August 2018 Tutor Newsletter

August 2018

24W500 Maple Avenue, STE 214—Naperville, Illinois 60540 —630.416.6699

Dear Tutors,

With the excitement of Independence Day now over, it is time to prepare for our final month of summer! We would like to thank all who have been volunteering and participating in our workshops and feedback sessions in July. Check out our activities and tips as well as upcoming events for this month below. Please contact [email protected] with any questions and with tutor suggestions to be featured in next month's newsletter.

Keep up the good work!

-Best wishes from all of us at Literacy DuPage

Last Fling: September 1

Literacy DuPage had a strong presence at Ribfest thanks to our awesome volunteers! If you are looking for a fun activity during Labor Day weekend, more opportunities are available with Literacy DuPage. We will have a team at the Naperville Jaycees’ Last Fling on Saturday, September 1, 2018. There are 15 slots left to fill, so please join us for this fun event, and bring friends to enjoy the music, food and activities before or after your shift!

Volunteer opportunities with the LDP Team include:

Entertainment Stage Beer Tent

10:30 AM-2:30 PM 5 slots open

Jaycees Food Tent

6:00 PM- 10:15 PM 5 slots open

Beer Tent

6:00 PM-10:15 PM 5 slots open

If you are interested, please give us a call at (630) 416-6699 or email us at [email protected], and Camille will sign you up for a shift. Volunteers receive free admission to the fest and free parking.

If you can’t make it on Saturday, there are other shifts available throughout the weekend. Visit https://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0a44aca623a5f94-2018 to sign up directly. Please remember to identify yourself as a Literacy DuPage volunteer when signing up for a shift. Thank you!

Mentor's Tutor Tip from Trainer Karen Fuist

This month we talked about refugees. The first worksheet is a story about refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. This can be read by you to your learner, or your learner can read it. If the learner is a level 1, and can not read, refugees can be explained by using pictures from the Internet. ( Worksheet 1 )

Continuing with the ideas from the story, it would be good to check your learner’s comprehension. For the lower levels, yes/no questions can be used. For example, “Do refugees leave their country because of war?” For the higher levels, the Who, What, When, Where and Why questions can be used. ( Worksheet 2)

The idea of emotions might come up with this discussion. It is good to discuss emotion words with your learner. The picture worksheet is good for all levels. The definitions worksheet should only be used at the higher levels-5 and 6. (Worksheets 3, 4 , 5 , 6)

All immigrants have hard lives. There are things they must do and things they want to do. ( Worksheet 7 )

Finally, it is good to know how to ask for help. At levels 1 and 2 our learners will use the words “Can you…” to ask for help. At the higher levels the “Could you…Would you…Will you…” can be introduced.

Choose words from the first and second columns to make sentences.

Your learner can make sentences and you can answer with words from column 3. Then do it in reverse, you make questions and your learner answers. ( Worksheet 8 )

Ideas for levels 1-3

Marti bought some money flashcards in the dollar bins at Target. She used them to have her learner make change.

Joyce is using Randall’s ESL Cyber Listening Lab (esl-lab.com) to practice easy listening skills. She has her learner try to predict what the story will be about.

Greg made a 911 emergency card for his learner to keep next to their phone. He practices name/address/phone/etc. with his learner.

Maureen likes the website LearningChocolate.com for her learner.

She is also reading easy books with her learner.

Shilpee found some great flashcards at S.C.A.R.E.

For the higher levels 4, 5, 6

Chad used the story pictures from the Health Workshop to have his learner make up stories.

Neysa also found the story pictures helpful. She writes sentences with errors using the story pictures. She has her learner correct the errors.

Barbara has used the 500 Common Words in English in sentences for dictation.

Jeremy has a meet and greet conversation each week. He has his learner tell him everything they did in the past week. He immediately corrects the errors.

Steve has his learner talk about workplace situations. They also use “News for You.”

Thanks to everyone for such great ideas!!!

Meet Our New Employee

In addition to introducing our interns in the last newsletter, we want to welcome Nancy Nieto to our office!

Nancy is our Bilingual Intake and Learner Support Specialist. Before finding us, she has worked in the non-profit sector and in the public school system in Chicago. Nancy came to Literacy DuPage to contribute to our educational services after working with students in the past. As a member of DuPage county, Nancy looks forward to helping her own community members toward higher adult literacy.

Health Lesson

Lesson 11: "I Need a Doctor" ( Linmore's Basic ESL Series, English in Conversation ) is a lesson that integrates listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills as your learner practices oral and print activities.

You can access it here.

Resource Sharing

West Suburban Community Pantry is a local food pantry offering resources to those in need.

Address:

6809 Hobson Valley Drive- Unit 118

Woodridge, IL 60517

Phone: (630) 512-60517

wscpantry.org

Flyer

Indian Prairie Library is offering free legal consultations for immigrants as well as a presentation by the USCIS on the citizenship process.

Address:

401 Plainfield Rd., Darien, IL 60561

630/887-8760 | ippl.info

Free Legal Consultations for Immigrants

Tues., Aug. 14, 9 a.m.-noon

Talk to a Board of Immigration Appeals-accredited

representative from World Relief DuPage/Aurora on

immigrant-related issues (including citizenship) for free

for 30 minutes. By appointment only.

To schedule, call the Ask Us Desk at 630/887-0637.

Citizenship 101

Sat., Aug. 25, 10 a.m.-noon

Maria del Carmen Rodriguez from the United States

Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) will give

an overview of the citizenship process, including a mock

interview and a demonstration of how to use the USCIS

website to prepare for the citizenship test. There will be

plenty of time for questions. Register at calendar.ippl.info, by

calling 630/887-0637, or in person at the Ask Us Desk.

Easy Reading:

Labor Day

Labor Day comes on the first Monday in September. It celebrates workers’ rights.

Labor Day started out as a day celebrated by labor unions. The first one was held on September 5th, 1883, in New York. The idea may have come from celebrations held in Canada every year.

From 1884 onward, Labor Day was celebrated the first Monday in September.

Many States made it an official holiday. In 1894, it became a national holiday.

Now, everyone in the U.S. celebrates Labor Day. Since it’s always on a Monday, many people have a long weekend. Usually the weather is still warm, so picnics and barbecues are popular. In many places, children go back to school the day after Labor Day. People think of it as the end of summer, just as Memorial Day marks the beginning of summer. Many people also think about what workers now have, and what they still want.

Reprinted with permission: Each Week for a Year: Readings for ESL Students on Everyday Life in the USA by Jane Wangersky