the Literacy Council or the Rotary Club of Palmetto.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
COLLEGE FOR ADULTS- Making the Transition
The National College Transition Network, a good resource for ABE-to-college transitions, has launched a new adult-focused college planning website.
This site can be used independently by the student or as part of instruction.
The new site includes sections on career planning, the college application process, financial aid, academic skills, as well as a links and worksheets on transitioning to institutions of higher education.
http://www.collegeforadults.org/index.html
Monday, April 12, 2010
How can I get my students enthusiastic about reading?
- Remember that your primary goal should be to foster enthusiasm for reading. Once we set this goal, it will naturally influence our actions.
- Remember that your student’s difficulties may have years of history, and that we can only do so much at a time. Your student is painfully aware that his or her reading ability is poor, and will not benefit from being pushed.
- Find engaging reading material. You and I don’t want to read books that don’t interest us, and your students are no different. They should be allowed freedom to choose what they want to read whenever possible.
- "I’ve got some wonderful books that we can read together, and I can help you." "You are in good hands here, and I will support you as you slowly stretch your reading abilities. It may take time, but as we work together you will improve."
- "This is a safe place where you can get the help you need. I will not push you-- you will know when it’s time to move on to more demanding material."
- "I know that you want to learn (even if you pretend that you don’t) and we will work together so that you will achieve your goal."
Stay in the "Instructional Level". This is really important, so I will discuss it separately.
What is the "Instructional Level," and why does Ruth keep harping on it?
- Your student will certainly have a more positive attitude toward working with you, and toward reading in general.
- Your student will actually learn more--not less!
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
IMAGERY
Preparation time: 5 minutes
Materials: A story with high imagery passages
Procedure:
Do a think-aloud as you read a high imagery passage and describe how you form an image and how forming the image helps you to get a deeper understanding of the passage. Stress the fact that images vary because our background and experiences vary. Guide the class as students create images after reading such passages. Encourage students to explain how visualizing helps them understand the passage.
Source: Greenberg, 1/5/2010, Read/Write NIFL Discussion List
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
HOW THE HEALTH CARE REFORM WILL AFFECT FLORIDIANS
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Tutors, Read below and click on the link to see and take the wonderful courses offered by Microsoft for beginners, intermediate and advanced users! You even get a certificate upon completion.
Welcome to the Microsoft Digital Literacy Curriculum. The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Whether you are entirely new to computing or have some experience, this curriculum will help you develop a fundamental understanding of computers. From using the Internet, to sending e-mail, to creating a résumé, the Digital Literacy Curriculum helps you develop the essential skills you need to begin computing with confidence.
The Microsoft Digital Literacy curriculum now has three levels:
Microsoft Digital Literacy Basic curriculum
Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard curriculum
Microsoft Digital Literacy Advanced curriculum
The Basic curriculum features a course called A First Course Toward Digital Literacy. This course teaches absolute beginners to computing about what a valuable tool computers can be in society today, and the basics of using the mouse and the keyboard. The interactive, hands-on lessons will help novices feel comfortable manipulating the mouse and typing on the keyboard.
There are two versions of the Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard curriculum. The primary difference between the versions is that the examples and screen shots in the original curriculum feature Microsoft Office 2003 and Microsoft Windows XP, while Version 2 of the Digital Literacy Curriculum offers examples and screen shots from Microsoft Office 2007 and Microsoft Windows Vista. While there are minor changes to the content coverage between versions, the overall course objectives remain the same.
The Advanced curriculum features several courses that expand on what learners mastered in the Standard curriculum. These courses explore core topics like writing a resume, social networking, creating an internet e-mail account, and searching the internet.
The Standard Digital Literacy curriculum is currently available in over 30 languages. The Basic and Advanced courses are in development and will be available in other languages in the near future. This page will be updated when other languages are available.
http://www.microsoft.com/about/corporatecitizenship/citizenship/giving/programs/up/digitalliteracy/default.mspx
Friday, March 5, 2010
Starfall: Another Website Worth Taking a Look At
Take a look at this site, http://www.starfall.com and see how you can have your ESL student use it to help with pronunciation and comprehension. Let them know it is a tool originally developed for children but it can really benefit ESL adult learners. Starfall.com opened in September of 2002 as a free public service to motivate children to read with phonics. Our systematic phonics approach, in conjunction with phonemic awareness practice is perfect for preschool, kindergarten, first grade, second grade, special education, homeschool, and English language development (ELD, ELL, ESL).
How can I tell if a book is the right level of difficulty for my student?
How can I tell if a book is the right level of difficulty for my student?
Believe it or not, the best learning takes place when 95% the words in a text can be read without difficulty. If we have to struggle with more than 5% the words, then we cannot maintain fluency and comprehension.
The "three-finger" rule can help both you and your student select appropriate material. When starting a new book, students should raise one finger each time they encounter a word they cannot read. If they’ve raised three fingers while reading the first page or two (depending on how many words are on each page) then the book may be too difficult.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wonderful Websites for ESL Instruction
Hello Tutors:
I participated in a webinar last week and below are the sites presented. I particularly liked the Crosswords and the Poetry sites. Check them all out and see which one you think will work for you and your adult learner!
Lauretta
© 2 0 0 9 P r o L i t e r a c y
For Beginning Level Students
Manythings.org crossword puzzle
http://www.manythings.org/vq/img001.html
REEP World
http://www.reepworld.org/englishpractice/family/index.htm
Educational Opportunity Center, Buffalo, NY
http://www.acsu.buffalo.edu/~dtaylor/eocstudentstories.html
Cynthia Ingersoll’s class page
http://www.geocities.com/cynthia_ingersoll/myclass.html
For Intermediate/Advanced Level Students
News for You Online
http://www.news-for-you.com/
(Subscription info: http://www.newreaderspress.com/Items.aspx?hierId=0750)
Takako’s Great Adventure
http://international.ouc.bc.ca/takako/index.html
Medline Plus Interactive Tutorials
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html
For Multilevel Classrooms
Instant Poetry
http://ettcweb.lr.k12.nj.us/forms/newpoem.htm
DVolver
http://www.dfilm.com/live/home.html
U.S. Map Puzzle
http://www.yourchildlearns.com/us_map.htm
Welcome to Tips for Tutors
This blog has been created to provide tutors with a setting in which you can gain and share information with each other and with the Literacy Council. Add this site to your favorites and check in weekly to see what has been posted. Lauretta and I will share with you resources and sites that will help make your tutoring experience more meaningful and you are welcome to share with us and your fellow tutors ideas and strategies you are using successfully with your adult learners. Please feel free to post comments and suggestions. Thanks for all you do!
Lori Johnson