"Until we get equity in education, we will never have an equal society."
Sonia Sotomayor, US Supreme Court Justice - First Hispanic and Third Female Justice
Mark Your Calendar
Celebrate Women's History Month!
RESOURCES ON THE LINK

Virtual Coffee Hour - Game Show Edition!
Friday, Mar 24 at 10am. Grab your morning cuppa and join other Literations folks for a (virtual) hour of sipping coffee and playing Jeopardy and Family Feud.


April Break
April 13 - 23. Literations will not be running coaching sessions either at our schools or Boys & Girls clubs during the April break.

Workshop: Valuing and Maximizing Diversity in Mentoring (optional)
Thursday, April 20 at 4pm. The fourth in a series of volunteer workshops this school year hosted by AARP Experience Corps. You should record as "training" hours if you attend.


Save-the-Date: Literations's Lighting the Spark
May 18, 5:30-7:30pm
District Hall, Seaport, Boston
Literations's annual gala is a night for members of the Literations community to come together, celebrate student success, and hear inspiring stories from champions in the field. Tickets will be available for volunteers on March 15th...


Program End Date
Week of June 5th
The last day of student sessions in our BPS, FPS, and Club sites will be Thursday, June 8.
We Hear You!
Book choice for students and read aloud support for coaches are important. We hear you!

That's why the Literations Program Team and Program Committee have been hard at work improving our Read Aloud Program and looking for wonderful new RAZ titles to add to our libraries.

In the coming few weeks, we will deliver:
  • 11 new RAZ "Blue Book" titles
  • 10-12 new Read Aloud books

Additionally, please WATCH THIS RECORDING about our new Read Aloud Program and tools and visit THE LINK to access those tools and resources.
"For most of history, Anonymous was a woman."
Virginia Woolf, Modernist Author
DEI Corner
Equity is built into the Literations MISSION and CORE VALUES.

Did you know that we created a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Resources section on The Literations Link? As Literations continues on its DEI journey, we will continue sharing resources and creating meaningful moments to connect with our volunteer community as well.

Please visit THE LINK to look around and learn more.

Also, please complete this 5-question CULTURAL RESPONSIVENESS SURVEY to help us understand how we can improve and enhance this area of our engagement.
Quick Tip of the Month
Encourage Rather Than Praise

What is the difference?

Praise is an expression of approval. Recognizes achievement.
"Good job. You're so smart."

Encouragement is inspiring with confidence. Recognizes effort.
"You worked it out."

On the surface, praise and encouragement seem to be similar reactions to an accomplishment. There are, however, differences. Most importantly, there’s a big difference in the way children internalize them. 

Praise focuses solely on what was achieved, whereas encouragement focuses on effort. By placing the focus on effort, we are inviting kids to consider what led them to success so they can replicate it in the future. It also shows that we are noticing their hard work and that we consider this to be more important than the outcome.

Continued encouragement can help children to develop a habit of positive self-talk, leading to greater perseverance in the long run. 

Examples of Encouragement
  • I really appreciate it when you…
  • You worked really hard today, and it paid off. 
  • You made a lot of progress today. How does it feel?
  • You used great expression when reading today. 
  • Great work using your word attack strategies to figure out those tough words.
"For there is always light, if only we're brave enough to see it. If only we're brave enough to be it."
Amanda Gorman, Youngest Inaugural Poet and First National Youth Poet Laureate
Coach Notes
Thank You!
Thank you for taking the time to complete your midyear check-ins and giving us feedback about your experience. Program staff and team leaders are reviewing this month to understand what's working well and where we can continue to improve.

February Workshop: Evolving Understanding of SEL
If you didn't have an opportunity to join the workshop about Social Emotional Learning, hosted by AARP Foundation Experience Corps, the recording is now available.
"The success of every woman should be the inspiration to another. We should raise each other up."
Serena Williams, Tennis G.O.A.T., Philanthropist, Activist