Literacy Links

Literacy Programs Responding to Communities in Crisis

Welcome to our Library...

HOW DOES THIS MAIL ORDER LENDING LIBRARY WORK?

Books and other resources described in the Library section may be requested for a 30-day loan. We will mail each borrower up to five loan items at a time (just two for first-time borrowers), and even include a postage-paid return address sticker for mailing them back to us! Borrowers must be affiliated with a non-profit program providing adult or family literacy services. Annotated bibliographies of our entire library of resources are available in hard copy by request, or can be viewed on our website Click Here to view. Call 800-441-7323 or e-mail tcall@tamu.edu to check out materials described here or to request hard copy listings of even more resources.

“I would like to say that there is no doubt in my mind that this effort has been well run for YEARS! Since I found out about it, last century, I have benefited greatly from all the resources and freebies of course. There is a lot of good research available that greatly enhances our jobs. Much of what I know about family literacy came from here. So Gig ‘em Aggies. Two thumbs up!”
Cynthia Bebon
Program Manager, McAllen ISD,
Migrant Ed/Migrant Even Start

Bridging the Cultural Gap

Addressing the Unique Needs of Latino American Students.
Anna M. Ortiz, Editor. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers, Winter 2002. From the Editor, “The research findings highlight personal and educational experiences of Latinos in higher education; demonstrate the students’ tenacity to overcome economic, educational, and cultural barriers to succeed in college; and illuminate the factors in the college environment that contributed to their success.” This 105th volume of the quarterly higher education journal, New Directions for Student Services, is directed to postsecondary education; however, some of the chapters on cultural considerations may be useful in adult and family literacy as well. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Culture Bound: Bridging the Cultural Gap in Language Teaching.
Joyce Merrill Valdes, Editor. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1986. Selected essays provide language teachers with a basis for introducing a cultural component into their teaching. It includes essays written especially for the volume, as well as some that have been previously published. Some chapters include: Language and Thought; Culture and the Written Language; Learning a Second Culture; Cultural Clues to the Middle Eastern Student; Compliments in Crosscultural Perspective; Newspapers: Vehicles for Teaching ESOL with a Cultural Focus; Culture in Literature; English Language Teaching from an Intercultural Perspective; An Argument for Culture Analysis in the Second Language Classroom; and Culture Bump and Beyond.

Finding Common Understanding: An Employer’s Guide to a Cross-Cultural Workplace, Third Edition.
IIM Education Department. St. Paul, MN: International Institute of Minnesota, 2002. This tool for businesses and other organizations employing immigrants and refugees discusses practical cultural issues affecting workplace relationships. Although some sections of the guide are specific to Minnesota’s refugee and immigrant populations and community resources, section I — “Culture at Work: Finding Common Understanding” — provides tools to assist employers in building the skills required to succeed with a culturally and linguistically diverse workforce.

The Latino Patient: A Cultural Guide for Health Care Providers.
Nilda Chong. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 2002. Although written for health care providers, educators could also benefit from this book’s in-depth exploration of Latino diversity; relevant cultural values; health status, beliefs and practices; and effective communication strategies. Latinos are dramatically changing the demographic profile of the United States — by 2030 Latinos will comprise roughly 20 percent of the population. Developing a strong command of the Spanish language is not a realistic goal for all educators wishing to establish rapport with their Latino students. Yet as with health professionals, it is important for educators to realize the importance of understanding Latino cultural values. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Family Literacy

The Attachment Parenting Book: A Commonsense Guide to Understanding and Nurturing Your Baby.
William Sears and Martha Sears. New York, NY: Little, Brown and Company, 2001. Topics include becoming attached, benefits of attachment, bonding at birth and beyond, breastfeeding, babywearing (a parenting style in which a parent “wears” or carries a baby in a sling many hours each day), and finding balance with boundaries. The information is supported with many examples with highlights in boxes. From the Sears Parenting Library, this guide describes the importance of attachment to infant development and parenting.

Baby Days: Activities, Ideas, and Games for Enjoying Daily Life with a Child Under Three.
Barbara Rowley. New York, NY: Hyperion, 2000. In light of recent research indicating how important the earliest years are for young children, this book is filled with activities to do with infants through age three. The book will work for parenting classes, interactive literacy activities, and early childhood education classes. Chapters divide the activities into mornings, meal times, nap times, afternoons, bath times, bedtimes, going out with baby, travel activities, and special events.

Baby Signs: How to Talk with Your Baby Before Your Baby Can Talk.
Linda Acredolo, Susan Goodwyn, and Doug Abrams. Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 2002. A research-based system for nonverbal communication with infants, this book is easy to read and includes real-life examples, rhymes, and how to do it suggestions. Many photos and drawings illustrate the baby signs. The research indicates that use of baby signs leads to an earlier development of verbal skills and less tantrums. It is appropriate for use by caregivers, teachers, and parents in family literacy programs.

The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers.
Amy Dombro, Laura J. Colker, and Diane Trister Dodge. Washington, DC: Teaching Strategies, Inc., 1999. This infant and toddler volume in a series of “Creative Curriculum” books provides a comprehensive curriculum framework. Chapter topics include early childhood foundations, relationships, quality programs, routines, and activities. The appendices feature various program and planning forms, checklists, intervention resources, and reference books. The easy-to-use book is filled with charts and lists that highlight all of the key points. See also “A Trainer’s Guide to The Creative Curriculum for Infants and Toddlers”, a separate Clearinghouse loan title. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Educating and Caring for Very Young Children: The Infant/Toddler Curriculum.
Doris Bergen, Rebecca Reid, Rebecca and Louis Torelli. New York, NY: Teacher’s College Press, 2001. Citing recent research and theory, this detailed book bases the infant and toddler curriculum in play. Examples of children illustrate developmental ages and appropriate activities in both the social and physical environment. The curriculum emphasized is responsive and nurturing. The last section discusses young children and families in today’s world. Figures and bulleted lists of curriculum ideas are throughout the book.

The Emotional Life of the Toddler.
Alicia F. Lieberman. New York, NY: The Free Press, 1993. A guide for parents and those who work with children between one and three, this book describes the many changes in toddlerhood. Topics covered include being a toddler, temperament, activity level, shy toddlers, anxieties, separation, child care, and divorce in the family. It is easy to read and filled with real-life examples.

Infants and Toddlers: Curriculum and Teaching, Fifth Edition.
Linda Douville-Watson, Michael A. Watson, and LaVisa Cam Wilson. Clifton Park, NY: Thomson Delmar Learning, 2003. This text focuses on children from birth to age three. The information is based on the CDA (Child Development Associate credential) Competency Standards, which are listed and supported with the points throughout the book. Theories, history, research, developmental patterns, effective tools, the childcare environment, and care-giver strategies are covered. All developmental domains are discussed—physical, emotional, social, and cognitive. Charts, lists, and photos make understanding and using the information easy. This complete textbook for those who teach infants and toddlers is available for loan to Preferred Borrowers only. Ask us how to become a Preferred
Borrower.

Learning Activities For Infants and Toddlers: An Easy Guide for Everyday Use.
Betsy Squibb and Sally Deitz. Washington, DC: Children’s Resources International, Inc., 2000. More than 100 activities for infants and toddlers divided into age group for which each is developmentally appropriate. Also included are an introduction to infant and toddler learning and recommendations on using themes. Each activity includes a purpose, list of materials, simple steps for preparation, ideas for interaction between children and adults, and a suggested home learning activity for parent and child. Also available in a Spanish language version, Actividades de aprendizaje para los infants y los ninos hasta los tres anos: una guia para uso cotidiano, a separate loan item. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

The Social Baby.
Lynne Murray, and Liz Andrews. Surrey, UK: CP Publishing, 2000. This book features numerous color photographs of infants to illustrate how the baby responds in social situations. Chapters include the social world, the physical world, crying, sleeping, security, parental roles, and family life. The book has one interactive “lollipop” drawing attached for an example of an activity to make and use with an infant.

Story S-t-r-e-t-c-h-e-r-s for Infants, Toddlers, and Twos: Experiences, Activities, and Games for Popular Children’s Books.
Shirley Raines, Karen Miller, and Leah Curry-Rood. Beltsville, MD: Gryphon House, 2002. For over 100 popular children’s books. the authors suggest three activities to stretch the learning experiences after the books are read. Materials and step-by-step instructions are listed for each activity. A chapter discusses emerging literacy for young children. These activities are appropriate for interactive literacy activities in family literacy programs.

What Happened to My World? Helping Children Cope with Natural Disaster and Catastrophe.
Jim Greenman. Watertown, MA: Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 2005. Young children’s development and well-being are adversely affected by traumatic events in the world around them. (See also Excessive Stress Disrupts the Architecture of the Developing Brain, featured in the Free Resources section of this issue.) Not only what Greenman calls “society-shaking events”, but everything from prejudice and poverty to natural disasters, homelessness and death cause emotional shock for children, while at the same time rendering their parents and those who work with them less able than usual to help children cope. The author reviews common reactions to stress and the needs of children, divided into age groups including those under three, three-to-five year olds, primary school-age children, and teenagers. Greenman summarizes ways to help children not only cope with stress, but grow and thrive in spite of adverse conditions.

Math & Numeracy

190 Ready-to-Use Activities That Make Math Fun!
George Watson. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons; Jossey Bass, 2003. Instructional resource provides 190 high-interest, ready-to-use, reproducible activities to help students master basic math skills — including whole numbers, decimals, fractions, percentages, money concepts, geometry and measurement, charts and graphs, and pre-algebra — for use with students of varying ability levels. Activities are presented in a variety of formats, such as puzzles, crosswords, matching, word/number searches, number substitutions, and more. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Fear of Math: How to Get Over It and Get On With Your Life.
Claudia Zaslavsky. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1994. In this book aimed at students suffering from “math phobia,” the author shows how the “school math” that students dread is probably a far cry from the math really needed in life, and that students probably know better than they suspect. A variety of reassuring methods drawn from many cultures are offered for tackling real-world math problems. The author also attacks the myth that women and minorities are less competent at math.

Kitchen Math, Revised and Updated Edition.
Susan Brendel. Portland, ME: J. Weston Walch, 1988, 1997. 38 activities provide meaningful practice in basic math operations and real-life applications for grade levels 6 through adult. Includes reproducible activities for counting calories, purchasing food, reading labels, and more, as well as answers, pretests, and posttests.

Math “Stuff” You’ve Forgotten.
Mary Powell. Greenville, TX: MATHCO Educational Materials, 2001. The author has taught basic math at grade levels 5-8 both to children and adults, including tutoring recruits for the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery. Designed to help both students and instructors to overcome math anxiety, this book describes math as a language to be mastered. Subjects include everything from number theory to geometry and measurement to word problems.

Professional Development

50 Creative Training Openers and Energizers: Innovative Ways to Start Your Training with a BANG!
Bob Pike Lynn Solem. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass/Pfeiffer, 2000. One of the hardest tasks in a professional development workshop or presentation is to get not only their attention, but engagement. Following up on the 1998 book 50 Creative Training Closers (a separate Clearinghouse loan title), the same authors suggest 50 lively, interactive session openers, ice breakers, and attention grabbers intended to inspire continued application, learning, and skill development. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching, Second Edition.
Jack C. Richards and Theodore S. Rodgers. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001. Editorial description: “Like the first edition, the second edition surveys the major approaches and methods in language teaching, such as grammar translation, audio-lingualism, communicative language teaching, and the natural approach. The text examines each approach and method in terms of its theory of language and language learning, goals, syllabus, teaching activities, teacher and learner roles, materials, and classroom techniques. In addition to the approaches and methods covered in the first edition, this edition includes new chapters, such as whole language, multiple intelligences, neurolinguistic programming, competency-based language teaching, cooperative language learning, content-based instruction, task-based language teaching, and The Post-Methods Era. Teachers and teachers-in-training will discover that this second edition is a comprehensive survey and analysis of the major and minor teaching methods used around the world. The book seeks not only to clarify the assumptions behind these methods and their similarities and differences, but also to help teachers explore their own beliefs and practices in language teaching.”

Conflict to Cooperation: A Process for Mediating Group Differences.
Garry McDaniel and Barry Silverberg. Austin, TX: 1st World Library, 2002. This book describes a system for providing employees, management and organizations with a method for resolving conflicts that act as barriers to productivity and cause stress and frustration. The author describes a three-step process for mediating conflicts in the workplace, the role of the manager in resolving conflict, and how to determine when a third party mediator is needed. Use of this system in a family, community group, or other setting is also discussed.

The Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner Landscape of a Teacher’s Life.
Parker J. Palmer. San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass, 1998. Teachers choose their vocation because they care deeply about their students and about their subject. But the demands of teaching can cause educators to lose heart. The author takes teachers on an inner journey to reconnect with their vocation and their students. Palmer writes in the introduction, “This book is for teachers who have good days and bad — and whose bad days bring the suffering that comes only from something one loves. It is for teachers who refuse to harden their hearts, because they love learners, learning, and the teaching life.”

Get Things Done: Ten Secrets of Creating and Leading Exceptional Teams.
Brad Fregger. Austin, TX: F&F Publishing, 2002. From the Preface: “An effective leader gets the job done in ways that increase the competence, confidence and potential of the individual members of the team. They build an exceptional team that can accomplish the seemingly impossible (at least the extremely difficult), all to the long-term benefit of the organization.” Some chapter titles include: Creating the Exceptional Team; Motivating Exceptional People; The Importance of Curiosity; Servant Leadership; Embracing the Unexpected; and Arrogance & Elitism are Out.

A Handbook for Classroom Instruction That Works.
Robert J. Marzano, et al. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2001. With potential application for teacher study circles, this handbook guides the reader through nine categories of instructional strategies that maximize student learning how to use the strategies in the classroom. Categories of the strategies include: identifying similarities and differences; summarizing and note taking; reinforcing effort and providing recognition; homework and practice; representing knowledge; learning groups; setting objectives and providing feedback; generating and testing hypotheses; and cues, questions, and advance organizers. Tools for learning about and implementing the strategies include: exercises to check your understanding of the strategies; brief questionnaires to reflect on your current beliefs and practices; tips and recommendations on implementing the strategies; samples, worksheets, and other tools to help plan classroom activities; and rubrics to assess the effectiveness of the strategy with your students. The research base for each strategy is described. This book is available for loan to Texas educators only.

Problem Posing at Work: Popular Educator’s Guide.
Nina Wallerstein and Elsa Auerbach. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada: Grass Roots Press, 2004. This book explores approaches to adult education inspired by the philosophy and methodologies of Brazilian educator Paulo Freire. It is for educators interested in critical reflection and social action from diverse fields: English as a Second Language and literacy, public health, labor and community organizing, health and safety education, community psychology and facilitation, high school settings, and teacher education and other professional education programs. This educators guide presents the underlying rationale for the “problem-posing” teaching approach, strategies and tools for classrooms and community settings, a case study of a problem-posing cycle by workplace educator Jenny Utech, an analysis of the role of social change pedagogy within globalization struggles, and an extensive resource list.

“Sit and Get” Won’t Grow Dendrites: 20 Professional Learning Strategies That Engage the Adult Brain.
Marcia L. Tate. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2004. Tate draws on research in brain-based learning, differentiated instruction, multiple intelligences, and adult learning to provide strategies for motivating adult learners and for increasing comprehension and retention. Each strategy is defined and its theoretical background explained. Tate suggests multiple professional learning activities that staff developers can use, including guided reflection and applications for each.

Writing Instruction

The Adventures of Dr. Alphabet: 104 Unusual Ways to Write Poetry in the Classroom and the Community.
Dave Morice. New York, NY: Teachers and Writers Collaborative, 1995. As described in the ERIC Digest, “Poetry in the Adult ESL Classroom” (Peyton and Rigg, 1999), poetry can be used in adult English as a second language classes with all learners, even those with limited literacy and proficiency in English. Learners can read, discuss, and write about poems and how they speak to their life situations. They can also create poems of their own to express their feelings, thoughts, or beliefs. This book offeres a compendium of poetry writing methods, providing for each exercise an introduction, project description, list of (inexpensive) materials, suggested topics, and alternative methods. Designed for students of all ages, the book contains numerous student-written poems.

Beginning Stories from the Heart: A Reading and Writing Book for Teens and Adults.
Ronna Magy. Palatine, IL: Linmore Publishing, 1995. Written for secondary and adult students at the high beginning ESL level, units in this book include: About Me, School, Favorite Things, Special Events, First Country/Second Country, and Decisions. Each unit contains stories written by students from their own life experiences, from Chinese and Ethiopian New Year celebrations to a mother’s conflict over going to an ESL class or taking care of her daughter. Within each lesson, students are taken on a journey through the lives of others that leads them to their own story writing. All the stories are written by high school and adult students, with editing limited to correction of those mistakes that would affect the ability of the reader to comprehend the writer’s message. Using a whole language approach, each lesson consists of activities and student stories linked to a lesson theme. Theme is developed through pre-reading activities, an authentic student story, a comprehension check, and follow-up writing. Speaking, listening, and reading activities build so that individual students may draw on their own experiences in writing sentences and a paragraph about themselves. Cooperative learning activities incorporating whole class, small group, pair, and individual practice are woven into each lesson.

Hip-Hop Poetry and The Classics.
Alan Sitomer and Michael Cirelli. Beverly Hills, CA: Milk Mug Publishing, 2004. This book links the great poets of the past to the contemporary Hip Hop poets of today. It compares Robert Frost to Public Enemy, Shakespeare to Eminem, and Shelley to the Notorious B.I.G. The book’s interactive work-book-style format allows teachers and students to engage in analysis of poetic literary devices, writing activities, and other innovative methods. The author is a novelist, playwright, screenwriter, greeting card author, and a winner of California Literacy’s Teacher of the Year award.

Life Writing/Writing Lives.
Bette H. Kirschstein, Editor. Malabar, FL: Krieger Publishing Co., 2001. This book is a collection of essays “that consider the practical and intellectual issues related to writing and reading biography, autobiography, memoir, and combinations of the three. Authors of memoirs and biographies explore the complexities of their craft. Others address the theoretical side of life writing. For instance, one contributor grapples with what makes someone a ‘valid’ subject for biography by surveying several books written about unknown or neglected women. Another contributor examines the fusion of autobiography and biography in three twentieth-century books by women writers. Yet another essay considers how the writer Ford Madox Ford’s psyche and experiences influenced the way he perceived and portrayed his life writing subjects. The final article explores the relationship between the lives of Kate Chopin and Willa Cather and their fiction.” - Editorial Description.

The Multiple Intelligences of Reading and Writing: Making the Words Come Alive.
Armstrong, Thomas Armstrong. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 2003. Armstrong shows how involving the other seven intelligences - not just linguistic intelligence - can help students acquire reading and writing skills. Book combines Howard Gardner’s MI theory and recent brain research on reading and writing with a variety of other perspectives on literacy, synthesizing the research to show how to engage students at all levels by infusing the study of words with imagery, logic, oral language, physical activity, emotion, music, social involvement, and nature experiences.

Our Lives: Authentic Student Stories for Developing Reading and Writing Skills.
Myron Berkman. Palatine, IL: Linmore Publishing, 1990. Written for young adults who are learning English, this text contains seventeen authentic stories written by secondary students. Stories provide a meaningful context for developing reading and writing skills, as well as integrating social studies, geography, world cultures, and math skills. Organized into three units — My Childhood, My Trip To The U.S., and My New Life — the stories provide students with an opportunity to tell their own stories of immigration to the U.S. Each unit begins with exercises in which students focus on the topic and share their personal collective experiences in a chart. The exercises that follow focus students’ attention on the organization, content, and language of the stories. Writing exercises in each lesson give students the opportunity to practice writing about their own lives. Each unit incorporates these steps in the writing process — brainstorming topics, clustering, writing the first draft, reviewing by peers, revising the draft, editing by peers, and writing the final version.