Winnetka-Northfield Rotary wins two grants

Dr. Jeanne Beckman, literacy chair and board member of the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary, is pleased to announce that our Rotary club is the recipient of grants from both the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary foundation as well as a district simplified grant (DSG) from District 6440 of Rotary International. Here is a description of the project:

For the Winnetka-Northfield Rotary’s literacy project, the traditional Rotary Dictionary Project (one book for every 3rd grader), will be combined with added bonus of the Ultimate Talking Dictionary (computer software that is a full dictionary that reads aloud the definitions, so that every third grader in the Winnetka and Northfield public schools(plus one dictionary for each special needs and ELL student in all grades between kindergarten and eighth grade),can not only have his or her own traditional print dictionary, but can own his or her own copy of dictionary software to look up words on a computer at school or at home. Here’s a description of the Ultimate Talking Dictionary:

The Ultimate Talking Dictionary (UTD), is not only a comprehensive dictionary, but has other robust, integrated features that make it unlike any other dictionary anywhere. Like all other Premier products, UTD reads everything to you. The dictionary contains over 250,000 words, terms, jargon, and even proper nouns like geographic entries (e.g. cities, countries) and historical persons. UTD has a complete thesaurus built-in that allow you to quickly find synonyms and their corresponding definitions. The “Power Search” feature lets you look up words when you only know a partial spelling. Premier’s unique Interlink technology incorporates complex cross-references between all words in the UTD so you can quickly find related terms and definitions, even when you only have a vague concept of a word.

1. How will this project meet the needs of the community?

Even though many of the students in these two communities have family incomes that are far above those generally viewed as in need, most, if not all, students can benefit from additional vocabulary support and encouragement. The dictionary project has repeatedly demonstrated that students feel great pride in ownership in having their own personal dictionary. Additionally, many students have some barriers to easy acquisition to vocabulary growth, whether due to unidentified or identified learning challenges, disabilities, and/or English language learning. Combining both traditional dictionaries with software versions allows equal access and provides a foundation for lifelong learning.


2. How will the sponsoring club or clubs work together to implement this project?
The Literacy committee’s project for our club is a “traditional plus” project, which will deliver a personalized copy (with a Winnetka-Northfield Rotary nameplate inside) of DictionaryProject.org’s Webster’s Dictionary for Students Special Encyclopedic Edition dictionary plus a copy of the Ultimate Talking Dictionary to every third grader at Winnetka and Northfield schools. Additionally, a copy of both will be provided to each child in first through eighth grades with an IEP or 504 (i.e. special needs students) and English language learners (ELL), regardless of grade in school so that every child can experience success by having an equal opportunity to acquire the rich vocabulary of the written word.

In addition to attending an assembly where our club members will deliver these dictionaries to the schools, Rotarians will also participate in a hands-on project of converting books on the third grade reading list (at the Winnetka-Northfield public library) into accessible text via scanning each one into accessibility software (loaned by Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Club to the public library, a 2007 district award-winning Winnetka-Northfield Literacy project). School-provided library copies of these traditional books will be scanned, and their accessible versions will be placed on a CD in a Rotary bookplated pocket inside the front cover and returned to the respective school libraries.

Hands on component:
Ø Rotarians going to schools and presenting “dictionaries with a difference” to assembly of 3rd graders and possibly assembly of special needs students
Ø volunteering reading books aloud, either at schools or at the public library
Ø Northfield: possible facilitating special thesaurus projects at school request
Ø Age-appropriate mentoring student projects of making books accessible
Ø Scanning 3rd grade book lists into accessible print
Ø Scanning/mentoring of scanning of other book lists into accessible print as project matures
Ø Accessibility software utilized in library with possible student and parent mentoring

Stay tuned to find out how we plan to "pay forward" this project

Winnetka-Northfield Foundation 2007 grants for literacy projects

So many Rotarians go about their service projects in a quiet way, focusing their energies on the project itself rather than making their good deeds public. Our club's charitable foundation granted funding for the following literacy projects in 2007:

Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Charitable Foundation Awards June 7, 2007

Organization (Club Champion): Project/Proposal

Literature for All of Us (Karen Thomson): Literacy Education - helping teenage boys to improve their reading skills

Writer’s Theatre, Inc. (Sherre Jennings Cullen) The MLK Project- a project bringing Civil Rights information to schools

Pass Christian Library (Barb Aron):Children's Collection - supporting a two-year commitment to rebuild the Children's collection of the public library destroyed by Katrina

Rotary Literacy Project (Jeanne Beckman): Book Scanning/accessibility software - purchasing software to loan to libraries to allow people with reading challenges to access books, magazines, and the Internet.

LEARN Charter School (Linda Kellough): Materials for science lab - a private school in Chicago needs needs materials for their science lab

Nicaragua Matching Grant (Walter Reed):Fabretto's Children - an institution educating 700 students. Purchasing computer and digital equipment.

Kenya Library (Tony Kambich): Combined Community and School Library funding materials for a new combined library.

RISE International (Mike Wurzburg):Textbooks for a school in Angola.

Futures for Children: Supporting a young American Indian woman to complete her high school education.

Applications have already been submitted for funding for 2008. Stay tuned for updates on these and other literacy projects.

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

To kick off literacy month (March) and celebrate Dr. Seuss' birthday, Winnetka Rotarian Dr. Jeanne Beckman held a Dr. Seuss birthday party at The Book Stall in Winnetka. In addition to reading books "the old fashioned way," children (and adults) who came to the party had an opportunity to try accessible reading software by reading a Dr. Seuss book on the computer. What is your favorite Seuss book? I think mine is Green Eggs and Ham, the Number four all time rank of children's hardcover books. Stay tuned for more literacy events during the month of March.

Many thanks to The Book Stall at Chestnut Court, 811 Elm Street, Winnetka, IL
Every time I go into this store, I am struck with the wide selection of books available as well as the passions of owner Roberta Rubin and her the avid book-reading staff. The Book Stall is a local, independent bookseller, and they will order any available book or audio book. Http://www.theBookStall.com

jb

Literacy Project Update

On Saturday, February 23, we had a Rotary literacy project volunteer update, technology demonstration, and book signing. Visitors had a chance to look at Rotarian and Nobel Peace Prize winner Mohammad Yunus' new book (Creating a World Without Poverty) in both hardcover and in digital format that the computer read aloud.

Among the visitors, we had Kirk Reed, our assistant district governor. Other guests included parents, several disabled individuals, and professionals.

Visitors had hands-on demonstrations of technology that reads books, magazines (even the Rotarian), and Internet text aloud, as well as other assistive technology (tools for access). Visitors also had the opportunity to see the multiple ways in which our projects will provide digital (computer-readable) materials so that those who struggle with reading can have the same opportunities to read and learn as their peers.

If you missed this event, several more will be scheduled over the next few months. Stay tuned...

Accessible LiteracyTechnology Demonstration and Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Literacy Project Update

Meet local Rotarian and author Dr. Jeanne Beckman

What: Winnetka-Northfield Rotary Literacy Volunteers Project Update, Book signing, Technology Demonstrations

When: Saturday, February 23, 2008 11-3

Where: One Northfield Plaza, Suite 300, Northfield, IL

Special for spreading the Rotarian spirit: Bring a copy of either Muhammad Yunus book (Creating a World Without Poverty or Banker to the poor: micro-lending and the battle against world poverty) and get a free digital copy for your computer to read aloud.

Find out about

• Technology that reads any book aloud (text to speech)
• Technology that types whatever you say (voice recognition or “Dragon”)
• Technology that speaks for those with delayed, difficult to understand, or absent speech
• Technology that helps you keep track of appointments, assignments, and other important information
• How to get technology to meet your individual needs
• How to share technology for literacy through local and international Rotary literacy projects
• 10% of book sales during open house will be donated to Winnetka-Northfield Literacy Project

Audience: Information for all ages

• For more information, email Dr. Beckman at techpsych@techpsychologist.com

Excerpt from Tech Psychologist’s Guide

As you read this book

As you read this book, I also ask that you consider how you might impact others’ lives if you only had the time. It is my hope that this book will help you and your family find ways to access learning so that you will have time to more fully participate in the community, both at the local and global level.

Making our world a better place

Challenging barriers is not a pleasant stroll in the park. It drains families of energy we could spend making our world a better place. When families work together, the likelihood of creating change increases significantly. When you work together with other families and find some successes in leading change, who knows how far you can go? Maybe you can create changes outside your own communities. Can you help other families find funding sources for technology? Can you share your techniques for bringing about changes with other families?

A final thought on my own attempt at ripples of change

In my book, I challenged readers to “pay it forward” by finding ways to share what they’ve learned. My own attempt to pay it forward is that I will donate a percentage of the profit from this book to the Winnetka, Illinois Rotary Club literacy project. This project loans text-to-speech software and scanners to local public libraries, so library patrons can access all of the books within their library as well as have fully accommodated access to the Internet and digital media. We intend to have this project “paid forward” to other Rotary service clubs throughout the United States and internationally. Each of those clubs will be asked to pay the project forward to three other Rotary clubs, and so on.

For information about the project
Please contact Dr. Jeanne Beckman at 847-446-1251

or email her at techpsych@techpsychologist.com

Reading Support for ESL

For those who are learning English as a second language, the accessibility software that is about to be installed in the Winnetka library can help. Both Kurzweil 3000 as well as Premier Assistive Technology's E-Text Reader IGT provide support for those who are trying to translate their reading material into a language they can easily understand. Here's the description of the E-Text Reader IGT

This is a easy to use reading tool that can read and translate documents to and from 8 different languages. Translate and entire document or highlight and extract a part of document and trans late just that part. The E-Text Reader is designed to help those who have trouble reading or comprehending the printed word. There are thousands of literature titles now available in electronic format, with more being released each day. We developed the E-Text Reader to read (using digital voices) the electronic version of books (“E-Books, or E-Text”) to you. The E-Text Reader can read any document in Standard Text, MS Word, RTF (“Rich Text Format”) and HTML formats. E-Text Reader contains bookmarking, text highlighting and extraction features that make it an ideal study aide. For more information, please go to http://www.readingmadeez.com/Home.php

Other libraries within the Rotary district are also examining whether their patrons could benefit from accessibility features of these universal design accessible reading products.