Does your learner have a voracious appetite for knowledge that is difficult to quench?
For some first-time tutors, coming up with lessons that consistently engage learners' literacy goals can feel like a daunting task. With so many available resources, it's easy to feel overwhelmed.
This is why we decided to showcase Cambridge University Press's high-interest, real-life topic series, Ventures. At its core, Ventures is a five-level, standards-based English language learning series for adults.
Jean Buys has been a tutor with us since 2015 and has worked alongside her current learner, Kim Thi Le, since September. Jean is a veteran who served in the Air Force, Army, and National Guard. Jean now spends her time working as a career and life coach while taking care of her family.
How did you get involved with the Literacy Center?
My mom instilled the love of reading in me at a young age. Every month I would get a Dr. Seuss book in the mail. She'd call me in from outside and together we’d read the book. Also, my mother was as a tutor [at the Literacy Center].
It was during the Literacy Center’s annual picnic that I'd get to meet my mother’s learners and their families. It was like a small seed that began growing inside me after the second and third picnic. I wanted to get involved.
Are you stuck in a rut with your tutoring?
Are you looking for more activity ideas, teaching strategies, or even a refresher on best practices for tutoring? Look no further than the reference book LITSTART: Strategies for Adult Literacy and ESL Tutors.
Tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What do you do?
I’m originally from Grant, a small farming community north of Grand Rapids, but GR has been home for almost a decade. I work in marketing and advertising.
What drew you to the mission of the Literacy Center?
Libby Crabb Wahlstrom [Literacy Center Development Director] was the first person to introduce me to the Literacy Center. We are close friends, and when she told me about the organization, I was floored. I spent a month in Rome during college, and I know how hard that was to navigate. I can’t imagine not being able to read while still performing a job or navigating a city. I also loved that the Literacy Center serves adult learners. Don’t get me wrong, kids are important, but there are so few programs for adults.
Christopher Helgeson is a software developer who has been working alongside Saw-Sa-Nay, a native of Myanmar, since October of 2017. With Christopher’s guidance, Saw is making significant progress in his listening and conversation skills. Just as importantly, the two have had a meaningful exchange of cultural ideas and experiences.
For tutors who are looking for meaningful conversation practice for their advanced level learners, Great Short Stories for Listening-Speaking offers adaptations of timeless short stories from authors such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm. Like similar items in our library, this workbook provides our learners an opportunity to access stories with simplified and engaging vocabulary.
Anthony Hanline is a full-time student and has tutored his learner, Abubaker, since September 2016. This past November, Abubaker was sworn in as a US citizen after passing the difficult naturalization exam. Anthony and Abubaker worked together closely to prepare for the exam, and Anthony agreed to share his experiences with the naturalization process to encourage fellow tutors and learners.
Are you and your learner ready to take listening comprehension to the next level? If so, we encourage you to stop by our library to check out Pearson's English Readers Series.
Pearson, a conduit of education publishing and assessment services, understands the needs of English learners. The English Readers Series attempts to streamline the process of developing listening comprehension by offering an array of titles, all of which include plans for pre-reading and post-reading analysis and further online lesson plans.
Learner and tutor pairs often tell me that writing is the one topic that presents the most difficulty for them. Fortunately, we have a great resource called Weaving It Together that can help.
Queyonna sat down with Diedre Deering and her learner, Malvin Brooks, during one of their tutoring sessions in the Literacy Center's tutor library. Diedre is the Executive Assistant at the Literacy Center, and she and Malvin have been meeting together since May 2017.
What did those first meetings look like?
Malvin and I met for the first time at the Van Belkum library branch. For the first couple of weeks, we just got to know each other. From the very beginning, I was impressed at Malvin's dedication. He is so faithful about doing his homework and always shows up for tutoring even though he works two jobs.
What was your proudest moment as a tutor?
I would say my proudest moment was when Malvin received his score on the second [reading] test he took after we started working together. He had a significant jump in score on that second test, and it showed that everything we'd been working on was helping him improve.
For most people studying English, learning how to use phrasal verbs is a significant challenge. They are semantically and grammatically complex, and often use verbs with different meanings.
Unfortunately, those of us who are native speakers use these phrasal verbs frequently throughout our daily conversations and in writing. The Longman Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs currently lists 12,000 different entries; this can confuse learners of all levels.
For learners who are interested in working on phrasal verbs, I recommend “A Phrasal Verb Affair.” This bright pink workbook is hard to miss in our tutor library and includes an audio CD with conversations from the lessons.
Paul Conlon began working with his learner, Livingstone, in 2016. Paul was a retired teacher who had worked with children for more than 30 years, but was admittedly a bit apprehensive about working with an adult. He quickly learned that adult learners like Livingstone are often highly motivated to learn.
For adult learners hoping to improve their literacy skills, grammar can seem like an insurmountable barrier to fluency. For their tutors, grammar can be an out-of-reach concept tied to knowledge they acquired in early school days. Thankfully, the book Focus on Grammar structures grammar instruction in an accessible and relatable way.
With the sheer amount of information needing to be covered in English grammar, most adult literacy textbooks choose between covering the basics for everyday use or exploring advanced usage more necessary for higher education.
Focus on Grammar marries these two opposing needs into one series. With five levels ranging from beginning to advanced, learners can build their grammar fluency at any stage of their learning path.
Kalista Castine is a retired educator of adults and children within Special and Alternative Education. She has previously tutored with children at the West Michigan Children’s Dyslexia Center. She has been working with her learner Justin since February of this year, and the two have already seen significant improvement in his reading score. Justin is from Detroit and is working toward earning his GED.
Tell me about working with Justin.
Justin is a resourceful and persistent person, especially in his quest to improve his reading and spelling skills. We started working with what he knew and have built up our lessons from there. I continue to remind him that he is learning how to unlock literacy for himself. The first six months have flown by, and we are set to continue for as long as we need to or can.
Learner English, this month's reference spotlight, is a resource staple for many teachers and trainers of English language learners. We believe it can also be helpful to you as you work with your learner on navigating the English language. Learner English is designed to help you predict your learner's possible errors by examining their mother-tongue.