Hello Tom,

Have you thought of encouraging teachers to work on helping students learn
one simple poem or joke to read with their children each week? These could
be nursery rhymes or anything else the teachers found would work for
students with somewhat older children. I have done this with students of
mine who have
children, and they really enjoyed learning something that they could share
with their children. It would be a start. Even the beginners could learn to
say and begin to read basic poems and jokes, although they would need a bit
more help than students with more comprehension. They would not need to
learn to read all the words and phrases independently at first.

Many poems and jokes have words and phrases that are also used in life/work
skills activities, so they could be considered to serve both functions.

I hope this helps a little.

Best regards,

Sylvie

Sylvie Kashdan, M.A.
Instructor/Curriculum Coordinator
KAIZEN PROGRAM for New English Learners with Visual Limitations
810-A Hiawatha Place South
Seattle, WA  98144, U.S.A.
phone:  (206) 784-5619
email:  kaizen at literacyworks.org
web:  http://www.nwlincs.org/kaizen/

----- Original Message ----- 
From: <tlarrabee at progresolatino.org>
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List"
<englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2006 9:35 AM
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 889] ESOL readers


Hello,

   This topic has gotten me thinking.  I am concerned with two similar
categories of students.  One group is the welfare to work program and the
other
is Even Start which is a family literacy program.  Both groups should be
reading.  The skill levels are from Basic to Low Advanced.  All of them have
children.  Procedurally is there a way to to ensure that time is being spent
on
this particular skill?  I have a dual role as teacher and administrator.  I
don't want to nag about this so I was wondering how can I create
procedures/protocols to see to it that the teachers make time in lesson
planning and how can I know if this is going on in a systematic way which
will
also assist me in grant reporting.  Currently the teachers are more
experienced
and comfortable with life/work skills.  They aren't as comfortable with this
other component.  Is there a procedure whereby the teachers may follow to
help
in making this transition?  I am not looking for anything overly academic
because we haven't advanced that far yet.  This would be an introductory
classroom practice.  It will also be a component of a program.  There are so
many things that these students need skills in.

Thanks,
Tom Larrabee
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