Mar
6
Literacy for Democracy Spring 2008
March 6, 2008 | | Leave a Comment
Following a great Fall 2007 at Piedmont Open Middle IB School and First Ward Accelerated Learning Academy, we are off to a solid start at Shady Brook Elementary School in Kannapolis, NC. We’ve worked with the school to create a program we call KidPower Accelerated Learning Community. Here’s a photo of our UNC Charlotte pre-service teachers and the Shady Brook kids:
Check out photos and updates at:
http://education.uncc.edu/literacyfordemocracy/ShadyBrookSpr08.htm
Sep
19
Service Learning in the First Ward
September 19, 2007 | | Leave a Comment
A quick post to say that we have two service learning courses being taught in Charlotte’s First Ward. One (READ 3255) is at Piedmont Open Middle School and that other (READ 3226-003) is at First Ward Elementary School. Both schools have been wonderfully helpful in this collaboration. Tutoring is just getting underway. Should be a great semester.
Bruce Taylor
Jul
9
Looking Back, Looking Forward
July 9, 2007 | | Leave a Comment
Looking Back. Summer 2007 has been a busy one for Literacy for Democracy. Our LFD programs at David Cox Road Elementary School and Grier Academy ended on a successful note. Tutors and learners in the summer programs there read, wrote, and learned about the environment and bird habitats around the schools. The book, Seedfolks, served as a key text but students read widely on this topic. Tutors provided support in areas such as comprehension and vocabulary. Both groups worked together to enhance the bird habitats and natural areas at these schools by building and decorating bird houses and putting those out. At David Cox, learners also created stepping stones. To see and learn more, go to the Literacy for Democracy website:
http://education.uncc.edu/literacyfordemocracy/
Looking Forward. Second summer session is underway, and students in READ 6000-EDCI 8040 are preparing to work with learners in the Seigle Avenue Summer Freedom School in Charlotte’s First Ward. The goal of this project is similar, but students and learners will be creating digital texts (video, podcasts, digital photography) to explore the shared theme of Making a Difference. We are excited about this collaborative project and can’t wait to see what comes out of it.
May
24
David Cox Road Update–READ THIS
May 24, 2007 | | 3 Comments
A quick note to let you know that tutors at David Cox can work between 4 and 6 p.m. in the after-school program. David Cox Road Elementary is on a different schedule than University Meadows. –Dr. Heafner and Dr. Taylor
May
22
Welcome to Literacy for Democracy
May 22, 2007 | | Leave a Comment
Literacy for Democracy (LFD) works in economically disadvantaged and transitional communities to improve children’s and adolescents’ literacy and academic achievement through service learning engagement with university teacher education students.
University teacher education students earn credit for working with grades 3-12 students on service learning projects identified by community stakeholders. As these groups of students collaborate, the teacher education students support younger students’ reading and writing with explicit tutoring and literacy strategies. Project outcomes are shared with the community on the LFD website.
Literacy for Democracy seeks to:
- Empower children and adolescents in grades 3-12 to engage in service to affect positive change in their communities.
- Improve children’s and adolescents’ reading and writing and academic achievement through service learning.
- Improve university teacher education candidates’ self-efficacy and well being through sustained service learning and civic engagement with grades 3-12 students.
- Provide university teacher education candidates with concrete experiences working with diverse children and adolescents and thus help future teachers to learn how to more effectively teach diverse students.
Literacy for Democracy is a ReadWriteServe project under the leadership of Dr. Tina Heafner, Dr. Tracy Rock, and Dr. Bruce Taylor, faculty members in the College of Education at UNC Charlotte. We believe that literacy is integral to student agency, civic engagement, and social justice.
Welcome to LFD!
Bruce, Tracy, and Tina
