LVGS Tutor In Service Opportunity

Below is information on an upcoming ESL pronunciation workshop.

Saturday January 15, 2011
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
Beauchamp Library, 2111 S. Salina Street
Guest speaker is Mary Earle, founder of Voice & Speech, Inc.
Mary will focus on pronunciation and difficulties you may experience with your ESL student.
Come prepared to share your experiences, challenges, and successes.
Students are welcome!

Visit the attached link to register http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/PT7VYGS

Opportunities (Volunteer & Student)

Volunteer Teacher Positions Available
The North Side Learning Center is non-profit, grass roots community organization that focuses on family literacy and learning the English language. Most of the students are recent refugees to the Syracuse area.
Established in October 2009, the NSLC has three levels of adult classes, a pre-kindergarten - kindergarten program (Littlepals I: ages 4 - 7), an elementary program (Littlepals II: ages 8 - 12) and a middle school/high school program for girls and boys.
Currently, there is an urgent need for the following teachers and levels:

• Littlepals I teacher: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 - 8:00PM (teacher going out on maternity leave)
• Littlepals II teacher: Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 - 8:00PM
• Middle School/High School Boys: Monday from 5:30 - 8:00PM
• Beginning I Adult Teacher: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 - 8:00PM (new class due to waiting list)
• Advanced Adults: Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 5:30 - 8:00PM (or one or two of these days)

If you or someone you know with teaching experience might be interested in any of these positions, please have them call the volunteer Program Director Yusuf Soule, Ph.D. directly at 607-761-6698 or Robyn Smith 315-471-1300 rsmith@lvgs.org

Financial Literacy Classes
LVGS and The Newland Center are offering a 1 hour financial literacy class one day per week. The class will have an overview of a few financial concepts - budgeting, saving accounts, bill paying, service charges etc. Classes will be held at The Newland Center 1443 East Genesee Street, Syracuse, NY, 13210 the first class will be Wednesday November 17th at 9:30 AM. If you have a student that is interested in attending please contact the office 315-471-1300 or rsmith@lvgs.org for more information.

New Events and Opportunities

Green Card Application training for English speakers/refugee peers
Date: Saturday November 6
Time: 9:30-11 am
Location: SCSD Refugee Assistance Program, 501 Park Street
Seats are limited – if interested contact me ASAP, rsmith@lvgs.org or 471-1300

Syracuse Community Choir's 25th Anniversary Concert which will be held in December at Nottingham High School.
Every year SCC recognizes an individual or organization that actively works toward social justice and peace with a People's Peace Award. This year's recipient of the People's Peace Award is retired Danforth teacher, CURN and Light a Candle for Literacy founder Geneva Hayden.
Event: SCC 25th Anniversary Concert
Date: Sunday, December 19, 2010
Time: 3:30 pm - 6:00 pm
Location: Nottingham High School
Address: 3100 East Genesee Street, Syracuse NY
Tickets: $10-25 Sliding Scale at Door (Children Under 12 Free)
Phone: (315) 428-8151
Email: syracusecommunitychoir@gmail.com

Toolkit for Making Written Material Clear and Effective
This free online health literacy resource from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provides a detailed and comprehensive set of tools to help make written material in printed formats easier for people to read, understand, and use.
Florida Literacy Coalition Releases Health Curricula
Several new free ESL resources from the Florida Literacy Coalition focus on the areas of women's health and coping with stress.

Adult Education & Family Literacy Week Celebration

Friday, September 17th
Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse and The Newland Center (formerly The Learning Place) are celebrating with a book giveaway, free food donated by TOPS Friendly Markets, and free entertainment at The Newland Center.
Event starts at 3 pm with music by “Fleet Street” from 4-6 pm
Hope to see you there..

Forget What you Know About Good Study Habits

Forget What You Know About Good Study Habits
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/07/health/views/07mind.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1&ref=science?8dpc
Below is an excerpt from the article
“Yet there are effective approaches to learning, at least for those who are motivated. In recent years, cognitive scientists have shown that a few simple techniques can reliably improve what matters most: how much a student learns from studying.
The findings can help anyone, from a fourth grader doing long division to a retiree taking on a new language. But they directly contradict much of the common wisdom about good study habits, and they have not caught on.
For instance, instead of sticking to one study location, simply alternating the room where a person studies improves retention. So does studying distinct but related skills or concepts in one sitting, rather than focusing intensely on a single thing. “
What do you think? How does your student learn?

Upcoming In Service Opportunities

Tutor Training & Networking Opportunities

All in-service sessions will be held on Saturdays

10 AM – 12 Noon
Open to any and all adult literacy tutors.
Snacks are provided!

Date: September 11, 2010
Topic: Tutoring Materials & Resources
Location: Central Library
447 S. Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
Contact: Amy Thorna (athorna@onlib.org)

Date: January 15, 2011
Topic: Working with potentially learning disabled students
Location: Beauchamp Library
2111 S. Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13205
Contact: Robyn Smith (rsmith@lvgs.org)

Date: April 16, 2011
Topic: Creating a Lesson Plan and Sticking to it
Location: Manlius Library
1 Arkie Albanese Way
Manlius, NY 13104-1667
Contact: Robyn Smith (rsmith@lvgs.org)

August 20, 2011
Back to Basics
Making the most of your sessions
Central Library
447 S. Salina Street
Syracuse, NY 13202
Contact: Amy Thorna (athorna@onlib.org)

Spelling & Reading Video

This interesting spelling and reading video was brought to my attention.
Check out the attached link - may be a great resource for you and your student.
http://www.ozreadandspell.com.au/home.htm

Working with a Possible Learning Disability

One of my literacy students is working on citizenship, getting ready for the test. We’ve been stuck on chapter 1 for at least three weeks, and I think it’s because he has a learning disability. He can READ and WRITE the questions and answers pretty well, but when I ask the question ORALLY he struggles to reply. When I give him the answer orally and ask him to repeat it, he almost always gets it all mixed up. Nothing in my experience or training has prepared me for this! So I went looking on the web for resources and found the Learning Disabilities Association of America, http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/adults/index.asp

There’s a subsection on their website with Adult Literacy Reading Programs for Literacy Providers, http://www.ldanatl.org/aboutld/adults/assessment/literacy.asp with a list of multi-sensory resources (almost none of them electronic, unfortunately).

If anyone in LVGS has some suggestions for how I can help this student to learn, I’d really appreciate hearing them.

Resources and Opportunities for Tutors

English Language Conversation Group will be held on Tuesday mornings from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the White Branch Library, 763 Butternut St. Non-native speakers can learn or improve their English at this free drop-in neighborhood conversation group that is designed to give adult English language learners practice speaking in an informal, relaxed atmosphere. Individuals are welcome to attend whenever they can. No registration is necessary for this free program.

Thinkfinity offers a vast array of online resources – free check out the links below:
FOR ADULT LEARNERS
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NATIONAL HOME SAFETY MONTH

In the United States, millions of adults and their families are at risk of death and injury because they cannot read or understand existing information about fire safety, creating escape plans or preparing for disasters. These resources weave safety information into everyday literacy instruction.

Home Safety Literacy Project from
ProLiteracy
Instructional materials designed especially for adults to teach or reinforce reading, writing, listening and speaking skills while teaching essential safety messages at the same time. Available in English or Spanish.

Immigrants and Citizenship - Thinkfinity Literacy Network
If you are working to help prepare immigrants for citizenship, Verizon Thinkfinity has online courses, lessons, print resources, podcasts and interactives available to help them pass the U.S. Naturalization Test.

New Readers Press is offering a trial period for News For You online. This is a fantastic resource for beginning readers – it contains current events, news, and even a crossword puzzle all at a beginning reading level visit http://www.newsforyouonline.com/index.asp
Enter JUN2010 as the trial password

Summer is here maybe you have time for another student – the waiting list grows everyday – contact me if you would like to find out more about the students waiting to be matched!

Gretchen Wilson

You may have heard the story of Gretchen Wilson, country music superstar, who obtained her GED at age 34. She has become something of a spokesperson for adult education, even testifying before the House Committee on Education and Labor in May of last year. Gretchen has been recognized by the National Coalition for Literacy and Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (TN) for her efforts (you can find Gretchen’s testimony here: http://edlabor.house.gov/hearings/2009/05/).

If you are a fan of Gretchen Wilson AND a fan of adult literacy, you can click here to win tickets to see her in concert!

http://www.dgliteracysweeps.com/

Dollar General is a great supporter of literacy programs, and a funder of ours here at LVGS. Spread the word!