How To Kit

Get Caught Reading & other literacy promotion ideas

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Other How to Kits & Literacy Activities

This How to Kit was developed to help organizations celebrate NWT Literacy Week. This is one in a series of How to Kits available to download on the NWT Literacy Council website at www.nwt.literacy.ca. How to Kits developed to date: 1-2-3 Rhyme With Me Book Making Books in the Home Community Book Swap Culture and Traditions Election Environmental Print Games Facilitating a Workshop Family Literacy Activities Night Family Reading Party Games Night Get Caught Reading and other literacy promotion ideas Involving Families in Childrens Learning Literacy Activities for Holidays Thanksgiving, Halloween, Christmas, Valentines Day, Easter, Birthdays Literacy Games for Adults Literacy Treasure Hunt Puppet Making Pyjamas and Book Party Readers Theatre Reading Cirlces and Story Extenders Scattergories Storytime on the Radio Talking Books Writing Contest

Other activities Literacy Bingos o Reading Bingo o Introduction Bingo o Picture Bingo o Word Bingo o Plain Language Bingo

Memory Game Learning Activities Cards Baby Book Project My Family Booklet On the Right Track

Please feel free to photocopy and use these activities in your programs and adapt them to meet your needs. NWT Literacy Council Box 761 Yellowknife, NT X1A 2N6 Toll Free: 1-866-599-6758 Phone: 867-873-9262 Fax: 867-873-2176 Email: [email protected] Website: www.nwt.literacy.ca

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Literacy Promotions
This How to Kit will help you promote literacy in your community. In this kit, you will find Information about why literacy is important to your community. Key literacy messages. Information on how to promote literacy and who you can work with in your community. Ideas for promoting literacy. Get Caught Reading and win!

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Why promote literacy in my community?

Literacy affects everyone. It is a community issue. When we hear the word literacy we may think about how well people read and write. Literacy is much more than that. Literacy is about how people get, use and share information in any language. Literacy is also connected to many other social issues faced by northern communities. For example, good literacy skills can help you: Be healthy and safe. Help your children with their homework. Get and keep a job. Participate in local committees or government. Promoting literacy in your community helps people understand that literacy is more than reading and writing. It may encourage them to attend literacy programs, family literacy nights or become more involved in organizing literacy events in your community.

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

What are some key messages that I can promote?

Literacy is for life Literacy is much more than reading and writing. It weaves through all aspects of our lives, including culture, language, health, education, employment, justice and access to services. Literacy helps people become actively involved in their community. Literacy is a family affair Parents/caregivers are their childrens first and most important teacher. Parents/caregivers have a strong influence on their childrens learning. Literacy is connected to language, culture and traditions Literacy refers to any language Literacy involves everyone in the community Literacy helps keep language and culture strong

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

How can I promote literacy in my community?

You can do lots of things in your community to promote literacy. You may want to work with others in your community. It is nice to have others to share ideas and the workload. Think of others in your community who might be interested in working together to promote literacy in your community.

Who should I ask to help?

Adult Educator Daycare Workers Preschool Teachers Family Literacy Coordinator Canada Pre-natal Nutrition Coordinator (CPNP) Teachers Parents Family Support Workers Community Health Representative (CHR) Elders Youth

Set up a committee to promote literacy in your community. It is not hard. You just need interested community members and a place to meet.

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

What are some ideas for promoting literacy?

Get Caught Reading campaign Read for 15 Posters with literacy slogans Bookmarks Literacy Booth Information Sessions Radio Literacy Leader Awards

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Get Caught Reading

Promote reading by organizing a Get Caught Reading campaign. Each week find someone in the community who is reading. It could be someone at the band office reading a magazine or a parent reading to their children. Give a free book to the winner. You can contact the NWT Literacy Council for free books! Take their picture and make up a poster that says Get Caught Reading. Put up the posters around town to celebrate reading in your community. You could also put their name and photo in the community newspaper or newsletter. Send the picture and information to the NWT Literacy and we will add it to our newsletter.
Get Caught Reading on Fridays

and win a free book

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Read for 15
Each year the NWT Literacy Council organizes a Read for 15 during NWT Literacy Week for all of the NWT. This year the Read for 15 will be on Tuesday, September 28th.

Read for 15 Tuesday, September 28th

We encourage you to coordinate the Read for 15 in your community. Fax your results to: Have organizations, businesses, (867) 873-2176 schools or groups fax or phone you with the number of people who read for 15 minutes. Tally all the numbers and report to the NWT Literacy Council. We will collect all the numbers and publish how many people read in the NWT and per community. Make the Read for 15 a weekly activity for your community. Encourage the school to invite parents and community members to come to the school to read for 15 once a week. Or have the whole community read for 15 each week. For example, you could have everyone drop what they are doing and read for 15 on Fridays at 10:00 am. This is a great way to encourage reading of all community members.

We challenge your community to Read for 15!

NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Literacy Posters
Put posters up around town with pictures of community members doing literacy activities. You can include Elders telling stories, families reading together, people doing traditional skills like sewing. Put slogans on the posters that promote community, culture, language and literacy like: Literacy involves everyone. Read today and everyday. Literacy is a family affair. Spend time with your family. Literacy is more than reading and writing share your culture and your language. Have fun and read! Read with your family. Start Early read, sing and talk to your baby in Dogrib (you can use the language of your community). Its never too late to learn. Learn something new everyday. Share your stories share your culture. Speak Slavey at home (substitute different languages in).

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Bookmarks
You can create some unique bookmarks for your community to promote literacy. Hand them out at the local grocery store or at different events in the community. Bookmarks are easy to make. You can use the table feature in Word to create bookmarks. Put different literacy slogans on the bookmarks like: Read today and everyday. Reading is fun! Share a book with your family today. READ, READ, READ. Read in the morning, read in the afternoon, read in the evening, read anytime! You can print them on card stock and laminate them with packing tape. Include the name of your organization on the bookmark with your contact number.
READ, READ, READ

Inuvik Literacy Committee Call for more information 777-7777

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Literacy Booth
Get several groups together that have an interest in literacy and set up a literacy booth at the local grocery store. You can have information out about the adult literacy program, family literacy program, daycare, Aboriginal Head Start program, Friendship Centre and any other organization that is involved in literacy. Talk to people about why literacy is important. Tell them about the literacy programs happening in your community. Encourage them to come to family literacy activities or volunteer to read with children in the school. Give out free books, bookmarks, pencils and information sheets. Contact the NWT Literacy Council for free books, pencils and information sheets on family literacy, workplace literacy and adult literacy.

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Information Session
Hold a literacy information session in your community. Invite community members to come and discuss: What is literacy? Why is literacy important? How is literacy connected to language and culture? What are some of the literacy challenges in our community? What are some of the solutions? What kinds of programs would we like for our community? Would anyone like to be involved in the literacy committee? You may want to have a representative from the school, adult upgrading program and early childhood programs to answer questions. Also invite the chief, mayor, council members and other leaders in your community to participate in the meeting.

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Radio
Radio is a great way to promote literacy in your community. Everyone listens to the radio. Literacy Ads Make up some literacy ads for your community. Have Elders, youth or parents read them out on the radio. Your ads could have different messages like: Parents are their childs first and most important teacher. Read, sing and talk to your child everyday. Speak your first language at home. Dont worry about English. Your children will learn English outside the home from school and the TV. Keep our language and culture strong. Stories Several communities have Elders tell stories on the radio each week. Stories on the radio are a fun way to engage families in literacy. In one community they hand out the stories ahead of time so people can read along with the storyteller. They also have questions at the end of the story and the first person to call in with the correct answer wins a prize.

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Aboriginal Language Other communities have language contests. Every Friday, in Holman, they have a contest for community members. They say 10 words in English and the first person to translate them into Inuinnaqtun wins a prize. Literacy Hour You could have a special time slot each week for literacy related activities and discussions. You could: Invite Elders to tell stories about the old days. Invite children to read stories. Play picture bingo (give out the cards at your local store). Have special guest speakers like the chief, mayor or your MLA talk about why literacy is important.

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Literacy Leader Awards

Recognize people in your community Literacy Leader Award who have made a contribution to literacy or people who have returned Rae Lakes General Store to school to upgrade their education. Give them a Literacy Thanks for donating Leader Award. Take their picture books to our community! and put up posters around town celebrating their success or contributions to literacy. You can also include them in your local newspaper or newsletter. The Literacy Council would be pleased to include them in our newsletter. You could celebrate the success of a reading buddy program in the school and give students certificates celebrating their commitment to helping younger students.
Literacy Leader Award Terry Smith Volunteer Book Buddy

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NWT Literacy Council

celebrate literacy in the NWT

Examples
Posters Bookmarks Literacy Leader certificates

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NWT Literacy Council

Get Caught Reading

on Fridays and win a book!

Get Caught Reading

on Fridays and win a book!

Literacy

involves everyone!

Read Today

With Your Family

Read

with your family

Literacy is more than reading & writing

Share your language & culture

Share your Stories

Share your culture

Start Early

Read, sing, and talk to your baby in Slavey!

Read for 15 minutes

Everyday!

Read for 15

Share your stories

Start Early

Everyday!

Share your culture Literacy involves

Read, sing and talk to your baby in Dogrib.

Literacy is a

READ, READ, READ

and have fun!

Family Affair!

the whole community!

Literacy is more than reading and writing

Reading helps us at

Read for fun!

Work!

Start Early

Teach your language to your children!

Read with your family

Sing to your baby!

Literacy Leader Award

This certificate is awarded to

Thanks for your contribution to

Signature

Date

Literacy Leader Award

This certificate is awarded to

The Rotary Club Thanks for your contribution to NWT Literacy Week 2003.

NWT Literacy Council

Signature

Date