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The Oklahoma Literacy Resource Office
Oklahoma
Dept. of Libraries
200 NE 18th St
Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma
73105-3298
(405) 522-3205
(405) 525-7804—FAX
Archived Oklahoma Literacy News
Open Minds 3
Oklahoma’s New Tutor Training Model
Open Minds 3, the newest evolution of Oklahoma’s tutor training model, was launched in August, 2010. Twenty trainers from 17 local programs became familiar with the new model and have begun piloting the workshop throughout the state.
Open Minds 3 provides local tutors with orientation followed by six hours of core information. Once placed with a learner, new tutors return for 3 hours of follow up training. Like previous versions of Open Minds, the new model is meant to be fun, interesting, informative, and give volunteers the basic skills and resources they need to be successful tutors.
Trainers present the information in a variety of formats including demonstrations, small group work, PowerPoint, Utube, and learning stations. Trainers are also encouraged to customize the workshop to best meet the needs of their tutors and the local literacy program.
Following the basic and follow-up training, local programs will also provide at least one annual in-service continuing education opportunity for local tutors. Topics will vary depending on local needs and available tutoring resources, but will include such things as Visual Stress Syndrome, using web-based resources, and using children’s books to promote family reading. The project is possible thanks to Library Services and Technology Act funds from the Institute for Museum and Library Services.
Click here to view the Open Minds 3 workshop topics.
2009 Literacy Coalition Conference
Oklahoma Literacy Coalition's 24th Annual Conference was held on September 26, 2009 at the NCED Conference Center in Norman. See the pictures and get the story here.
Celebrating Our Journey, Volume 6
The Oklahoma Literacy Resource Office unveiled the newest edition of Celebrating Our Journey at the 2010 state literacy conference.
The publication features a collection of 183 stories written by Oklahoma learners and adult basic education students. More than 30 of the authors were on hand to autograph their story at a special book signing reception at the conference. The inspiring stories capture the successes, struggles, and thoughts of the authors as they shared their stories of Advice, Choices, Friendship, and Possibilities.
The 388 page book was possible thanks to Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Read Across Oklahoma 2009
Edmond Sun article by Patty Miller—April 7, 2009
1600 hotdogs, 1500 preschool children, and 250 high school and community volunteers—1 Great Event!
More than 1,500 preschool children converged on the Oklahoma City Zoo during the 2009 Read Across Oklahoma Reading Round-Up celebration held April 7.
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Edmond's Tammi Sauer, author of Cowboy Camp, with kids. |
Youngsters got into the spirit of the day by wearing cowboy hats and bright red bandanas. The little buckaroos viewed zoo exhibits, got their class pictures taken, met a variety of costumed characters, and visited special sticker and tattoo stations manned by members of Capitol Hill High School’s FCCLA club and students from Metro Tech. After enjoying an enormous hotdog feast served by 80 Target volunteers, the crowd moved to Aquaticus Stadium for some afternoon fun.
As children gathered in the outdoor theater, local entertainer Jim Garling taught the audience to sing a variety of cowboy songs. Following the musical entertainment, Metropolitan Library System’s Kelley Riha and members of the Capitol Hill High School drama club presented a live storytelling production of Cowboy Camp, a humorous children’s book written by Edmond author Tammi Sauer. The skit was enhanced with props and sound effects put together by the high school volunteers.
Read Across Oklahoma is part of the statewide Ready to Learn initiative coordinated by the Oklahoma Department of Libraries and Oklahoma Educational Television Authority. This special reading event directed at young children is held each year to celebrate literacy and encourage reading. Thanks to the overwhelming support of sponsors, the entire 2009 event was free to all 1,500 children. To top it all off, each child received a hardback copy of Cowboy Camp to take home.
According to project coordinator Kerri McLinn, “the 2009 event was the biggest turnout yet. Many of these children had never been to the zoo before. We are so thankful our project partners support literacy and helped put so many smiles on so many faces.”
2009
Read Across Oklahoma Sponsors
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Oklahoma Educational
Television Authority (OETA)
Target
Oklahoma City Zoo
and Zoological Society
Barnes and Noble
Krueger Charitable Foundation
Capitol
Hill High School FCCLA
Capitol
Hill High School Drama Club
Capitol
Hill High School ROTC
Metropolitan
Library System
Metro
Tech
The planning committee thanks all who participated and vow to have an even bigger and better event next year.
2009 Adult Learner Leadership Conference
Seventy-five adult learners and guests gathered in Oklahoma City for the annual adult learner conference. Attendees began the day with a presentation by Oklahoma City learner, Dion Jones. Following the opening session, attendees enthusiastically participated in three informative workshops presented by local experts.
Adult learners display their certificates.
Captain Dewitt Roland conducted the workshop on Fire Safety with
emphasis on prevention, planning, and practice (the three P’s).
Participants not only received a variety of life-saving information,
they each received a smoke alarm.
Family Reading Fun, presented by Ready to Learn trainer Susan Donchin, demonstrated techniques for reading aloud to children and also discussed the importance of family reading time in the development of a child’s brain. Each participant took home a copy of the fun and colorful book How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight?
Budgeting Basics covered the heart of money management and helped learners understand how to set financial goals, cut spending waste, and save money. Presenter JR Webster with Tinker Federal Credit Union not only gave great information but gave each participant a calculator and budget planner.
The conference took place in the beautiful Ronald J. Norick library in downtown Oklahoma City. The entire group was treated to lunch thanks to Tinker Federal Credit Union and learners left with new information, a bag of “goodies” and a certificate recognizing their participation.
The 2009 conference was hosted by the Literacy Resource Office with funds from the Institute of Museum and Library Services and was co-sponsored by the Oklahoma City Metro Literacy Coalition and Tinker Federal Credit Union.
Governor Proclaims Adult Learner Day
Adult Learner Day with [left to right] Representative Ken Miller, Shrontel Knox,
DeVoria Gaines-Ruffin, Tommy Morton, Keishia McDaniel, and Senator John Ford
Literacy programs throughout the state celebrated on February 11, 2009 as Governor Brad Henry issued a proclamation proclaiming it Adult Learner Day in Oklahoma. A special reception was hosted by Lt. Governor Jari Askins in the Blue Room of the state capitol. During the presentation, several learners shared their stories of success and told how learning to read had changed their lives. Leadership from the state House and Senate were presented with more than 900 letters from learners, tutors, and literacy advocates. The letters shared “real life” examples of the importance of literacy and the difference good literacy skills make in the lives of Oklahomans.
The event was coordinated by the Oklahoma Literacy Coalition with participation from local programs throughout the state.
PowerPath Helps Address Learner Needs
Representatives from eleven local programs recently participated in training in PowerPath. Dr. Laura Weisel, creator of PowerPath returned to Oklahoma to share the latest research and techniques in addressing the special needs of adult learners.
Marcia Hickman (Ponca City), Holly Coats (Tulsa), and
Rebecca Howard (Tulsa) check out Visual Screening tools.
A recent article featured in Kentucky Educational Television’s publication Adult Literacy Quarterly stated, “Weisel’s research indicates that many of the strugglers stem from undiagnosed problems and in many cases physiological issues no one knew how to diagnose until recently.”
Here
is a snapshot of what Weisel found:
48% had problems with vision function
41% suffer from hearing loss
78% have attention difficulties
90% suffer from visual
stress syndrome (VSS)
40% are already diagnosed as learning disabled
Based on these results, Weisel redesigned the PowerPath assessment tool to seek out and address these issues.
The training was hosted by the Oklahoma Literacy Resource Office (LRO) to support the efforts of local programs. According to LRO staff member, Arlene Nelson, “We have already seen significant positive results from many of our programs using PowerPath.”
Nelson reported that student success increases dramatically when issues such as VSS are determined and addressed. PowerPath is a tool that can help do both.
Participating literacy programs are committed to assessing learners with the PowerPath tool and reviewing the results. The assessment will identify learner strengths and weakness and will suggest strategies to accelerate learning.
Nelson reported that Dr. Weisel will return to Oklahoma for additional training later this year.
2008's Read Across America
Twenty Oklahoma City school buses rolled into the OKC Zoo bringing more than 800 pre-K school children, teachers and parents to celebrate the 2008 Read Across Oklahoma event. Welcoming the children with safari vests created by Metro Tech students and camouflage binoculars made by FCCLA students were members of Capitol Hill Family and Community Career Leaders of America (FCCLA) and Junior ROTC.
First Lady Mrs. Kim Henry entertained the children
as a special guest reader of the book Wild About Animals, before the
children toured the zoo. Metropolitan Library 
System
employee Kelly Riha continued reading to the
children, zoo employees provided information about animals along the way and
children received animal stickers to put on their safari vests. Target provided
funding for buses and Target employees photographed classroom pictures. Sponsoring
Rotary members accompanied classes, assisting teachers with the children. Clifford
and Curious George
OETA employees greeted the general public at the zoo entrance and handed out books provided by Oklahoma Department of Libraries to children visiting the zoo who were not a part of the pre-k program.
Before the children returned to school, boxes of books were loaded onto the buses so that each child had a new book to add to his/her home library. Parting hugs were given to Spoticus, the library dog as the children returned to the classroom after a great outing at the zoo.
In appreciation for the volunteer efforts, the Capitol High School and Metro Tech students were invited to a celebration luncheon donated by What’s Cooking caterer Shelly Adler. Senator Cliff Aldridge spoke to the group, sharing his love of volunteer reading in the classroom and encouraging the high school students to continue to give back in some form of community service.
The day ended with a feeling of satisfaction and a commitment to continue to work together to encourage young children and their parents to read.
Partners in the 2008 Read Across Oklahoma project include:
The Krueger Charitable Foundation
Zoological Society
Target
Gemini
Barnes and Noble
Crest Foods
OETA
WalMart
What’s Cooking
OKC Community Foundation
Rotary
Brown’s Bakery
Metropolitan Library System
Oklahoma Department of Libraries
Here are some more photos from this special event:
State Senator Aldridge Surprises Kids
With Reading Session
Children at Tom Steed Elementary School in Midwest City were recently treated to a special story time with State Senator Cliff
Aldridge. The senator read Froggy Gets Dressed to Mrs. Ross’s pre-school class, one of the sites participating in ODL’s First Book initiative. According to Kerri McLinn, ODL’s First Book coordinator, “The children really loved hearing the story and everyone was appreciative that Senator Aldridge was able to take time from his busy schedule to support this project.”
As part of the First Book project, each child in the class received a copy of the book to take home thanks to the Midwest City Rotary.
With the assistance of Rotary and other project partners, ODL distributes more than 1,500 books each month to pre-school children at-risk for low literacy.
Phonics Intervention
Can you correctly code the following words?
banana explain
Literacy representatives from 22 local programs recently attended a Phonics Intervention workshop hosted by the Literacy Resource Office with funds from the Institute for Museums and Library Services.
Presenter and author, Lorna Simmons shared the basics of coding words as a tool for teaching struggling readers. Once learners know how to identify the sounds of letters and letter clusters, they are better able to read unfamiliar and difficult words.
Before the workshop had ended, participants knew their breves from their macrons and were coding with confidence. Phonics Intervention kits were presented to the local literacy programs that sent representatives to the training.
The correct coding is:
To contact staff of the Literacy Resource Office, use ODL's Staff Contact Form or Department Contact Form.
Target Grants Funds for Literacy Project
The Oklahoma Literacy Resource Office is pleased to have been selected as one of twenty-one Oklahoma City area organizations recently awarded grant funds from Target. Funds will be used to transport children to the Oklahoma City Zoo in March to celebrate Read Across America Day. An estimated 850 pre school children accompanied by 150 high school students will celebrate reading and participate in activities at the zoo. At the end of the celebration, each young child will receive a copy of the animal picture book, Wild About Books thanks to the Krueger Foundation, local Rotary groups, and the Oklahoma Department of Libraries.
Each year, Target gives 5% of its income to organizations that support education, the arts, and safe families. “At Target, we are making a real difference every day through our grant-making program,” said Laysha
, vice president of community relations at Target. “We’re proud to partner with the Oklahoma Department of Libraries as part of our ongoing commitment to give back to the communities where our guests and team members live and work.”
Read Across America Day is celebrated in March of each year to promote reading and literacy. The day also celebrates the birthday of the late Theodor Seuss Geisel, also known as Dr. Seuss. For more information on Read Across America Day and related activities visit the National Education Association website.
Oklahoma Celebrates!
50,000 Free Books Delivered
to Kids Who Need Them
Thousands of Oklahoma children are the beneficiaries of 50,000 new books donated by DK Publishing and First Book. Recently, Oklahoma won a national contest sponsored by First Book, a national organization that promotes literacy by giving children from low income families the opportunity to read and own their first books. During the contest, individuals logged onto the First Book website and voted for their favorite “book that made a difference.” Participants were also invited to vote one time each day for the state that should win the 50,000 books.
Nationally, more than 133,000 votes were logged with 34,000 designating Oklahoma as the state that should win the 50,000 books. “Voters told their colleagues, family members and friends to vote, and those individuals passed the word to their friends and families. We even had Oklahoma soldiers stationed at Camp Victory in Iraq casting votes for the state,” Gelders added.
More than three hundred organizations serving children requested a share of the book donation and First Book selected seventy-seven for a share of the winnings.
One September 19, a celebration and book distribution was hosted in Oklahoma City at the Omniplex Science Museum. First 
Lady Kim Henry and illustrator Mike Winner joined in the festivities, and along with Miss Oklahoma 2007, Makenna Smith, Mrs. Oklahoma International, 2007, Brooke Good, and Janet Stevens from Noggin, read aloud to guests and the children from Western Village Academy.
After the festivities, volunteers helped load cars, vans, and trucks with boxes of new books. Books were given organizations that work with young children including libraries, schools, Head Start programs, literacy organizations, and Boys and Girls Clubs. Ultimately, books will be given to preschool aged children at risk for low literacy.
According to First Book, low income families own one children’s book per 300 children while the average middle income family owns 13 books per child. “Reading to young children and providing them with their own books to experience can make tremendous differences in their lives, Gelders said. “That’s why it was so exciting that 50,000 books will be put into the hands of these children.”
First Book was so impressed with Oklahoma’s efforts in winning the contest, as well with the overwhelming requests for books, they vowed to bring another 300,000 books to the state later this year.
Oklahoma Victorious in First Book™ Competition!
In August , Oklahoma won a national contest to bring 50,000 free children's books to the state. How did Oklahoma, with its relatively low population, manage to beat other states and win books for Oklahoma kids? The answer, according to State Literacy Coordinator Leslie Gelders, was a combination of Okie determination and the power of the Internet.
"When we first heard about this contest, Oklahoma was in 35th place and half of the contest time had already gone by," Gelders said, "but this was such a great opportunity to get books to Oklahoma children. We knew we had to try to win."
The national First Book organization sponsored the contest to celebrate its 15th anniversary and the distribution of its 50 millionth new book to children in need. Readers across the country were asked to vote for the children's book that hooked them on reading, and to select a state to receive a windfall of 50,000 free books. The voting was open from June 1 through July 31.
"We didn't hear about the contest until June 27th," Gelders said. "We actually learned about it from a transplanted Oklahoman who is living in Texas, and he read about the contest on a Nebraska library blog."
Gelders said her office in the Oklahoma Department of Libraries began emailing its network of public libraries and volunteer-based literacy programs to get the word out. Within two days, Oklahoma moved up to first place. These early voters, in turn, began contacting their friends, families, and colleagues. "From that point on," Gelders said, "the effort just took on a life of its own, and we never lost the number one spot."
Since First Book allowed people to vote every 24 hours, Internet lines were busy with messages reminding people to "vote for Oklahoma everyday." Civic organizations, government agencies, foundations, businesses, church groups, and teachers enthusiastically voted and passed the word on to others. Gelders said the message even reached Camp Victory in Iraq, where Oklahoma soldiers cast their votes for the state.
Meanwhile, media outlets received the email pleas and began to participate by encouraging citizens to cast their votes.
When the national First Book organization announced the winning state on August 1, Oklahoma was sitting on top, far ahead of more populous states like Texas, California and Florida. "More than 133,000 votes were cast nationally," Gelders said, "and more than 34,000 of those were for Oklahoma. We received 5,000 more votes than any other state."
"We know hundreds of organizations and individuals have contributed to the win," Gelders said. "We did it together."
Gelders said the First Book organization will find out just how passionate Oklahoma readers are when they bring the 50,000 books to the state this September. "We're working with the national organization to plan a celebration to distribute the books and say thank you to everyone who helped."
First Book is a nonprofit organization with a single mission: to give children from low-income families the opportunity to read and own their first new books. Oklahoma's free books will be distributed through groups that predominantly serve these at-risk children.
Gelders said getting books into the hands of disadvantaged young children is imperative. "A new study shows that the average middle income child owns 13 books, while there is only one age-appropriate book per 300 children among low-income families."
"Reading to young children and providing them with their own books to experience can make tremendous differences in their lives," Gelders said. "That's why it's so exciting that 50,000 books will be put into the hands of these children."
Campaign for Literacy Awareness Launched
The Literacy Resource Office recently launched a new publicity campaign aimed at increasing awareness of literacy initiatives throughout the state of Oklahoma.
The theme of this campaign is Imagine the Possibilities of Literacy. Promotional materials are being provided and may be requested by community-based literacy programs in Oklahoma. These materials include:
- Bookmarks
- Pencils
- Posters
- Notepads
- Mugs
- Magnifying bookmarks
go to recent Oklahoma Literacy News
To contact staff of the Literacy Resource Office, use ODL's Staff Contact Form or Department Contact Form.
To contact staff of the Literacy Resource Office, use ODL's Staff Contact Form or Department Contact Form.
