Return-Path: <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id j4OLLFG08616; Tue, 24 May 2005 17:21:15 -0400 (EDT) Date: Tue, 24 May 2005 17:21:15 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <s2936232.019@mailsrv21.gsu.edu> Errors-To: listowner@nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: "Daphne Greenberg" <ALCDGG@langate.gsu.edu> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-womenlit@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-WOMENLIT:3246] Re: Women in Prison X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII X-Mailer: Novell GroupWise Internet Agent 6.5.4 Status: O Content-Length: 3308 Lines: 78 Thanks for sharing. You describe a fascinating program! I am wondering if people think that women in prison have unique issues that impact their literacy learning, compared to women not in prison? >>> roloffje@gse.harvard.edu 5/23/2005 8:49 AM >>> Hello, In response to Daphne, I have volunteered at a low-security women's prison outside Boston. It's a residential program for women who were pregnant or who had infants when they were incarcerated. This facility allows women to have their children living with them. My experience there corroborates what Eve Ensler says in her film--the women do want to express their stories. I found what worked well for building rapport and working on literacy skills was to read together the poetry or stories by women authors, and to discuss it briefly with the students. Then, I asked the women students to write what theme or thought stood out for them in the literature. Afterwards, the assignment would be to write a journal entry based on that thought or theme from the literature (this is for women with intermediate to higher literacy skills). Reading aloud works well with women who have lower literacy skills). The women would sometimes share the journal entry with me and sometimes kept it private. But it was a way to express themselves and a powerful way to work on reading and writing skills. In addition, I have found Wally Lamb's (Editor) book "Couldn't Keep it to Myself" to be powerful and could be used with women prisoners with higher literacy skills or as a read-aloud text to be used with a group. It is a collection of short stories by women prisoners for whom Lamb facilitated a writing workshop. Thanks, Jenni On Mon, 23 May 2005 05:23:47 -0400 (EDT) David Rosen <DJRosen@theworld.com> wrote: > Daphne, and others, > > "What I want my words to do to you" showed commercially in theaters in Boston. It is a very >moving film, which is available as a dvd rental. I recommend it highly. > > David J. Rosen > djrosen@comcast.net > > On May 22, 2005, at 9:45 PM, Daphne Greenberg wrote: > >> I know that some of you work in prisons, and I came across an >> interesting article in the Winter 04/05 Lilith magazine about women in >> prison. One of the interesting facts that I came across is that Eve >> Ensler, the author of "The Vagina Monologues" teaches a writing class >> to violent female offenders at Beford Hills prison for women in >> Westchester County, NY. She is quoted as saying: "What I've seen is >> how much women in prison long to tell their stories." Her class has >> been filmed for a PBS documentary "What I want my words to do" >> I am curious if any of you would care to share your experiences with >> literacy and women in prison. >> >> >> >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Assistant Professor >> Educational Psych. & Special Ed. >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3679 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3979 >> phone: 404-651-0127 >> fax:404-651-4901 >> dgreenberg@gsu.edu >> >> Daphne Greenberg >> Associate Director >> Center for the Study of Adult Literacy >> Georgia State University >> P.O. Box 3977 >> Atlanta, Georgia 30302-3977 >> phone: 404-651-0127 >> fax:404-651-4901 >> dgreenberg@gsu.edu >> > Jennifer Roloff Welch NCSALL fellow Doctoral Student, Harvard Graduate School of Education
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