Unique approach to literacy

Page 20

If you think taking part in a literacy program just means sitting in a classroom, practicing your reading and writing, think again.

Right across Manitoba there are Aboriginal communities and organizations offering literacy programs that not only help students improve their reading and writing abilities, but teach them how to use computers, help them learn their traditional languages, or give them the tools to instill a love of learning in their children.

On Sept. 8, International Literacy Day, the federal government announced $541,540 in funding for 10 literacy projects in Manitoba, half of them specifically targeted to help Aboriginal learners increase their literacy skills. The funding comes from Human Resources and Skills Development Canada's National Literacy Secretariat.

The Dauphin Friendship Centre will receive $45,523 in funding to develop a teaching package that uses video production to help students improve their literacy skills.

The centre ran a pilot of its literacy program last year, with adult literacy learners creating informational videos about literacy and learning.

During the pilot, participants worked on their writing skills by creating scripts for their productions. Then they took their script and turned it into a finished product-a video that could be aired on public access television.

The project allowed the students to use their literacy skills creatively, and also provided participants with a big boost to their confidence, said Giselle Routhier, executive director of the friendship centre.

"I guess one of the things we found when we worked with the pilot, when we gave the students the exercises, one: They develop confidence, because they're working with cameras. They're on camera, they're creating the scripts ... working through the script and then performing the script, doing it on camera, developing self confidence, developing public presentation abilities. That in itself is invaluable," she said.

"Two: they're actually creating a product that actually educated the community on literacy or educates literacy persons who are not in a program while they're in their homes with certain topics, whether it be beginning math or phonics."

Over the next two years, staff at the centre will be working to create a training package that will help other organizations offer a similar program to their students.

The Indian and Metis Friendship Centre of Winnipeg will receive $40,481 in federal funding to pilot the Aboriginal Literacy and Parenting Skills (A-LAPS) program in Winnipeg and St. Theresa Point.

The A-LAPS program, developed by Bow Valley College in Calgary, combines literacy and parenting skills training with Aboriginal history, stories and legends.

"With the A-LAPS, there's a lot of flexibility in it. The parents who are participating have a lot of chance to say what it is that they want to talk about, whether it's discipline or school issues or whatever it is. And there's a lot of chance for feedback and sharing. We found it seems like a really great program," said Michelle Houle, family literacy facilitator with the centre.

The friendship centre already runs a number of literacy programs aimed at preschool children, including a home visiting program called At Home in the Community, and parent/child programs like Mother Goose and Rock and Read that introduce young children to literacy through songs and rhymes. The A-LAPS program will complement those programs by strengthening the literacy skills of parents.

Yellowquill College will receive $14,465 to develop literacy learning materials based on the stories of Elders.

An Elder will be videotaped telling a story in Ojibway, then the literacy students will work with the Ojibway teacher to write the story, then translate it into English, explained Jocelyn Starr, the Mature Grade 12 program co-ordinator at the college.

The plan is have the stories available on a project Web site that will be linked o the main Yellowquill College site, with audio or video of the Elder telling the story in Ojibway and of a student telling the story in English. The site will also include written versions of the story in both languages.

Little Black River First Nation will receive $61,661 for its latest literacy project, a bilingual workbook that will feature stories written by members of the community.

"Basically what we wanted to do was to create a workbook based on the day to day life of people in the community," said Theresa Fox, graphic specialist for the community and project manager for the First Nation's literacy project.

People in the community will be invited to submit short stories about moments from their lives, "whether it be fishing or hunting and trapping or waiting for the school bus, or other activities that take place in the community."

Community members whose stories are selected for inclusion in the workbook will be asked to illustrate their stories. The finished product will include both stories and illustrations, each accompanied by exercises dealing with comprehension, word recognition and word meaning.

The National Literacy Secretariat is also providing $36,021 to Lake Manitoba First Nation to develop interactive education products designed to promote safety in the region's three main industries-agriculture, fishing and the building trades.