Overview of Literacy Links

1. Overview of Literacy Links Mission Statements from Literacy Groups and Websites

2. American Place Theatre’s Lit to Life • Literature to Life®, The American Place Theatre's performance-based literacy program, presents professionally staged verbatim adaptations of significant American literary works. This educational program gives students a new form of access to literature by bringing to life the world of books with performances that create an atmosphere of discovery and spark the imagination.

3. Kid Activites: Drama Games for Literacy • KidActivities.net is dedicated to school-age care professionals--additionally it's a great resource for pre-school thru high school educators, parents, grandparents, and baby sitters --in short ANYONE who loves engaging children! • KidActivities is a rich supply for curriculum planning. It has more than 303 categories loaded with ideas to enrich your school-age and pre-k experience - along with tips, articles, training topics, inspiration and valuable reader input. • Literacy is most commonly defined as the ability to read, spell and communicate through written language. However, in a more general sense, literacy is more than just the ability to read or write. It means being able to view, listen, read, comprehend, evaluate, speak, and write effectively and systematically. And that’s what we try to do teach them with our drama games.

4. The Educational Arts Team Since 1974, the Educational Arts Team, a private nonprofit organization, has developed and conducted countless educational and social workshops for children and families and teachers. The Team's unique approach of responding to community needs and requests from educators, by integrating the arts into the educational curriculum, has led to a high demand for their workshop programs. Through collaboration with the school districts, community-based organizations and foundation and corporate sponsors, the Educational Arts Team offers a menu of in-school and after-school workshop programs for children and families and operates a popular summer arts camp located near Liberty State Park. The Educational Arts Team has recently expanded beyond Jersey City to include school districts in Hudson and Essex counties. The Team provides a range of programs to meet the needs of elementary schools and the community including workshops for students K-12 and professional development workshops for teachers. The programs use age-appropriate drama, writing, storytelling, puppetry, music, dance and visual art activities as strategies for promoting learning, teaching basic academic subject areas, encouraging positive social experiences and promoting positive relationships.

5. The National Endowment for The Arts Big Read Project • The Big Read is a program of the National Endowment for the Arts, designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents The Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment. • The Big Read answers a big need. Reading at Risk: A Survey of Literary Reading in America, a 2004 report by the National Endowment for the Arts, found that not only is literary reading in America declining rapidly among all groups, but that the rate of decline has accelerated, especially among the young. The concerned citizen in search of good news about American literary culture would study the pages of this report in vain. • The Big Read aims to address this crisis squarely and effectively. It provides citizens with the opportunity to read and discuss a single book within their communities. The initiative includes innovative reading programs in selected cities and towns, comprehensive resources for discussing classic literature and an extensive Web site providing comprehensive information on authors and their works. • Each community event lasts approximately one month and includes a kick-off event to launch the program locally, ideally attended by the mayor and other local luminaries; major events devoted specifically to the book (panel discussions, author reading, and the like); events using the book as a point of departure (film screenings, theatrical readings, and so forth); and book discussions in diverse locations and aimed at a wide range of audiences. • The NEA inaugurated The Big Read as a pilot project in 2006 with ten communities featuring four books. The Big Read continues to expand to include more communities and additional books. By June 2010, more than 800 grants have been awarded to communities in the U.S. to host Big Reads since the program's 2007 national launch.

6. The International Theatre and Literacy Project • ITLP is a non-profit organization that brings theatre artists from the United States to developing countries to conduct community-based playwriting and theatre workshops for secondary school students and teachers. • Deeply moved by the strong appreciation for education in Tanzania, Marianna Houston and Stephen DiMenna created a pilot initiative to use theatre to develop new ways of teaching and learning for children in rural communities in Africa. In July 2005 they conducted their first week-long theatre workshop with twenty-one sixteen-year-old students at the Akeri Secondary School in Tengeru Village, Tanzania. • The students wrote and performed an original play in English for their parents and community. They spoke about their lives, their hopes, dreams and challenges and the changing role of women in Tanzania's modern society. The program had a profound impact on the students - it opened up their imaginations, increased their proficiency in English and changed their perception of themselves as young artists and citizens of the world. It was clear that theatre was an effective tool to develop literacy and independent thinking. • Through the generous support of dedicated volunteers and caring donors, the International Theatre and Literacy Project has since grown to bring American theatre artists to both Tanzania and Ethiopia, proving that simple drama activities combined with the process of writing and performing a play give students the tools to further their mastery of English and become creative and self-empowered learners. • For students, ITLP strives to: • Nurture creative self-expression • Cultivate imagination • Build positive self-esteem • Improve their capacity to read, write and speak English • Give voice to their thoughts, dreams, fears and personal stories. • Foster independent thinking • Empower them to be articulate and confident citizens of the world. • For teachers, ITLP strives to: • Empower them to use drama to create richer and more effective learning. • Provide them with the skills to create original student written plays. • Support their ability to sustain and develop these new skills.