Discoveries
Write to Read Student Is Finalist in Writer to Writer Challenge
Yvonne Gin, a student in one of Write to Read’s book discussion groups, was a finalist in the statewide Writer to Writer Challenge for a letter she wrote in response to Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl . Every year students in library literacy programs across the state are invited to enter their writing in the California State Library’s Writer to Writer Challenge.
This year, Yvonne’s book group read Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl . Yvonne felt moved by the words Anne Frank wrote in her diary during World War II and decided to write her letter to Anne. Like many Jewish families in Europe during World War II, Anne Frank’s family went into hiding. Tragically, Anne died in a concentration camp just before the war ended.
In her letter to Anne Frank, Yvonne Gin shared these thoughts, “Even though Anne Frank died so long ago,her book will be read by generations. Her book is telling us she never gave up HOPE. Hope is one of the most important spirits of mankind. I remember a song.It expresses what I feel about Anne:
While the heavy rain is pouring,
I bend down and let the rain slip from my back.          When the rain stops,
I raise up my head and straighten my back.Yvonne continues to write essays and letters and shares them with her tutor Marianne Adams and the members of her Monday morning reading club at the Fremont Library. Congratulations, Yvonne, on your success.
Yvonne Gin and tutor Marianne Adams
Literacy Program Manager Nominated for Alameda County Manager of the Year Dr. Luis Kong, Write to Read Program Manager,was nomimated for the Manager of the Year award by the Alameda County’s County Manager’s Affiliation (CMA) for the second year in a row.The Alameda Board of Supervisors recognized his work with underserved residents of the County.
Update on Computer Labs, Classes, Reading Clubs, and Volunteers
The popular computer labs at Fremont Main Library coordinated by our wonderful volunteer Dina Singh is open to students. Thank you, Dina and lab tutors!The computer labs are a great place for learning basic skills and for independent study in a supportive learning environment. Priyanka Lamaye, a computer lab tutor is helping with our V olunteerMatch site. Look for new volunteer opportunities on-line. Catherine Yang is
teaching a Life Skills/ESL class at Kent Gardens Senior Apts. in Ashland. Welcome Catherine! Students can register for new Basic Classes  starting in January or for one-to-one tutoring. If you are a second language learner who speaks English, join a Reading Club , in Fremont, Newark, Union City, Castro Valley, Dublin or Albany. Give us a call or tell a friend (510) 745-1480!
Open to the Public!
Diane Bellas, CMA Chair, and Luis Kong
Literacy Newsletter      January / February 2010
What I Learned from Discovering Words:
The Stories Behind English
By Daniel
What I know about English is it has a lot of dialects and history. It came from different regions of the world and mostly came from Europe. My question is, why is it easier to read English than to write English? Also, how many words are there in English?
I learned on the Internet that there are 250,000 words in English. What I learned about English history from the book is the Anglo Saxons were the founders of Old English. A lot of the simple language we use every day is from the Anglo Saxons like and and in. What I learned about English language is Christians put Latin in English. For example, Chris-tians put some of these Latin words in the English language—priest and nun.
I also learned that the Vikings changed the English language. The Vikings were pirates that came from Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. The Vikings added some of these sounds like sc, and sk and some words like sky and skirt.
I learned the pronouncing of Old English has changed over time. Some of our words derive from the French from when the French invaded England. By the year 1500 the French had added many words,
such as  pray, confess, and miracle. Around 1450, the printing press was invented and books made it pos-sible for people to learn thousands of new words.
English also got words from the Algonquin Indian language because English people came to America and Native Americans were already living here.
For example, some words like skunk were adopted into English. Some other words that have Native American origins are Chicago and Seattle.
Bruce’s Garden Tips
February through September start feeding your roses. Prune roses in February, near Groundhog Day,
the 2nd. Transplant roses by the end of February. For shade and fruit trees, start feeding when the buds appear and continue until the leaves fall off.Grammar Fun!
The Grammar Gorillas show you fun sentences and ask you to find the noun, verb, etc. A parts of speech game—
www.funbrain/grammar/index.html Language Arts Games—
classroom.jc-schools/basic/la-grammar.html These Grammar Games help reinforce
knowledge of nouns, verbs, adjectives,
adverbs, prepositions, pronouns, conjunctions and interjections—www.educationallearninggames/ grammar-games.asp
Interactive grammar games keep students engaged in learning—urdictionary/dictionary-articles/interactive-grammar-games.html
Have a blast with Grammar Blast!
Answer 10 questions and earn up to 100
game points.
To play just choose a quiz below—
www.eduplace/kids/hme/k_5/quizzesindex.html BBC’s Skills Wise enables adults to improve reading, writing, and number skills. Level one has literacy and numeracy resources - worksheets, quizzes, games, and a community message board—
uk/skillswise/words/grammar
Building vocabulary with News for You
crossword puzzles
Lee Chen and Reading Club tutor,
Pat Cordeiro
Become a volunteer!
Please call us for an application. Many volunteer opportunities are available in our program from tutoring individuals and small groups, to resource center upkeep, outreach and recruitment, program development, and more.Ashland READS Helps Learners with Job Readiness, Life Skills and Computer Basics Best Foot Forward: Get that Job and Keep It,
a jo
b readiness and computer skills class started at Bermuda Garden Apartments in the fall of 2009 with 12 students. Instructor Teirrah McNair’s class is part of the Ashland READS project, an Alameda County Library and Mercy Housing partnership funded by
a grant from the Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA). The FREE class is currently recruiting students for its second session starting on January 7th. Tell a Friend.
A basic computer class/lab at Eden House Apart-ments on 165th Avenue helps learners become famil-iar with the Internet, filling out forms, writing a resume, searching for jobs and library resources, and using the bookmobile. The class is on Thursday from 10:– 12: Mercy Housing residents and people from the surrounding neighborhoods attend both classes.
A basic computer class and a Life Skills/ESL class will be serving Kent Gardens Senior Apartment residents. The second session starts on January 8th. To learn more about Ashland READS, call (510) 745-1480 or 745-1473
Tutor Resources
This month, we are featuring fiction and non-fiction books from the Write to Read book collection in our office. Tutors and teachers and students are invited to check these books out for students and classes. All three titles are available in class sets of 10 or more.
Non-Fiction
The Perilous Journey of the Donner Party, by Marian Calabro. If you have ever driven to Tahoe, you have driven past Donner Lake and over Donner Summit. This book tells the story of the 81 pioneers who were trapped in a snowstorm in 1846 at what became Donner Lake. The story is told from the point of view of a 12-year-old girl from Illinois who was a member of the Donner Party. Her letters lend a personal touch to this part of California history.
The Hoover Dam, by Elizabeth Mann.
During the Great Depression, US President Herbert Hoover was accused of being responsible for the poor economy and the suffering of hungry, jobless Americans. He wanted to create jobs, and building a dam across the Colorado River looked like a great opportunity. It was an incredible feat of engineering and included diverting the Colorado River around the site of the new dam. As many as 5,200 workers worked on the dam in a single day. They worked through blazing sun and heat in the d
esert to com-plete America’s most famous dam.
Fiction
In Nueva York, by Nicholasa Mohr. The Write to Read Book Club at the Dublin Library, led by Mazie Coyne, selected In Nueva York for its fall book. The students were pleased with the stories about people in the Puerto Rican community on the Lower East Side of New York City. The book is a collection of short stories connected by the themes of poverty, struggle, survival, and humor. Mazie Coyne writes,“My students unanimously agreed that they really enjoyed the book. They felt it was just the right level for them. They found it challenging because of
vocabulary, idioms, and slang, but not so difficult that they had to work too hard. The stories were interesting enough that they did not want to put the book down.”
Margarita Lopez and Bruce Larson Instructor, Teirrah McNair, Spelling and Writing Class
Calendar of Events  Jan-Feb  2010
Call us for times and locations (510) 745-1480New Year’s Day — Libraries Closed
Computer Lab Opens  (M-T-W) Call to sign up!Orientation for New Students
Kent Garden Senior Apts. Computer Classes
Best Foot Forward: Job Readiness Class Begins Eden House Computer Skills Lab Begins Kent Garden Senior Apts. Life Skills/ESL Class Begins Reading Clubs Begin
Basic Spelling, Writing & Reading Classes Begin Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday—Libraries Closed Orientation for New Students
1467811121820Literacy Office Hours  Monday – Friday
–
New Training for One to One Tutors
Orientation for New Students Lincoln’s Birthday—Libraries Closed Presidents Day—Libraries Closed
4 & 111012
15Sponsored in part by Alameda County Library Foundation and the State Library CLLS, LSTA
and the Fremont Rotary Club
Literacy !Staff
Dr.!Luis !Kong,!Program !Manager Darlene !Garcia,!Student !Advocate Sally !Ianiro,!Literacy !Specialist John !Miller,!Literacy !Specialist Rachel !Parra,!Literacy !Clerk
C A L L Write to Read  (510) 745-1480to sign up for classes
2450 Stevenson Blvd.,
Fremont CA 94538
JANUARY
FEBRUARYregister for

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