West Virginia Humanities Council Board President, Henry Harmon, expressed appreciation to Verizon West Virginia President, Gale Given, for Verizon underwriting the reprinting of A History of West Virginia at the annual West Virginia Adult Education Association conference held at Stonewall Resort.

The author signed copies of the book for conference participants

 

A History of West Virginia

A third printing of A History of West Virginia by Anna Egan Smucker and the companion Workbook by Therese Hess, has been completed. The reprint was made possible with generous financial support from the Verizon Foundation. Click here to go to online version of first printing.

This history of West Virginia is a book that was designed and written for use by adult new readers. Author Anna Egan Smucker is a writer and teacher. Her book No Star Nights, about growing up in the steel mill town of Weirton, WV, in the 1950s won the 1990 International Reading Association Children's Book Award.

The 80-page history book was written at a 4.5 to 6.0 reading level using the Frye Readability Formula. The companion workbook is 36 pages with exercises, or lessons, to go along with each chapter in the book. The lessons include New Words, Fill in the Blanks, Match-ups, Word Searches, and Writing Exercises.

These materials are a great resource for adult literacy instructors. They not only help students learn to read but also provide them an understanding of the history of our state. Over two thousand books and four thousand five hundred workbooks have been distributed across the state to Regional Adult Education Coordinators at each Regional Education Service Agency (RESA) and to the state volunteer literacy organization for regional distribution to literacy instructors. Individual copies are available from the Humanities Council while quantities last by contacting our office and submitting $1.50 for shipping.

Anna Egan Smucker (left) and Verizon West Virginia President
Gale Given