[R2R-OR] Q & A: Did I write the activities and evaluation on my R2R application right? Did I provide enough information?

[Katie Anderson]

I just received a great question that I think you all will want to know the answer to.

Here is the email asking the question:

Hi Katie
I'm working on the RTR grant application and my Director asked me to run these answers by you to make sure they are "outcome-able".

We are using our funds for the Statewide Summer Reading Program.  The outcome I chose to achieve is:
Parents and guardians will increase the amount they read, talk, write, and do activities with their youth.

To describe the summer reading activities we plan to implement to achieve these outcomes, I said:
Parents and guardians will increase the amount they read, talk, and write with their youth by attending our early literacy based Book Babies Storytimes, and/or by completing the summer reading log (for Read to Me) or the Early Literacy Activities log (for Book Babies).
Parents and guardians will increase the activities they do with their youth by attending, with their child, one or more of the performances and/or craft activities we offer during the 8 weeks of our Summer Reading Program.

To evaluate if these activities achieve the desired outcome:
We will evaluate the outcome by conducting a survey of parents whose children participate in the program.

Is this right and enough information?

Thanks for your help!
R2R Key Contact

Here is the email with the answer:

Hi R2R Key Contact,

What you wrote looks good enough and I would approve it as it is. However, there are few things you could do to strengthen your application and think more intentionally about  how your library is going to achieve this outcome:

Answer this question to help you think about the activities: What are library staff specifically going to do at storytime and during the summer reading program to encourage families to read, write, and talk more both in the library and when they go home? For example:

*          (SRP) Contract with performers to present 4 events that will be fun for the whole family. At each of these events library staff will distribute a flier that provide families with ideas for extending the event at home through reading, talking, and writing activities and set up a display of material related to the event that families can grab and check out on their way out of the event.

*         (SRP) Provide regularly scheduled craft activities that model to parents things they can do at home with their children to encourage reading, talking and writing, an activity sheet to do at home, and a display of materials families can grab and check out on their way out of the activity.

*         (SRP) Provide Read to Me and Early Literacy reading logs families can use to track their reading and early literacy activities over the summer. Each reading log includes a few book recommendations, conversation starters, and activity ideas to facilitate reading, talking, and writing. Each child of parents or guardians who complete their reading log will receive a summer reading certificate and a prize.

*         (EL) Provide weekly Book Babies Storytimes that model to parents how to read, talk, and "write" with babies. Baby storytimes will include early literacy information, activity ideas parents can do at home with their children, and a display of materials parents can grab and checkout on their way out of storytime. (Don't panic, this storytime probably looks a lot like what you already do! Say one or two things about early literacy skills during storytime like "rhymes help your child hear the smaller sounds in words which children need to know so they can sound out words when they learn to read", after you do a silly rhyme like Willoughby Wallaby Woo say "you can do this at home too! It's fun and helps kids learn how to identify smaller sounds in words", and pull some rhyming books, CDs and audio books from the stacks and put them on a table in or near your storytime area and encourage parents to check them out on their way out "I've put some rhyming books, music CDs, and audio books on the table.  Please take a few and check them out on your way out".)

Consider adding a little information about when and/or how frequently you plan to survey participants to evaluate your programs. For example:

*         We will evaluate the outcome by conducting a conduct an annual survey of parents whose children participate in the Book Babies Storytime program.

*         We will evaluate the outcome by conducting conduct a survey of parents whose young children participate in the SRP program when they turn in their completed reading log.

Please let me know if you have any questions or need clarification.

Thanks,
Katie

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us<mailto:katie.anderson at state.or.us>, 503-378-2528

[cid:image003.jpg at 01CE4751.8A8D6B50]<http://www.oregon.gov/osl/LD/Pages/youthsvcs/oregon.srp.certificate.aspx>
Summer Reading 2013 at Oregon libraries<http://libdir.osl.state.or.us/>!
Find a summer food site<http://www.summerfoodoregon.org/>.

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