April 2014 Accomplishments

Students and tutors create art!

Project READ Family Literacy Instructional Center, Day of Art:

During Spring Break this past month, approximately 30 learners and Junior League and teen tutors worked together to create large-scale art projects that will be hung as backdrops at our annual awards ceremony and BBQ. Additionally, students created smaller sea creatures to be part of our “Under the Sea” theme.  Students used varied objects from broccoli-rabe to sea sponges to create texture on the backdrops.  Art integration is a critical part of the learning process and our Project READ curriculum. This project engaged students in collaborative projects that focused around community building.

Project READ Families For Literacy Story Hour

Over 80 learners, families and friends attended our April Story Hour, where Magic Dan performed for our families. Students took part in three different pre-literacy crafts based on our “family book” made from recycled or household items. Students were able to self-select books from our book give way table to add to their home libraries. Our collaborative partners, Hands On Bay Area (HOBA) volunteers and community volunteers were on hand to help our little ones work on their art projects. It was fun night for everyone.

Project READ’s collaborative partner Mid Peninsula Junior League Book Club:

In April, our youngest students joined our Book Club with our Junior League tutors working with two small groups of children. More than 20 academically at risk students attended the two Book Clubs, where they read the same book in a round table format. Our youngest students read alongside the adult tutors, while other students read aloud. Students were able to bring their new book home to build their home libraries and practice reading their books to family. Students created art projects that were focused around the books they read.

Project READ Adult Inmate Program at SMCO Correctional Facilities:

Project READ provided an open entry/exit Poetry and Literacy Course at the Women’s Transitional Facility in Redwood City that ran for five sessions over five weeks.  We began with eight students, and we ended with a total of twelve student contributors.  Each session looked at a particular form of poem: List, “I am”, Conversation, Narrative, and Acronym.  Each session was divided in to three parts:

1.   Reading and discussing a particular form of poetry

2.  Writing poems of that type in a twenty minute class period

3.  Presenting the poems to the rest of the class

The learners were quite enthusiastic and seemed to enjoy the creative process.  Some of the students had never written a poem, while others had experience, but little training.  Each lesson focused on learning poetic conversations and devices along with stressing the importance of creating fresh images while using very few words.

The poems were compiled into an anthology. Each poem represented a different form studied over the five weeks of the course. They represented the sharing of the personal thoughts, ideas, and experiences of the women.  We hope readers from friends and family shared a memorable experience with the poets as they read their creative works.

Project READ - Adult Literacy Computer Literacy Program:

We welcomed 12 new adult learners to Project READ who are working with the Lexia - Reading S.O.S, a software-based reading program, and Rosetta Stone, the language acquisition program, to increase their vocabulary, grammar and conversation skills. These learners are awaiting a one-on-one match with a tutor, but have been able to start improving their literacy skills immediately by incorporating technology.  In April they logged in over 142 hours of interactive self-paced computer aided learning.

Project READ - Families In Partnership (FIP):

This month FIP had five new pairs start meeting regularly in the Family Instructional Center.  We also had seven new students receive reading evaluations and are now receiving services in the Family Literacy Instructional Center drop in program until they are matched with a volunteer tutor.

Teen Tutors