You could tell them about the fun debates had by people who comment on your blog, or the blogosphere as a whole.

Gathering information from the internet is a way to appear to be much smarter than one naturally is. How do you make a resume look good? Look it up on the internet. How do you know if someone has already solved the problem you're trying to solve? And so on.

Literacy is more important now than it's ever been. And anymore it's not just Reading like you do in books. For example, with the internet you have to be able to think critically about what you read and actively filter it while you read.

If you need another smart book to read Amy, check out James Paul Gee's "What Video Games Have to Teach Us About Learning and Literacy." Great stuff about multi-modal literacy.

It's written higher than a fourth grade reading level though.

These days I'm going through the process of hiring a few people. One position is a very technical SQL Server Database Guru job. The other is for a general purpose Web Tester; a position by the way where I do NOT want too technical a person.

In any case, the variety of applicants I'm getting, especially for the second position, is quite astounding. When you get dozens & dozens of applications you have to use some criteria for narrowing down the list. For New Canadians, whose Mother Tongue is not English, I give them a huge break, understanding that their grammar may not be perfect. But for those who have grown up here, I'm appalled at how many don't ever seem to proof-read their CVs, let alone their cover letters. I was always taught that such things had to be PERFECT!

It occurred to me that an interesting exercise for these students would be to have them proof-read some job application letters that you construct - deliberately with some blatant errors. Not only would it be fun to let them play the role of the HR person, but the next time they're applying for a job they might think more carefully about the first impression they provide a prospective employer.

"I'm guessing nobody tells them why they need to read, but maybe I'm wrong about that."

No, you're right.

It is so sad to think about kids graduating in a few years with such a low reading level. What I don't get is why the schools and parents are not held accountable for this. These kids are going to have bigger problems now because at that age there is so much catch up for them. I only hope that your visit will inspire them enough to go to a library. How many of them do you really think have a library card? Maybe they could start with that. I wish I had a suggestion for you. All I can say is thank you for caring enough to go to these schools and trying to make a difference.

I had once read on a blog post (really wish I remembered which one because I think the poster deserves the credit) who proposed that charities organize donations to give to any kid that wanted to read a book (from a selected list) and then write a report on it for some money. Then there would be first second and third place winners who if selected would receive more - to be used for college tuition (instead of the candy and magazine drives). Local businesses could also be approached to sponsor these as well.

This poster had mentioned selecting classic literature and novels like Atlas Shrugged. This appears to be a little advanced for these kids, but maybe a book list that is a little less advanced?

I always thought that instead of my tax money going to teachers unions and the department of education, the superintendents of schools (etc), that money should be applied in a different way - a system structured more like a business that pays very minimally for attendance but gives bonus' based on grades.

Sadly, it would seem, the educational system doesn't seem to really want that - (noting your No Child Left Behind II post today).

There is a story, if any of you have the time about a man named Bruce Barton. He wrote a letter in 1925 to 25 rich men who responded with $1,000 - all 25 of them. It was a solicitation to sponsor kids from mountain areas in the south who could not afford college. It is an inspiring story and an excellent approach, read a quick blurb here about his letter.

I think as companion to your examples of people who go to school later in life, you might want to discuss inqusitiveness, and drive. People who go back to school late in life, always felt they wanted or needed to do that. They had a drive to go beyond the basics, to aim higher. If you only read at 3rd grade by 10th... it's because you find no NEED to read anything more.

This is an idea that is missing in a lot of educational contexts. Sure, you need to read at such and such level to get into the next level of school or college... But in everyday life, do you ACTUALLY have to read better than that? Can you squeeze by, can you fake it?

This is the main idea behind people who just go with the flow, and never strive, or have drive. This happens in every group of humans, it's just masked in some groups because they are basically just clever.

My favorite story about bringing the joy of reading to poor children is here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/20/world/americas/20burro.html?pagewanted=all

It's about a schoolteacher in Colombia who started bringing books on donkey-back to children in the remotest mountain villages. The reception was very enthusiastic. Of course, these children were functionally illiterate through no fault of their own (extreme poverty & isolation, decades of civil war & narco-terrorism). Just seeing kids much worse off than they are get excited about reading might help your high-schoolers a bit.

Book donkey video here:

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/the-americas/090502/donkey-library

Maybe it also might help to tell the students that there's no reason to be discouraged -- it's never too late to start reading. As long as you're doing it, you'll only get better at it. Kristen, your library card idea is spot-on. Our county library system is one of the best values for the taxpayer dollar I can think of.

Ask them how big they want their world to be.

Great work as always, Amy. However, I believe he co-authored the book at age 102 (even more impressive!), not 92.

I'll have to pass on the red wig, though. I don't think the world's ready for that.

I would also show them the possible jobs with their skill sets (lawn work, manual/day labor), jobs if they can read at 12th grade level (possibly office work, security jobs, manager at fast food restaurant) and graduate, and jobs if they are able to read at a college level and graduate. And mention salaries. We all understand the wonder of escaping into another world through reading, but many kids need a much more practical reason at first.

I would also explain and mention the availability of grants/financial aid for students in college. Most poor kids that I know never thought that college was possible until I walked them through the process and showed them the pitfalls.

-Julie

Hate to be all doom and gloom, but the library card might not work so well.

When I was teaching inner-city girls, I tried giving them projects at the local library. Sadly, this didn't work at all, because the girls I was teaching weren't allowed out of the house. Dorchester is pretty dangerous, there were about 5 shootings within 2 blocks of the school the year I worked there, and as a result kids don't have the kind of mobility many of us take for granted.

The parents worked, so they couldn't bring their kids to the library. And the kids couldn't go alone.

When basic safety is an issue, it makes learning more difficult.

How much does a quadplex in South Central cost nowadays? $300k?
A hooker, working and saving diligently, could come up with a hefty downpayment in five years.
That's a better game plan than any you will offer.
Collect rents and live rent free.

"That's a better game plan than any you will offer." JustT

nah, that leads to somebody else wanting to own you, and having the firepower to back it up. That oldest profession sort of thing only works well for an individual in the 'burbs and office towers, and if you are smart enough to do that, than you are clever enough to get out anyway...

Really dumb thought:

Find some of the mortgage (and other contracts like a car or tv/ rent-to-own) contracts -- some fair some unfair. ARM vs fixed. Buy here/pay here vs bank loans. Ask them which is better. Then draw out the financial implications.

It could be a reality check.

My experience as a rural HS remedial math teacher boils down to trying to make learning relative to the their lives. The vast majority of my students are the children of undocumented parent swho work 10-12 hours per day and live in housing that would be condemned if not for the non-interest by the city for housing codes where they live. What has been most successful for me is to use real world job application tests cashier, lumber yard worker, contractor to establish the basic minimums from them so they can see the smallest possibilities in math. Once they see it (usually about 50% mostly latina), I begin to introduce more difficult math and emphasize trade schools and for the best of my students a university education. Parents have a hard time finding the time to contact teachers on a 12 hour work schedule, but by far are willing to help. I had my first student apply for college today, it was the happiest moment of my life.

Public education iss designed to teach everyone and the hardest students always have the newest teachers. Reading and Math are difficult for most of my students, but usually by tenth grade they have watched their mother's clean enough houses and their fathers work enough diners and construction to see they may want more. I don't expect many to go to college, but using culturally sensitive objectives some might, but more importantly they gain the desire to make what they can of the opportunity of being in the U.S.

Its unfortunate we write them off and allow a few bad seeds to ruin education for the rest.

Z.

P.S. Amy I ordered your book, can't wait

SAD-
There are girls down in Downey and Paramount (small so-so towns south fo Los Angeles), running ads on Craigslist, and clearing $400 and up a day (2-3 tricks). No one owns them.
Pimps cannot control Craigslist, the way they can control a physical area, such as a known hooker corner in Detroit.
The pimps' life is a tough life, these days. Boo-hoo.
Craigslist call girls should be able to net $80k to $100k a year, without trying too hard. Cash, jack.
In three to five years, they should have enough for a quadplex in a lower-middle class area such as Downey. One girl I know has in fact purchased a condo in Paramount.
Shorn of the need to pay rent or mortgages, and getting modest rental income, the hookers could turn to straight work, and make a go of it on $10 an hour, which is about the only kind of job left in Los Angeles, unless you are highly skilled, or well-placed.
Maybe bartending. But you gotta show up for work, and not steal.
I doubt Ms. Bozo-doo Alkon will be able to offer those girls a better, more realistic path to the future than hooking.

The fat girls might want to join the Army.

Butthole, your sock puppetry is really getting old. You aren't funny anymore. Get over yourself.

If you want to convince them of the practical need for reading, try appealing to their sense of being street-smart. Remind them that if they don't know how to read, write, and do arithmetic well, then crooks who do will find it much easier to swindle them & rip them off. Perhaps you could scroll through the crime reports in the archives of the LA Times and look for real-life stories of functionally illiterate/innumerate people who were targeted by scam artists. That's one way of emphasizing that the 3Rs are not just for eggheads, and not "white": they're essential survival tools for everyone, no matter who they are or what they do for a living.

You might be the first adult in their lives to teach them this, sadly enough.

It is so sad to think about kids graduating in a few years with such a low reading level. What I don't get is why the schools and parents are not held accountable for this.

There was a movie a few years back, Teachers, in which a former student sued a school system because he graduated despite being functionally illiterate.

City Journal article on reading comprehension and education reform:

http://www.city-journal.org/2009/19_4_hirsch.html

Amy, if the class needs some high interest but lower grade level books, I would suggest Townsend Press and their Blueford Series. Each book is only $1 and my reading class, (I teach special education at a high school)loves these books. I finally just told them if they read the book and liked it they could keep it, and pick another as they were disappearing as fast as I could buy them. Good luck.

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