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270 North Grove Ave. Elgin, IL 60120

Phone: (847) 742-6565

Fax: (847) 742-6599

info@elginliteracy.org 

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Tutor Communication 
For August 11, 2016
  

Greetings from The Literacy Connection!  
In This Issue
16th Annual Adult Educators' Fall Conference
conference_attendees.jpg
Area Planning Council 509
16th Annual Adult Educators' Fall Conference

Saturday, September 10, 2016  8 a.m.-Noon

Elgin Community College
1700 Spartan Drive, Elgin, Illinois
Building E (University and Business Center)

To register, please email your name and mention you are a Tutor with the Literacy Connection to APCconference@elgin.edu by September 2, 2016.  Preregistration is required, but the conference is free to attend.
 
Hear Ye, Hear Ye: Prompt Hours Reporting Needed
Everyone, let's start off the new fiscal year on the right foot by submitting your tutor hours every month.  The information you share is critical to the reports that we have to provide on a regular basis to let our grantors know the effort that you expend to justify the monies that are given to the Literacy Connection.  Your efforts, which we can show based on the tutoring and preparation hours you report, help keep our doors open both via existing funding and any new grant requests.  
Learner Testing
We have over 70 learners who were in our program in Fiscal 2016 (July 1, 2015 thru June 30, 2016), who have not been tested.  We still have over 30 ACTIVE LEARNERS, which  have NOT BEEN tested.  This means we have no pretest for FY2017 to gauge their improvement.  

If you know your learner has NOT BEEN TESTED, please have them contact us at (224)215-6515 to schedule their test.  Yadira or Jody will get back to them to schedule a time for testing.
Tutor Tip
One of the Literacy Connection's goals is to prepare our ESL learners to transition to free ESL classes at Elgin Community College. ESL students at ECC receive 6 to 8 hours of classroom English a week. The curriculum focuses on all four aspects of language acquisition: listening, speaking, reading and writing. Eventually, some of our learners obtain their GED and/or enroll in college level courses. 

As you know, the Literacy Connection assesses our learners once a year in June. If your learner has scored a level 6 or higher in both the oral and written tests, he or she is encouraged to transition to ESL classes at ECC. However, our program levels do not correspond to ECC's. Most of our learners will be placed in level 3 or 4 of the ten ESL levels at ECC. Your learner should not be discouraged! To best prepare your learner for success at ECC, create lesson plans that focus on writing skills, specifically, subject/verb agreement, simple present and simple past tenses. For your information, the ECC Fall 2016 Level Chart and ECC Certificate Level Descriptions are attached.

Jody, our Program Coordinator, will be happy to assist you and your learner in the transition/registration process. Some tutors have even accompanied their learner to Elgin Community College, Building K, to register for the new student orientation and the ESL class. Please call or email Jody should you have comments or questions. 
South Elgin Branch Library NOW OPEN!
The newest branch of Gail Borden Public Library in South Elgin
is now open for business! Located at 127 S. McLean Boulevard in South Elgin (major intersections: Spring Street and S. McLean Bou levard) for all your library needs. 

The new branch offers popular books and movies, a program room, a laptop dispensing station, Media Box and children's area. It is open from Monday through Thursday 10 am to 7 pm, Saturday 10 am to 4 pm, and Sunday noon to 4 pm.

To learn more about the South Elgin Branch click  here.  
Test Results In-Service

Learn about your learner's test scores!  Please mark your calendar for August 31st.  We will hold a morning and evenin g session.  Registration is required
so we can have your learner's actual test available for you to review.  

Please call our office or send us an email to put your name on the attendance list for the morning or evening session.  9:30 - 11 a.m. or 6 - 7:30 p.m.  Currently only 15 Tutors out of 144 ACTIVE Tutors are registered for both events...we need your RSVP please!
Are you buying back to school supplies?


Literacy Connection Smile.Amazon.com
Misc.
TRAFFIC ALERT 
**Highland Avenue bridge closure started Wednesday!**
From August 10-19, Metra will close a portion of the Highland Ave. bridge to repair its railroad tracks.   TRAFFIC WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CROSS THE HIGHLAND AVENUE BRIDGE  during this time and alternate routes are required. Heavy traffic on other bridges is expected during this closure and drivers should plan for delays.
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Free Home-buyer Education Class
Saturday, August 27  8 a.m. - 5 p.m.

This no cost HUD approved class is recommended to individuals who aspire to buy a home and cover topics on budget and managing your money, understanding your credit, shopping for a home, protecting your investment and getting the deal done.  Attendees who complete the eight-hour curriculum earn a certificate of completion required by many down-payment assistance programs.  

Classes fill up quickly and registration is required, please have interested parties register online or contact NHS of the Fox Valley to be registered by a staff member at (847)227-1001. 

Get more information about the class  here.  

See the brochure on the Kane County Down Payment Assistance Program, which outlines in detail the process for first time home-buyers to potentially receive up to $10,000 here.  
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Saturday, September 10, 2016 Elgin Township Open House
729 S McLean Blvd, Elgin   10 a.m to 1 p.m.

Learn more about YOUR Township. Come see how its services can benefit you.
The focus of this event is information, food and fun!!! Your Township Board members will be available to interact and ask questions. Flyer

We are planning on having a table at this event.  Are you available to  help?
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Work on Election Day:
The Cook County and Kane County Clerks' offices are recruiting community members to serve as suburban poll workers for the November 8, 2016 Presidential Election. This is a great opportunity to get paid for supporting the democratic process and serving your community. Compensation varies among positions. Student positions are also available.

Interested?
Cook County residents: click here
Kane County residents: click here
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Free community dental care day at Elgin Community College on August 27th. There will be 8 volunteer dental teams prepared to see up to 80 children. See the attached flyer for more information  Spanish or English  
Tutor Training 

Volunteer Tutor Training 

November Training Dates 
Saturdays, November 5 and 12, 2016 
at Gail Borden Public Library!  
Additional information coming soon.

112
Adults Remain On Our Wait List

There are 112 potential learners currently on our waiting list. These learners need to be tested before they can enter the program, and are not ready to be matched. We have a different group of learners who are tested and ready to be matched.

Matching these learners is our priority as they have been waiting the longest for a tutor. We do everything we can to match our tutors and learners as fast as possible. We must find a pair that has the same availability, and this often slows down the process.  

If you are currently waiting for a learner, we are working on setting up a match meeting as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. 

We have closed our waiting list to new additions until further notice.

If you have specific questions please feel free to email Jody or Yadira.
Helpful Websites & Links
helpful_tips_abstract.jpg

This  link  to the ProLiteracy website has images/sayings that can be used on Facebook, and they encourage people to use them as screen savers. Previous months are available too!





What makes a difference? 
* A great looking site that's easy to navigate
* 100% free content (except for our ESL packages)
* Exercises based on American movie and TV show clips - a great new way to learn English!
* Audio based listening comprehension exercises to help you learn correct English pronunciation
* A collection of exercises for native (and near native) speakers to improve their English literacy and writing skills
* A special section devoted to English for travelers
* Lots of English grammar tests
* Lots of English vocabulary quizzes which teach you real words, phrases, and expressions
* Downloadable English grammar worksheets/printables for teachers and students
* Comprehensive lists of American idioms, phrasal verbs, and differences between American and British English

Visit Learn English Feel Good

    
Eligible purchases at smile.amazon.com earn The Literacy Connection 
0.5% of the purchase price. 
   
  
  
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ProLiteracy logo updated

Sincerely,

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The Literacy Connection | 847-742-6565 | info@elginliteracy.org | http://www.elginliteracy.org
270 North Grove Ave.
Elgin, IL 60120