Celebrate International Literacy Day!

Join the International Reading Association and the National Coalition for Literacy in advocating for literacy and observing International Literacy Day on September 8, 2009. Below are some ideas, web sites, and fact sheets to help you get started.

Advocate for Literacy

• Make the case for adult education by making connections to current topics facing law makers:
• Limited literacy makes the U.S. less competitive globally.
• Limited health literacy strains our health care costs and limits prevention efforts.
• Limited financial literacy means the economy and consumers suffer.
• Limited educational attainment puts the individual at risk for poverty and reliance on government support.
  
  
• Create an online social network to publicize literacy issues.
  
  
• Post a video of one of your adult education classes in action on YouTube.
  
  
• Create a DVD about “A Day in the Life” of an adult education learner or of testimonials from learners regarding the impact that your program has had on their lives. 
  
  
• Engage learners to speak about adult education at community events, with law makers, school district officials, health care events, etc.
  
  
• Connect with national organizations such as the National Coalition for Literacy, ProLiteracy, National Center for Family Literacy, Teachers of Speakers of Other Languages, and others, so that you can add your voice to the united efforts already underway.

Web Sites

Sesame Workshop on Healthy Habits
Use the Sesame Workshop Healthy Habits materials with your family literacy program for learning activities on nutrition and exercise knowledge, emotional well being, social development, and literacy. Parents and teachers will find a wealth of information to help children and families grow. Connect with your local PBS affiliate to arrange a family event.

Healthy Roads Media
Partner with local organizations that serve multiple language groups to develop health literacy materials that are accessible to the wider community. See sample materials at the Healthy Roads Media website.

Health Communication Activities
Partner with a health care provider to increase accessibility to health services for low-literacy and low English proficient adults. See a sample plan at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion website.

International Literacy Day
Visit the Crayola International Literacy Day page for lesson plans for instructors as well as activities that parents and families will enjoy.

Observe and Celebrate

Idea Starters for International Literacy Day,
The following is a list of ideas for observing and celebrating International Literacy Day. Thank you to the International Reading Association for providing these ideas:

• Help with an international literacy project such as www.southernsudanlibrary.org or create your own.
  
  
• Celebrate with a book fair.

• Stage a Fun Run for Literacy and provide donated books to participants.

• Use newspapers to go global — conduct a scavenger hunt for country names or compare how stories are covered by newspapers from different parts of the world.

• The ReadWriteThink.org website (www.readwritethink.org), developed by the International Reading Association and the National Council of Teachers of English with support from the Verizon Foundation, provides lesson plans and activities for reading that incorporate technology and the Internet.
  
  
  • Access ReadWriteThink SEARCH (at top right corner of homepage) to find a variety of innovative lesson plans for your grade level and topic.
  • Use the interactive Student Materials (by clicking on the purple STUDENT MATERIALS tab) to have students create alphabet books, comic strips, flip books, and newspapers. Other online activities are available in this section.
  • Check the ReadWriteThink Calendar (by clicking on CALENDAR from the homepage) to find literacy activities that relate to events throughout the year. For each event, there is a related Classroom Activity, in addition to lesson plans, Web links, and texts.
    
    
• Match different alphabets (Chinese, Cyrillic, Arabic, Hindi, etc.) to countries.
  
  
• Read and compare folk tales from different countries.
  
  
• Invite students, parents, or guests who have lived in other parts of the world to read a story or to talk about classrooms in other countries.

• Hold a cultural fair with information displays about children’s native or ancestral countries. Read stories, share songs, and have people dress in ethnic costumes.
  
  
• Students select countries, research essays on similarities/differences of literacy issues internationally.

• Event with a reading theme, such as Read Across Asia or Reading Takes Me Places. Be part of read-in chain that celebrates books written by authors of certain ethnic or cultural groups, like the Hispanic American Read-In Chain.
  
  
• Form links with a school or educational group in another country and have letter-writing campaigns, book collections, and other activities that generate media and public interest in your school or group and literacy issues in other parts of the world.

• Think globally, act locally. The Internet is a great resource for communicating throughout the world. Tap into its potential as a tool for making global contacts.
  
  
• Ask an adult learner involved in a literacy program to give a testimonial.

• Tap your students’ creativity for ideas about how to make the community more aware of literacy issues.
  
  
• Establish one-day hotline that community members call with questions about reading, learning disabilities, literacy programs, and resources. Staff hotline with reading professionals/volunteers from literacy organizations.

• Have older students make books to share with younger students or to donate to childcare centers.
  
  
• Conduct a read-a-thon to raise money for community literacy programs.

• Create a partnership with a television/radio station, magazine/newspaper to support literacy projects.
  
  
• Ask a local business to help heighten awareness about a reading or literacy topic. A supermarket chain may agree to print a literacy message on its shopping bags. A local dairy might carry tips for parents on its packaging. Many utility suppliers feature community issues in newsletters sent with monthly bills.

• Invite a publisher to your classroom or school to discuss how books are developed.
  
  
• Ask a local bookstore to donate books to disadvantaged children or for reading contest prizes.

• Initiate an annual contest or award. Hold a writing contest for students or senior citizens, or a film contest for the best home video about reading.
  
  
• Organize local businesses to raise money to purchase magazines and books for area schools.

• Recruit sponsors/mentors who will ensure that children have school supplies and an adult to read with.

• Hold a press conference to publicize literacy issues in the community.

Share Your Story

Submit your International Literacy Day resources and ideas for inclusion in the Toolkit. Tell us about how you are celebrating International Literacy Day and we will publish your story here.

Right to Literacy Forum, Des Moines, Iowa

Celebrate International Literacy Day with Drake University Literacy Center and New Readers of Iowa. Adults who lack the skills to read and write in today's world have many struggles. Beyond the economic impact, the personal costs of unfulfilled potential are exceedingly great. Hear how Iowa adults are exercising their "right to literacy" and how this affects their lives and the Central Iowa economy. The Right to Literacy Forum is sponsored by the Des Moines Public Library, Drake University Adult Literacy Center, New Readers of Iowa, Iowa Literacy Council, and the Iowa Dept. of Education. For more information, or to pre-register, call the Central Library, 283-4152 or visit http://www.dmpl.org .

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