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By Shelly Allen
Thirteen people from Calhoun, Gilmer, Wirt, Wood, Roane, and Jackson counties attended
the Laubach Literacy volunteer tutor training, held at the Calhoun-Gilmer Career Center, March
21 and 22. The training was sponsored by the Calhoun County Laubach Literacy Council in
cooperation with the Workforce Investment Board, WV Laubach Literacy, and Wal-Mart.
Jean Green, a long-time Laubach Literacy volunteer tutor and trainer and Shelly Allen, a
member of the Calhoun County Laubach Literacy Council and apprentice trainer, presented
information on topics surrounding the issue of literacy. Attendees experienced first-hand
what it's like to be unable to read by ordering from a menu written in Ameruss, a combination
of the American and Russian languages. They were also informed on the background of
illiteracy. Calhoun County's literacy rate indicates that one person in every four has trouble
performing daily reading tasks such as reading prescription labels.
The Laubach Way To Reading, a series of books developed by Dr. Frank Laubach and his
organization, is a systematic approach to learning to read. It begins with the names and
sounds of the consonants, then progresses through short to long vowel sounds. Along the way,
things like punctuation and capitalization are introduced as a part of the language, not as
grammatical concepts. For example, the idea of capitalizing someone's name is introduced as
just that, that someone's name begins with a capital letter, not because names are proper
nouns. The final in the four-book series deals with the seventeen percent of language that
doesn't follow "the rules" of spelling, grammar, and punctuation. The series is composed of
both a student and teacher version of each book, with the teacher's edition containing a
script which allows a teacher with little experience to feel confident in presenting a lesson.
This series was introduced and explained, as well as Challenger and Voyager, two other series
used by Laubach.
In addition, information was presented on how speech sounds are made, learning styles,
building rapport with the adult learner, goal setting, lesson planning, and meeting
individual student needs. Attendees were involved in several activities, including writing a
Language Experience story, listing possible reasons for illiteracy, reading the Laubach Way To
Reading Lesson One chart, and completing a learning styles inventory.
As a result of this workshop, there are AmeriCorps workers in the five
previously-mentioned counties who have been trained and are available to work with adult
learners to provide free, confidential, one-on-one tutoring in the areas of reading, writing,
and basic mathematics. In Calhoun County, the AmeriCorps workers are at Community Resources,
Inc. Anyone interested in becoming either a tutor or a learner should contact Shelly Allen at
the Calhoun-Gilmer Career Center, 354-6151.
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