Though adult students have rich and varied backgrounds which enhance their reading, too often teaching methods have focused on the print on the page rather than the ideas presented. There is a range of strategies for teaching reading comprehension which is applicable to any material. (JOW)

This publication contains a series of sessions developed and used by Newcastle City Council Family Learning Service and now published to share practice. The sessions were developed specifically to support "Skills for Life" tutors to deliver the adult literacy and numeracy curricula but can also be used by other practitioners. There are…

This booklet is designed to sensitize volunteer literacy tutors to the special needs and interests of illiterate older learners. It also gives useful tips for creating successful and self-rewarding learning experiences. The first section on the world of older adults with literacy problems describes some of the characteristics of this group. In the…

Literacy and illiteracy are cultural; the need to read, to write, and to compute comes from values placed on these functions by the cultural or social group in which one lives. They are also intergenerational. This intergenerational factor should be turned around so that parents transmit literacy to children. Illiteracy is also costly to society…

Describes how the work of modern poets can expand adult learners' views of the uses of reading and writing and their own ability and specifically shows how the works of Carl Sandburg, Lucille Clifton, William Carlos Williams, and Langston Hughes can be used to teach adults to read. (SRT)

Encourages use of the newspaper to remediate skills in older nonreaders. Proposes teaching essential reading skills concomitant with basic voting procedures so that nonreading adults will be able to function in society and describes seven activities requiring use of critical, literal and inferential skills. (JK)

Offers strategies to motivate adult basic readers to learn one of the "One-Two Hundred Most Commonly Written Words" lists. (MM)

This Brief first summarizes research findings regarding computer-assisted instruction (CAI) and its effectiveness in adult literacy education programs. The following findings are given: CAI is effective for a significant number of adult learners; CAI is effective because it provides the adult learner with flexibility, control, individualization,…

Discusses the different categories of literacy needs and gives suggestions on materials selection for literacy classes. (EKN)

This guidebook offers tips to those who guide people who want to learn to read and write. It is structured in three volumes, each accompanying a separate videotape. The three videotapes are 120 minutes, 90 minutes, and 120 minutes in length, respectively. The guidebook has four goals: (1) help those who guide learners to understand how the learner…

This packet, which is intended for literacy program leaders throughout Oklahoma, contains the materials developed by the Literacy Office of the Oklahoma Department of Libraries for its 1995 literacy awareness campaign. The first third of the packet is a project guide that includes the following materials: overview of Oklahoma's first statewide…

This booklet of information and accompanying reading selections are intended to help a tutor get started with a new adult learner. The booklet does not provide suggestions for teaching strategies, but rather discusses conducting the initial assessment of learners, observing the student reading, categorizing the students into one of three stages,…

This handbook documents the Prison Literacy Project (PLP) in order to provide a model for other community groups to follow in developing their own literacy projects. The PLP worked to have prison residents learn to read or significantly raise their reading levels through an ongoing literacy tutoring program. All project participants were involved…

This booklet provides guidance on the support of volunteers in adult literacy and basic skills work. It outlines recommendations that provide practical advice as well as a framework for action to ensure that the quality of basic education provision is maintained and improved. Topics include financial implications in providing support for…

This article provides some practical information on use of poetry to teach such subject areas as history, literature, philosophy, social studies, minority and foreign studies, and the social sciences. Reference is made to the Watershed Foundation, which has a large collection of poetry on cassette tapes that feature the original authors reading…