The Kids as Creators Workshop Series is a learning activity series focused on the 21st Century learning skills of critical thinking and creativity and is composed of six two-hour workshops for middle school children. The workshops will
be presented in three themed sets—Comic Creators, Game Creators, and Duct Tape Creators. The project is designed to address the need, identified through direct communication with Carthage area parents and teachers, for “beyond-book” learning programs for middle school children in the public library. The guiding goal of this workshop series is to provide middle school children with a structured, informally presented, learning environment in which to practice critical thinking and creativity skills. The program will enable participants to gain confidence in their research
abilities, be better prepared for junior high and high school, and improve their academic performance. The program will also attract a wider audience from this age group to the Carthage Free Library, and result in raising awareness of the resources available through the library for use in pursuing personal goals as well as academic.
2. Goals of the Program
Increase Awareness and Use of Library Resources
to Support Individual Inquiry
Enhance Critical Thinking and Creativity Skills
Promote Confidence in Research Abilities
Promote Academic Achievement
3. Outcomes of the Program
By the end of a workshop set:
• 80% of participating middle school children will demonstrate that they
have a better understanding of the resources the library offers, and 70% of
participating middle school children who attended the workshops will be
able to list four different type of resources the library offers.
• 70% of participants will be able to articulate at least two methods by
which to evaluate the reliability of those resources.
4. Outcomes of the Program
In the months following the series:
• 60% of program participants will return to the library to use resources or
attend programs at least six times in the three months following the
workshop series.
5. Outcomes of the Program
By the end of the 6th grade:
•40% of middle school participants who respond to the online survey will
say they have gained confidence in using library resources and believe
their grades have improved as a result of attending the program.
•50% of parents of program participants will report that their children have
gained confidence in their research abilities as a result of the program and
that they believe their grades have improved as a result.
7. Critical Thinking and Creativity
The Kids as Creators Workshop Series is designed to help students develop many important 21st
Century Learning Skills—with a special focus on critical thinking and creativity.
10. Project Plan Basics
• Three Workshop Sets
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Registration Required
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Two 2-hour workshops 1 week apart
Variety of materials, digital and print
20-25 Students
One set or all three
Equitable use of resources
Opportunities for ongoing assessment
Community Engagement and Lifelong Learning Focus
11. Responsible Parties
•
•
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•
•
Project Sponsor
• Library Director
Project Manager
• P/T Library Assistant
Project Team Members
• P/T Library Assistant
• Volunteers/Content Providers
• Marketing Coordinator
• Subject Matter Expert Coordinator
Steering Committee Chair
Steering Committee Members
• Middle School Children
• Parents
• Teachers
• School Media Specialist
• Community Collaborator
12. Communication Plan
Project Team Member
Content
Provider/Facilitator (2)
Project Manager
Project Team Member
Part Time
Marketing Coordinator
(1)
Libary Assistant
Project Team Member
Subject Matter Expert
Project Sponsor
Libary Director
Steering Committee
Members
Steering Committee
Chair
Middle School children,
Parents, Teachers,
School Media Specialist
20. Estimated Program Budget
Library Expenses
In Kind Donations Notes
Director
$244
16 hours
Staff
$940
70 hours
Volunteers
$720
60 hours
Subject Experts
$540
30 hours
$400
Office supplies for
marketing and assessment,
as well as donations for art
supplies and duct tape
Software
$100
Comic Creation and Game
Creation software license
for 30 participants
Snacks
$120
Light snacks and drinks for
each of six workshops
Office & Art Supplies
$60
Estimated Program Value $3124
Estimated Library Expenses $1244
Estimated In Kind Donations $1880
22. Marketing Positioning Statement
The Kids as Creators Workshop Series is intended to provide a safe,
informal, and information rich environment in which middle school
children can apply critical thinking and creativity skills to gain confidence,
to improve their grades, and to become more productive members of the
community.
23. Key Messages
Target Audience
Key Message
Middle School Children
Let your mind go wild!
Create original content, have fun with friends and
unleash your creativity.
Parents
Your children will hone their critical thinking and
creativity skills while they have fun creating
original comics, games, and duct tape creations at
the library.
Teachers
Encourage students to hone their critical thinking
and creativity skills and increase their confidence
in using library resources while having a great time
making original works.
Community Partners
Join us in preparing our children to be active
creators in our community’s future.
Members of the Community
Learn more about preparing our children to be
active creators in our community’s future.
24. Marketing Methods
Target Audience
Method
Middle School Children
Word of mouth, school visits, social networking
(through parent accounts), through leaders of
social clubs and other out of school activities
Parents
Library signage and take-home materials, library
web site, social networking (especially Facebook),
and word of mouth
Teachers
Direct conversation, e-mail, brochures, classroom
visits when possible
Community Partners
Direct contact through phone calls or in-person
visits, invitations to library events
Members of the Community
Newspaper, community television channel, word of
mouth
29. Assessment Plan
The assessment plan for this program relies on integrated forms of assessment
that serve as both learning tools and assessment indicators.
KWL Charts, Graphic Organizer, Online Surveys, Focus Groups, and Semiscripted Interviews will combine to provide a comprehensive evaluation of
whether or not the program is meeting the outcomes in support of the
workshop series goals.
30. Result Scenarios and
Decision Making Indicators
•
Meeting the outcome
• Continue the program as planned
• Monitor and adjust to improve program
•
Within a reasonable range of the outcome
• Review outcome statistics to assess and propose revision
• Deploy revisions to better meet objectives
• Monitor to assess effectiveness of program changes
• Take appropriate action
•
Failure to meet the outcome
• Review outcome statistics to assess whether outcome is inappropriate or the
means of attempting to reach the outcome is appropriate
• Collaborate to determine whether revisions to the program implementation,
deployment, or staffing may effectively change program effectiveness
• Monitor to assess effectiveness of program changes
• Take appropriate action
31. Timeline for Continuous Assessment
Action
Responsible Party
Timing and Frequency
Create measurement plan
Program Manager with input from
Facilitators and Library Director
April 22-May 2
Communicate plan to staff, offer
opportunity for feedback, address staff
concerns
Program Manager
May 2-May 9
Train Facilitators to administer and
evaluate assessment tools
Program Manager
May 9 throughout program as needed
Pilot Tests
Facilitators,Program Manager
April 25-May 16
And ongoing throughout program and postprogram assessment
Approve Action Plan with any
adjustments determined necessary after
the pilot test
Library Director
May 16 (At Program Planning Meeting)
Record and Interpret Data
Program Manager, with some input
from Facilitators
May - June
Report to Library Director and Staff
Program Manager
May 27, 2013-June 2015
Monitor and Adjust
Facilitators, with oversight from the
Program Manager
May 23, 2013-June 2015
Report to Stakeholders
Library Director, with support from
Program Manager
June 2013-July 2015
Conduct Follow Up Assessments
Program Manager
June 2013-July 2015
Three-month survey, and end-of-school year
surveys
33. Sample
Workshop Set Schedule
The times listed below should serve as a guideline and remain fluid to retain the
informal nature of the learning atmosphere. The elements addressed in parenthesis
represent the stage of Inquiry Based Learning the activity supports.
Workshop 1
6:00-6:15 Greet (Connect/Wonder)
6:15-6:45 Present Ideas and Show Examples and Tools (Connect/Wonder)
6:45-7:00 Have students share ideas and try out a variety of tools (Investigate) 7:007:15+ Guide to choose project and appropriate tools/Investigate (Construct) 7:15-7:45
Facilitate where needed (Construct)
7:45-8:00 Share project progress with each other (Express)
Workshop 2
6:00-6:15 Greet (Connect/Wonder)
6:15-7:30 Continue to work on projects and facilitate where needed (Construct)
7:30-8:00 Share projects and talk about what they learned (Express/Reflect)
34. Supporting
AASL Standards
American Association of School Librarians (AASL)
Standard 1: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
Standard 2: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to
new situations, and create new knowledge.
Workshop planners can access information regarding 21st Century learning outcomes
and support systems at the Partnership for 21st Century Skills website at
http://www.p21.org/overview/skills-framework and at the New York State Education
website’s 21st Century Community Learning Centers page at
http://www.p12.nysed.gov/sss/21stCCLC/.
35. Example of
Resources Needed
For Comic Creators Workshop
Text-a variety of age-appropriate comic strips, comic books,
graphic novels, and novels that incorporate comics as a main
element
Digital-a variety of digital comic examples and a demonstration
and tutorial of the comic creation software chosen by the
Project Team as appropriate for this lesson
Materials-a variety of art supplies for students to create a
paper comic strip, sheet, or book
The Carthage Free Library’s Kids as Creators workshop series was conceived in response to a need for “beyond-book” activity programs for middle school children. The workshop series is intended to foster critical thinking and creativity, both important 21st Century Learning skills. By learning, practicing, and engaging in activities that fosterthese skills, the middle school children that attend the program will gain confidence, will be better prepared for junior high and high school, and will do better in school as a result. The workshop series will consist of six weekly two-hour workshops that are divided into three themed sets to give tween participants the opportunity to explore different interests in depth. The importance of providing public library programs that enhance learning skills is highlighted across publications intended for school media specialists, academic librarians, and public librarians. According to Maureen Hartman (2011), youth services have always been a vital part of the public library’s role in the community and she calls for libraries to own that role (p.10). Similarly, the American Association of School Librarians (1998) emphasizes the link public libraries provide between learning in the school environment and pursuing outside of school investigation and learning as vital to creating lifelong learners (p.124-5).
The overall trend in the literature is a push toward collaboration and building a network of school, public library, and community resources to enhance the lives of library members of all ages. In the context of the Kids as Creators program, it is particularly important that the emerging trend over the last two decades is recognition of the public library as an important resource to foster learning and creativity in middle school children. In addition to organizations such as the American Library Association (2006) recommendation that libraries reach out to schools and other community organizations to collaborate (p. 3), 85% of Americans ages 16 and older indicated they thought libraries should “definitely” coordinate closely with local schools, according to PEW Research Center’s report on Library Services in the Digital Age, released January 22, 2013 (Zickuhr, Rainie, & Purcell, p. 47). The PEW study findings echo the needs Carthage community parents and teachers expressed in requesting middle school learning programs in the Carthage Free Library.
The following websites provide more resources about 21st Century Learning Skillshttp://www.p21.org/overviewhttp://www.imls.gov/about/21stcskills.aspx
The benefits of this workshop series extend beyond the overarching program goals to improve participants’ critical thinking and creativity, to increase confidence in participants’ research skills, and to improve their academic performance. The workshop should also prove enjoyable to the service users and encourage them to become more comfortable with using library resources from home and at the library. At its best, this project will demonstrate to participants that the library is the place to begin pursuing their interests and that the resources the library has to offer are not limited to what the library holds in its physical collection.
The Estimated Program Budget represents an overall picture of the value of the Carthage Free Library’s investment in the workshop series and should be further considered and refined by the Project Team. The value of this program is estimated at $3124.00. The monetary value of the resources the library would need to allocate is $1244.00 and the donations of time, money, and other resources from project partners equal $1880.00.This project plan has been prepared with the understanding that the Carthage Free Library has staff and general office supplies available to allocate to the workshop series, and that any additional funds the project requires for materials or software must be procured from outside sources or through in kind donations. As a result of the budget limitations, the following project budget includes a notes section that contain recommendations for multiple options for funding specific elements of the project.The American Library Association (2006) suggests searching for grants at the local, state, and federal level. Hartman reminds librarians to look for local and private community funding while collaborating with community agencies as well as applying for federal grants (p. 11). The Kids as Creators program may benefit especially from grants given by local organizations and businesses, such as the Fort Drum Area Spouses Club, the Lions and Elks clubs, and Stewart’s Shops, all of whom award funds or volunteer assistance hours to organizations whose programs benefit the community. While those resources address finding money, there are other options for providing valuable programming resources at low costs. For example, Myers (2008) provides suggestions for choosing open source software to reduce costs for creative learning programs instead of purchasing software (p. 56). The Library Service to Children web site, Great Websites for Children, provides links to well-reviewed, free comic creation and video game creation programs that could provide free learning tools and lesson plans for those workshops. Kessler (2010) also suggests similar free sites that appropriately address program themes. This budget does contain a recommendation to purchase a limited educational license for both the Comic Creator workshop and the Game Creator workshop in order to provide participants with richer creation tools. Latham (2000) recommends tapping into resources such as the knowledge of community members, like local authors, artists, teachers, and other professionals to continue to provide quality programs when resources are tight or nonexistent (p. 148). These specialists have been included in the project budget as Subject Experts and their time considered as a valuable donation to the project. Reaching out to the community for volunteers, resources, and funding has the potential to provide not only the practical needs for this program, but also to strengthen community relationships with and investment in the library.
The brochure will be an essential element of marketing this program because it will reach a number of segments of the target audience in a variety of locations, both in and outside the library environment. The outside of the brochure should be designed to include schedule and registration information on the back and the remaining flaps used for parent information and a space for drawing to pique the curiosity of middle school participants. When volunteers hand out brochures at presentations, they can arrange the brochures to place the flap that would most appeal to the target audience segment as the brochure cover. The inside of the brochure should be clean and simple, but give middle school children and parents more information regarding what to expect from the workshops. The clip art included here is representative of they type of graphics that should be chosen for the brochure—graphics that appear to be different types of comic drawings from which students can gain inspiration. The sample images were taken from pictures found through a Creative Commons image search, and should not be used in actual marketing material until the nature of their use license is verified.
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While librarians should not assume that what works in one library will be a sure- fire success in their own library, sharing and considering proven practices is an important element in considering a marketing plan (Rubin, 2006). Soltan (2004) provides us an important clue to best marketing tools geared toward reaching middle school children by pointing out that they seek information mainly through their parents, the media and the internet.The following list is organized with a focus on the intended stakeholders of the Kids as Creators program. Suggestions common to most of the literature reviewed have not been specifically cited, uniquely detailed tips have been. By connecting the common marketing tools from each list with the local locations and organizations that correlate to each, a picture develops of the web that will provide structure to the marketing plan.Within the Library Current Users § Provide eye-catching posters and displays in high-traffic areas of the library, including the in the main entrance, the circulation desk, and the community area upstairs between the children and teen rooms.§ Create a display of materials on the shelves in the community area of samples of the projects children may produce by the end of the program. (Struckmeyer, 2012, p. 37)§ Display brochures, flyers, and informational bookmarks in the library, each containing the library’s web address and telephone number in addition to program information.Staff § Communicate to staff, paid and volunteer, the details of the program during the weekly Morning Meeting.§ Provide staff with program buttons that help generate questions and interest from patrons.§ Stress to staff the importance of word-of-mouth marketing. The simple act of talking about the program could generate interest (ALA, 2006, p. 1).Outside the Library Middle School Children § Provide flyers, brochures, and bookmarks that contain program information for distribution in school and by community organizations.Provide half-sheet flyers to distribute to local public and private middle schools.Provide bookmarks to distribute through community youth organizations, such as scouting organizations, faith based organizations, the Carthage After School Enrichment Program (CASE), and the YMCA Middle School Achievement Program (MAP).Promote the program on the main page and calendar page of the library web site.§ Include the library’s web address on all material created for the program to lead users to the main source of program information (Schrok, 2003, p. 36).Parents § Create program displays featuring a range of media resources related to the program alongside program flyers and information in areas of the library that parents regularly use (community area and display area near circulation desk) (Soltan, 2004).§ Include program details and goals in the library newsletter. § Include program information and links on the Carthage Free Library Facebook page.§ Provide flyers to local businesses to promote the event. § Promote the program on the library web site. § Invite parents to sign up for an E-mail Discussion list. Schools § Collaborate with the Carthage Middle School Librarian and after school care providers to promote the program as well as to gain their planning input.§ Visit and provide resource guides to out of school time programs (CASE and MAP to highlight the program, the program goals, and related library services (Hartman, 2011, p. 11). § Collaborate with local schools and home school groups to distribute flyers to middle school students (Struckmeyer, 2012, p. 37).Carthage Middle School Augustinian Academy Christian Heritage School Home Educators of Carthage Community § Collaborate with community organizations and businesses to get posters, bookmarks, and flyers out of the library and into the hands of non-users (ALA, 2006, p.2). This will be particularly effective with the local businesses and organizations that have partnered with the library in the past, such as the Carthage Federal Credit Union, the Lions Club, and local scout groups.§ Provide photographs, information about the program, and point of contact information to the local newspaper, the Carthage Tribune (McDaniel, n.d.).§ Provide local media outlets, MyABC50 and the Fort Drum Community Chanel, with information about the program.§ Promote the program on the library Facebook page. § Encourage staff and patrons to practice word-of-mouth marketing for the program during their daily lives outside of the library. Sometimes “getting the word out” about a program is as simple as one person talking to another person about it (ALA, 2006, p.1).The above recommendations provide examples of specific ways the library can market the program to the tween user of the program, their caregivers, their educators, and their community. Addressing each of these stakeholders in the marketing plan will ensure that people know about the workshop series and understand who and what it is for so that it does not “slip through the cracks.”
Our assessment plan includes a number of layers—we will assess participants’ gain in knowledge and confidence, but we will also assess the effectiveness of our facilitators, their methods, and the effectiveness of the program itself.
The Kids as Creators workshop series content provider will develop workshop lesson plans based on a clear picture of the learning targets and standards associated with critical thinking and creativity. Each workshop theme will be presented in a pair of two workshops to provide time for individual participant inquiry between workshops. It will be important for the content provider to choose lesson elements that are directly suited to the workshop participants, the workshop module topics, and the informal learning environment. The Institute of Library and Museum’s 21st Century Learning Skills webs site and the New York state standards education site EngageNY both outline relevant learning goals and standards recommended for incorporation into the workshop set lesson plans. A Workshop Set Planning document for the Comic Creator workshops, found in Appendix A, illustrates appropriate learning standards, activities, and planning considerations that can serve as a guide to facilitators assisting at the workshops and to planning future workshop sets.
What else would you like to know about the plan? What further details are you interested in learning?