Niagara Regional Literacy Council
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Niagara Regional Literacy Council
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The following paragraphs were written by us and tell a short story about some of our students. Please note that the names have been changed as our goal is to offer everyone 100% confidentiality. .......................................... Jane started lessons with us about 1 year ago. When she came in she had very little self-esteem and wouldn’t read. One short year later, she has entered a PSW course and is getting 85 – 90% on her tests. Also, she is reading novels and is now on her fifth one. .......................................... Sue had been very ill and had lost some of her reading and writing skills. She came to us to help her fill in the “gaps”. Eighteen months later she is now entered into a college course to become a social worker and frequently speaks to groups who have a similar problem. .......................................... Bob came to us wanting to improve his writing and reading. He had never completed any book, writing a memo was a nightmare for him. He was afraid that people would laugh at him for his errors. Two years of very hard work he now has read many books and enjoys reading them, and he is able to send memos at work without worrying about their content. He is much more confident today, writing letters to friends and reading out loud. .......................................... Sarah's tutor was concerned because Sarah wasn’t doing much writing. I came up with the idea of having Sarah write to me and we would become “pen pals” . This practice has continued for 2 years. This helps her to address letters and receive and read and respond to mail. She has sent me pictures, stories, and just letters. We have put some of her articles in our Millennium Book. Since starting this practice she has written an ad for the paper about her lost cat. She wrote the ad, sent it off and saw that it got into the paper properly. .......................................... When Joe started the program he had problems reading and wasn’t able to write notes/memos at his work. His tutor has worked with him for 2 years. His goal originally was to read a book that a friend had written. He asked his tutor to read the book and let him know what she thought of it. The tutor read the book and decided that she should show Joe what is “good”, or at least easier to read, writing. Joe was introduced to “Harry Potter”. He read the first book as part of his lessons. Discussing the book as he went. When he came to class and informed his tutor he had been up very late because “he couldn’t put the book down” she knew that she had just created a “reader”. Also, as part of his lessons Joe has been working on his
writing skills. This is a very
important part of his job. He needs
to be able to read and understand memos as well as being able to write them as necessary. Every lesson includes
some writing skill, notes, letters, memos etc. This past summer Joe was a counselor at a summer camp. He had 10 children in his cabin. At the end of the summer he wrote each child a letter to let them know how much he enjoyed meeting/having them in his group. When he returned home he checked the letter on his computer and much to his delight, it was perfect without any spelling errors. He now feels more confident at work and is able to write memos, e-mails, and reports with confidence. Joe has taught many groups over the past summer. He has read the Harry Potter books and finally can understand good writing and poor writing. He has decided to keep working on his Phonics because he is still unsure of himself and his ability to write and read. |
