11th Annual Scrabble Challenge

Join Reading Connections for its 11th annual Scrabble fundraiser which will include tournament play and refreshments for Scrabble® enthusiasts and spectators. The Scrabble Challenge will take place on Tuesday April 12th at West Market United Methodist Church from 6:00-9:00 pm. For more information visit our website at www.readingconnections.org/scrabble.asp.

Also, this year we have a very special raffle. First prize is an iPad2 and second prize is a Nook E-Reader! Tickets are $5 each, or you can buy more and increase your chances: buy 3 tickets/$10 or 10 for $20! Contact our office at 230-2223 to buy raffle tickets.

View more photos of last year's Scrabble Challenge!

Thank you to our sponsors!

VF Foundation
Kayser-Roth Corporation
Moses Cone Health System
Lincoln Financial Group
Anderson Contractors
Eagle Physicians
The Raymer Family
Burney and Dina Jennings
Central Carolina Obstetrics and Gynecology

Anderson Contractors
The Raymer Family		Dina and Burney Jennings

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Student Council Learns Yoga

On Tuesday, April 5, twelve Reading Connections learners participated in a yoga class during a Student Council meeting. The free one hour class, led by local yoga instructor Audrey Stephens of Free Spirits Yoga (www.freespiritsyoga.com) introduced participants to stress relief and relaxation techniques. Audrey led the class in breathing exercises and showed simple movements that can help relieve stress, calm the mind and increase focus at work, at home or behind the wheel.

Participants loved the class and most expressed a desire to incorporate more such activities into their lives. Nearly everyone agreed that stress and physical pain are common among themselves and family members, and that they were leaving the meeting with useful ideas for treating themselves.The Student Council wishes to express its gratitude to Audrey for leading the class! Plans are in the works for a second class!

The Reading Connections Student Council, which attempts to meet at least once a month, provides opportunities for learners to offer direction to Reading Connections on classes and programs, as well as select "extracurricular" topics to explore. The next meeting is coming up soon on Wednesday, April 20th. The Student Council will be attending Triad Stage's production of "Steel Magnolias" in downtown Greensboro. The performance is "pay as you can." All volunteer tutors and learners are encouraged to join us! More details will be available the week before the show.

Contact ESOL Coordinator Andrew Trump (atrump@readingconnections.org) with any questions.

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Upcoming Training Opportunities

We have several upcoming opportunities for training for experienced tutors as well as new tutors:

Supplemental Training on Explicit Instruction (more details below)

Wednesday, April 13--5:30-7:00pm
(8th Floor Conference Room)

Tuesday, April 19--10:00-11:30am
(West Market UMC)

Tutor Reflection Meeting

High Point:

Wednesday, May 18th from 10:00am-12:00pm
(Board Room on the 2nd floor of the Wachovia Building in Downtown High Point) 

Thursday, May 26th from 5:30-7:30pm
(Board Room on the 2nd floor of the Wachovia Building in Downtown High Point) 

Greensboro:

Tuesday, June 7 from 10:30am-12:00pm
(5th floor conference room)

Tuesday, June 7 from 5:30-7:00pm
(8th floor conference room)

New Tutor Training

Please pass these dates along to friends and colleagues you think might be interested in becoming a tutor.

High Point:

Orientation: Thursday, April 21st - 5:30-7:30 pm
(3rd Floor Board Room, High Point Public Library)

Session 1: Tuesday, April 26th - 5:30-8:30 pm
(location TBD)

Session 2: Thursday, April 28th - 5:30-8:30pm
(location TBD)

Greensboro:

Orientation: Tuesday, April 26 from 5:30-7:30pm
(8th Floor Conference Room)

Session I: Monday, May 2 from 5:30-8:30pm
(8th Floor Conference Room)

Session II: Wednesday, May 4 from 5:30-8:30pm
(8th Floor Conference Room)
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Supplemental Tutor Training

Have you ever struggled when it comes to understanding your adult learner's mental health needs?

You are invited to Reading Connections' next supplemental tutor training, where  Lindy Beauregard, the program director of the Child Response Initiative, will discuss mental health resources for low-income residents of Greensboro. The talk will be geared toward tutors working with both native (ABE) and non-native (ESOL refugee, immigrant) English speaking students.  She will provide information about the common mental health issues which often trouble our student population, and answer any questions you might have about referrals and resources available to your students. Accompanying Lindy will be her colleague, Lisa Taylor, a clinical therapist in the Triad.

We are excited to have this local expert come, and know it will be an excellent opportunity to learn more about the mental health resources available in our area!

There will be two sessions of this training. Please email Beth Larson (blarson@readingconnections.org) if you would like to attend!

Wednesday, April 13 from 5:30pm-7:00pm at the Self Help Building (122 North Elm Street; Greensboro) in the 8th floor conference room

Tuesday, April 19 from 10:00am-11:30am at West Market Street United Methodist Church (302 West Market Street; Greensboro) in Room 301

We hope you can make it to one of these sessions. Thank you for all you do!

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Language Lounge

ESOL learners and tutors are encouraged to join a new conversation group, meeting for the first time on Sunday, April 17th. Dolce Aroma, a cafe a block from our office, has graciously opened its doors to us from 2 to 3:30 pm! We will be chatting over coffee and pastries, getting to know each other and practicing English in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere.
 
We hope to make this a regular meeting, eventually encouraging learners and volunteers to bring their families and friends to a conversation group in Center City Park. This will be a great way for learners to gain confidence in speaking with a variety of people. We hope it's a lot of fun, as well!

If possible, please RSVP to our ESOL Coordinator, Andrew Trump at atrump@readingconnections.org, although drop-ins are very welcome.

Dolce Aroma is located at  233 North Elm Street, across from United Guaranty. We hope to see you on April 17th!

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Room Reservations

As you may have already noticed, our Greensboro office is crowded just about every hour of the day with classes, meetings, appointments and pairs competing for space. Thankfully, we have the West Market Street United Methodist Church providing a couple great rooms for student activity. Right now, we have two rooms available at the church, with great couches and surface space for working as a pair. Because of the limited space in-office, we will mostly be scheduling tutor-student pairs to work at the church from now on. If you have a long-standing appointment time in the office, we are already aware and can keep you on the schedule (though please remember to re-reserve the space every month!).

If you have any questions about the church, please contact ABE Coordinator Laura DeMaria (ldemaria@readingconnections.org) or ESOL Coordinator Andrew Trump (atrump@readingconnections.org), and thank you as always for being flexible in our little office.

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News for You

Back issues of the popular newspaper for adult learners, News for You, are now available in our office. These papers are used in our Levels 1 and 2 classes for comprehension and vocabulary exercises, and very often spark some interesting debates on the topic of the day!

These are available in the Reading Connections library, on the top shelf above our toolkits (let a staff member know if you need help locating them) and can be taken for free (no need to return them). Teachers' guides are also available in the coordinators office to be copied. You can also find News for You stories and other resources online at http://www.newsforyouonline.com.

Please let us know if you would like to use this great resource with your students! And special thanks to Kathy Dunn for donating them.

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Diabetes and Vision Screening

The Congregational Nurse Program, Reading Connections, and the Montagnard Dega Association are proud to sponsor a free diabetes screening and vision testing clinic on Sunday, April 10, from 1:30 to 5:00 pm at the United Montagnard Christian Church (1417 English Street) in Greensboro

In addition to offering screening and referrals for further care, we will be facilitating participant discussions on how lifestyle and nutrition choices can positively impact health.

We are in need of volunteers to provide transportation and assist with registration and vision testing. If you are available to help for an hour or two, please contact Andrew Trump at atrump@readingconnections.org or 230-2223. You will be well fed and appreciated!

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Instructor Needed

The Greensboro office is in need of a volunteer tutor to serve as a co-instructor in Kathy Dunn's Level 1 reading class. This class is every Monday and Wednesday morning from 9:30-11:30am in one of the sunny, spacious rooms at the West Market Street United Methodist Church. The class works on the basics of reading and phonics using the Level 1A and 1B Toolkits with a group of 5-8 students.

As Kathy will be taking a break for the summer, this instructor would be expected to take over the class in her absence, but would have ample time to watch and co-instruct beforehand in preparation.

If you are interested, or know anyone who would be interested, in taking on this dedicated group of students, please contact Laura at ldemaria@readingconnections. org or 230-2223.

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Support ESOL

Looking for an easy way to support our ESOL learners?

Consider purchasing a book for either our Greensboro or High Point resource library from our Amazon.com wishlist. We need books for our volunteer tutors and learners at various levels and covering many different topics. It's important for us to maintain an updated library that can accommodate the diverse needs of our learners and tutors.

You can view our wish list by going to  readingconnections.org  and clicking on "Our Wish List " under the "How You Can Help" link at the top of the site. Or head to Amazon.com  and search for the "Reading Connections ESOL" wishlist.

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Tips and Tricks

Tips and Tricks from Master Tutor Kathy Dunn

•  An easy way to tell if a text is too difficult for your student is to check how many words per page they miss while reading aloud. If your student misses 5 or more words on a page, the text is too difficult! This does not include self-corrections, but simply if a student cannot, or will not, pronounce a complete word.

•  Students of all ages love using dry erase boards. Personal-sized dry erase boards can be found at office or educational supply stores, and keep the learner actively engaged in a tactile/kinesthetic way. To be extra creative, give your student a sock to use over their hand as an eraser!

•  To keep your student from being bombarded by too much text on a page (in, for example, a newspaper), provide him/her with a blank piece of paper or card stock (can be solid-colored) to use as they read. They hold the paper under each line as they read, keeping their focus just on the text they are “underlining.”

Kathy Dunn is a retired public school teacher with over 30 years' experience as a public school teacher. She currently teaches a Level 1 class at Reading Connections, and in the past has also taught Phonemic Awareness and Civics.

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We are always interested in your feedback. Do you have questions or concerns? Please contact the office.

Sincerely,
Reading Connections Staff

Greensboro Office
122 N. Elm St., Ste. 520
Greensboro, NC 27401
info@readingconnections.org
Phone: (336)230-2223
Fax: (336) 230-2203

High Point Office
901 N. Main Street
High Point, NC 27262

P.O. Box 2530
High Point, NC 27261

info@readingconnections.org
Phone (336) 884-7323
Fax (336) 883-3636

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