Literacy Volunteers on the Green http://www.lvg-ct.org Free English as a second language and literacy instruction Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:01:53 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Resources for Starting Conversations http://www.lvg-ct.org/resources-for-starting-conversations/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/resources-for-starting-conversations/#comments Sat, 03 Jul 2010 04:01:53 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=514 Tutor Victoria Miller passed on some useful links from About.com’s English as a Second Language site with resources to help students start conversations. Below are a selection of links from this great resource.

Top 10 Questions for Starting a Conversation and How to Expand on Them
http://esl.about.com/od/howtogetstarted/a/starting_conversation.htm

Related Lesson Plans:

50 of the Most Important Basic English Questions
http://esl.about.com/od/beginnerpronunciation/a/basicquestions.htm

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/resources-for-starting-conversations/feed/ 0 HELP WANTED http://www.lvg-ct.org/help-wanted/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/help-wanted/#comments Sat, 03 Jul 2010 02:19:11 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=487 Please call (860-355-0830) or e-mail (info@lvg-ct.org) if you can help with the following:

Would you love to plan a party?  Casey Pascal and Jose De Aguiar are planning a student-tutor gathering in the fall.  If you can help with organization, set-up, clean-up, etc., we need you.

Do you have experience using Microsoft Publisher?  Jacqui needs your help with the lay-out of LVG’s newsletter and annual report.  You will be provided with the copy.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/help-wanted/feed/ 0 Connecticut Community Foundation Grant Provides Database http://www.lvg-ct.org/connecticut-community-foundation-grant-provides-database/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/connecticut-community-foundation-grant-provides-database/#comments Sat, 12 Jun 2010 02:38:06 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=499 We will finally be able to easily track down our students and tutors! With 74 active tutors teaching 140 students; and classes occurring seven days a week, mornings, afternoons, and evenings in locations from Danbury to Salisbury, a database had become essential.

Through a grant from the Connecticut Community Foundation, we were able to obtain a database especially designed for a literacy volunteers organization.  It will include student and tutor demographics, assessment results and achievement of goals, class levels and locations, etc.

The grant also included money for a laser jet printer, refurbished computer, and fax machine.  It will take time to enter all of the data, but the system will be up and running by the end of August.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/connecticut-community-foundation-grant-provides-database/feed/ 0 Helping with our Strategic Plan http://www.lvg-ct.org/helping-with-our-strategic-plan/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/helping-with-our-strategic-plan/#comments Tue, 08 Jun 2010 02:36:09 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=497 Allan Priaulx, President of LVG’s Board of Directors, will be sending you information about a questionnaire for tutors as part of the development of a strategic plan.  Some of your students will also receive questionnaires.  Thank you in advance for taking the time to complete them.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/helping-with-our-strategic-plan/feed/ 0 Student and Program Assessments http://www.lvg-ct.org/student-and-program-assessments/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/student-and-program-assessments/#comments Mon, 07 Jun 2010 02:34:13 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=495 LVG is a United Way Partner Agency and a ProLiteracy America Program Affiliate.  These organizations, and our funders, want to know that we are providing tutoring which follows the best educational practices and that our students’ literacy skills are improving.  

It is, therefore, important that we document student hours and assess their literacy skills goals and achievements annually.

 LVG uses the ESLOA (English as a Second Language Oral Assessment) when students register for tutoring.  The ESLOA will also be used for annual assessments.  In addition, this year we will pilot a short writing and reading assessment based on the Side by Side curriculum.
 
Based on the schedule that other literacy volunteer groups have found effective, our goal is to begin annual assessments in August and be finished by November 1. 

After student assessments have been completed, we will schedule tutors’ meetings to share information and materials and determine what additional materials tutors would find helpful.  These will be tutors-only sessions and provide opportunities to share your success stories with each other and see what materials LVG has available in addition to the texts.

 Please e-mail Jacqui at info@lvg-ct.org if you have ideas about the best locations and times for tutor gatherings.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/student-and-program-assessments/feed/ 0 LVG’s Annual Fundraiser a Success! http://www.lvg-ct.org/lvg%e2%80%99s-annual-fundraiser-a-success/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/lvg%e2%80%99s-annual-fundraiser-a-success/#comments Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:26:14 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=490 LVG’s Annual Fundraiser was held on April 30 at the Candlewood Inn.  Almost two hundred guests ate, danced, and bid their way to a successful evening for LVG, raising almost $25,000 to support the organization’s general operating expenses. Auction items included an afternoon of cruising on Candlewood Lake, romantic get-aways at area inns, Red Sox and Yankees memorabilia, the use of a country house for the week-end, theater tickets, dining out certificates, and airline tickets. Kudos to Anne Maitland and Carol McCarthy who were the chairs of the event. 

Please put April 15, 2011 on your calendar.  We guarantee that you will have a great time!

Right: Board member Margaret Wiener and student GJ Hernandez, both of Kent, announce auction winners while board member Sue McWhinnie looks on.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/lvg%e2%80%99s-annual-fundraiser-a-success/feed/ 0 Welcome New Tutors http://www.lvg-ct.org/welcome-new-tutors/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/welcome-new-tutors/#comments Sat, 03 Apr 2010 02:41:29 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=502 Facilitated by Arley Gray, the Tutor Training for Teaching English, was held on March 23-25. Arley has his M.A.  from Columbia University in Teaching English as a Second Language and currently offers project management and editorial services to ESL publishers in the United States and the United Kingdom.  Please welcome the following to the LVG Family of Tutors: Lisa Atkinson, Loretta Bayers, Elenor Bristol, Laura Cleary, Alexandra DiPentima, John Frank, Judith Friedman, Kam Ho, Margaret Kistinger, Darren Lougee, Frances Morris, Helen Piacquadio, Rick Slivka, Frank Tedesco, and Wendy Walker. 

This spring, Tutor Training for Teaching Basic Literacy was added to LVG’s training programs. Patty Buchan who earned a master’s degree in reading, founded a literacy volunteers group in Maine, and teaches at Naugatuck Community College taught the sessions for us on April 24 and June 5.  Four current and five new tutors are now available to teach basic literacy: Norman Adler, Loretta Bayers, Saun Ellis-Drohojowska, George Gishman, Marylyn Hendricks, Marty Lambert, Barbara Leahey, Helaine McDermott, and Franz Ryerson.

The 2010 Tutor Training Sessions are funded in part through a grant from the Savings Bank of Danbury. There will be another Tutor Training for Teaching English session in the fall.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/welcome-new-tutors/feed/ 0 Citizenship, Census, Tax Prep and More! http://www.lvg-ct.org/citizenship-census-tax-prep-and-more/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/citizenship-census-tax-prep-and-more/#comments Sat, 27 Mar 2010 23:14:15 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=471 Below are a few announcements about new materials and opportunities for you and your students.

Citizenship Classes
We now have three tutors who are interested in and knowledgeable about citizenship. If any of your students are interested in working with a tutor to prepare for their citizenship test, please have them contact us as soon as possible. Our Executive Director, Jacqui Farrell, is setting up class times. If your students are taking a citizenship class through New Milford High School, etc., they are still welcome to join one of our classes for extra, small group help.

Free Tax Prep
There is free income tax preparation assistance available to our students through the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program in Danbury. It is open to anyone on a low or fixed income. Their office is at the Hispanic Center on West Street and their phone number is 203-798-2855.

2010 Census
Census forms are arriving. Ask your students if they need help completing their forms.

A Grant Received for Easy English News
We have received a $500 grant from the Women’s Club of Danbury and New Fairfield for subscriptions to Easy English News. We’re looking into how many subscriptions we will be able to order for that. First come, first served. Contact Jacqui Farrell if your students could benefit.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/citizenship-census-tax-prep-and-more/feed/ 0 Join us for a Celebration of Literacy on April 30th http://www.lvg-ct.org/join-us-for-a-celebration-of-literacy/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/join-us-for-a-celebration-of-literacy/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:48:09 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=461 What: A Gala Dinner and Auction to Benefit Literacy Volunteers on the Green
When: Friday, April 30th, 2010
from 6:30 to 11:30 pm
Where: Candlewood Inn, Brookfield, CT

For further information please call 860-355-0830.

]]> http://www.lvg-ct.org/join-us-for-a-celebration-of-literacy/feed/ 0 Tutor Training scheduled for March 23, 24, and 25 http://www.lvg-ct.org/tutor-training-scheduled-for-march-23-24-and-25/ http://www.lvg-ct.org/tutor-training-scheduled-for-march-23-24-and-25/#comments Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:43:08 +0000 Jamie http://www.lvg-ct.org/?p=457 Our next tutor Training will be held Tuesday, March 23rd, Wednesday, March 24th and Thursday, March 25th from 6:00 to 9:00 PM at St. John’s Church Parish Hall, New Milford, CT. For further information please call 860-355-0830.

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