The Center for Adolescent Literacies

Shady Brook Elementary School in Kannapolis, North Carolina is a partner for the Spring 2009 Literacy for Democracy program.

Shady Brook and the Literacy for Democracy program staff created the KidPower Accelerated Learning Community for students at Shady Brook. The theme of the program was Kannapolis Family Stories Yesterday and Today. Shady Brook students serving as investigators with the help of UNC Charlotte teacher-education students (chief investigators) gather family and community stories. Investigators and chief investigators gathered these into a Zine, KidPower Family Stories. KidPower Chiefs and Investigators also researched community needs and decided to hold a food drive to help the growing number of families in need of food assistance. More than 750 pounds of food was collected and delivered to Cooperative Christian Ministries food pantry in Concord, N.C.

Shady Brook is a school with a diverse student population in Kannapolis, NC which is undergoing an economic and social transformation as it moves from its roots as a textile mill community to the home of a high-tech research campus.

Go to http://education.uncc.edu/literacyfordemocracy/ for more information about Literacy for Democracy.

Over 100 educators attended Advancing Literacy: Teaching & Learning in the 21st Century  Professional Development Workshop held at Kannapolis Intermediate School on Tuesday, April 21, 2009.

Sponsored by the Center for Adolescent Literacies and hosted by Kannpolis Intermediate, the workshop began with a keynote address, Adolescent Literacy: Crisis and Opportunity. This was followed by three break-out sessions with three to four workshops offered per session. These workshops provided practical ideas for teaching and learning in grades 3-12 classrooms. An overview of these sessions with PowerPoint and handout downloads can be found on the Center website:

http://education.uncc.edu/calatuncc/AdvancingLiteracy.htm

Feedback from participants was extremely positive. Comments from participants include:

• Leaving the workshop with ideas that I can use in my classroom today
• The timing, the location, the quick, to the point sessions—NO FLUFF, easy to share with staff and implement
• I enjoyed how many options were offered. I also liked how different strategies were introduced so they could be implemented immediately in the classroom
• The energy of the presenters. It was obvious that they believed in their “product”. The research base at the beginning. So many educators don’t take or have the time to keep current on new items that pertain to education. With the opening portion you established a level planning field of sorts for the participants

Thanks to our partners at Kannapolis Intermediate including Meredith Spry, Rachael Rovenstine, and Rob Knuschke as well as Dr. Adriana Medina and Dr. Jean Vintinner at UNC Charlotte.

The Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte is hosting a professional development workshop from 5 to 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 at Kannapolis Intermediate School in Kannapolis, N.C. Advancing Literacy: Teaching and Learning in the 21st Century Workshop will offer grades three through twelve educators an opportunity to learn more about helping students across subject areas with comprehension, vocabulary learning, technology integration and motivation and engagement. Sign up for this workshop at:

http://www.surveyshare.com/survey/take/?sid=86545

There is no cost for this workshop and participants will have an opportunity to choose up to three separate workshops from ten offered.

The Literacy for Democracy (LFD) program has begun its second year at Shady Brook Elementary School in Kannapolis, N.C. Students enrolled in two undergraduate teacher education courses meet at Shady Brook and are working with 30 students after school. Student Investigators (Shady Brook students in 2nd through 4th grade) and Chief Investigators (UNC Charlotte students) work together in the KidPower program. This year’s theme is Kannapolis Family Stories: Past and Present. Students are learning about Kannapolis history and the stories that have helped shape the community and will explore their own family stories through reading and writing.

Above, Terry Prather, head librarian at the Kannapolis City branch of the Cabarrus County Library shares old photos of Kannapolis with the KidPower Investigators. Terry led the group in a discussion of learning history from documents such as photos.

America Reads tutors from the Center’s ReadWriteServe programs held another read-in at the University City Public Library in Charlotte, N.C. on Jan. 31, 2009. Tutors read to and with library patrons and participated in making crafts. Some of the featured books included Chicka Chicka Boom Boom and Matthew’s Dream.

Sarah Sanders, ReadWriteServe’s program coordinator, organized the event. The University City Public Library staff help sponsor the events. America Reads is one of four tutoring programs sponsored by the Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte.

The Center for Adolescent Literacies has created the Adolescent Literacies Group on Facebook. Membership in this group is open to any and all. Join us for discussions about adolescent literacy as well as information about conferences, journals, and other events.

Students at First Ward Elementary School in Charlotte, N.C.–one of the Center’s Literacy for Democracy sites–is organizing a food drive to help feed the hungry and homeless in Charlotte, N.C. This service learning project was develop by the second, third, fourth, and fifth grade students and supported by the school staff and UNC Charlotte READ 3226 Literacy for Democracy students who are working with First Ward students. Students have contacted the Second Harvest Food Bank in Charlotte as well as community organizations to help with the food drive, which will be held Thursday, Dec. 4, 2008. Students have reached out to the International Studies School at Garinger High School in Charlotte, First Baptist Church in Charlotte, the College of Education at UNC Charlotte and other organizations to increase the impact of the food drive. Students have created signs, contacted community partners, and organized collection of the food. Great job!

The Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte is partnering with the International Studies School (ISS) at Garinger High School in Charlotte, N.C. in a digital literacies project. Juniors in Sara Smith’s history class at ISS have been studying class divisions (haves and have-nots) in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and looking at the work of photographers who documented the lives of working class poeple during the era. They are now creating a video documentary about Garinger and the community in which it resides contrasting the perceptions and reality of the school and community in the eyes of students, staff and community members.

Nearly 30 UNC Charlotte students enrolled in a READ 3255 content area reading course are working this semester at Piedmont Open Middle School near uptown Charlotte, N.C. This is the second year that UNC Charlotte students enrolled in a Literacy for Democracy course have tutored students at Piedmont Open Middle. Dr. Adriana Medina leads the program at Piedmont for UNC Charlotte and plans on continuing the program during the Spring 2009. UNC Charlotte students are tutoring 8th grade students at Piedmont in math, social studies, language arts and other subject areas.

Nov. 8, 2008 was ReadWriteServe’s second Read In 4 Kids at the University City Public Library in Charlotte, N.C. UNC Charlotte America Reads tutors and volunteers read to and with kids and helped create foldable books about what we are thankful for.

Speaking of thankful, we at the Center for Adolescent Literacies at UNC Charlotte are thankful for our students who work in the community as tutors. We are also thankful for the schools and community organizations who serve as our partner organizations. That’s a lot to be thankful for.  –Bruce