Every Child Ready to Read @ Los Angeles Public Library

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Welcome to this PLA-sponsored program! ECRR
Implementation Tips!
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Every Child Ready to Read _at_ Los Angeles Public
Library

• Alicia Rodriguez, Childrens Librarian
• Cypress Park Branch, LAPL

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The Los Angeles Public Library

• 72 branches and a Central Library.
• Each branch has a Childrens Librarian.
• No Early Childhood specialists or Outreach
  Librarians.

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Childrens Librarians

• Received a 2-hour training on the ECRR 2 workshop
  in summer 2011.
• Were expected to present at least 3 workshops in
  the community between September 2011 and June
  2012.

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Our ECRR 2 Workshops

• Librarians use a laptop or tablet and projector
  to show ECRR 2 PowerPoint
• They give out brochures, booklists and (when
  available) books to parents

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Placards

• If equipment isnt available, each branch has a
  set of laminated 11 x 17 placards
• Slides are on one side, talking points are on the
  other

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Evaluation Project

• 2 investigators Dr. Cindy Mediavilla and Dr.
  Natalie Cole
• 6 branches 3 in the Central Southern Area and 3
  in the Northeast Area
• 12 workshops a basic and a follow-up
• Between September 2011 and March 2012

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Purpose of Evaluation

• Are workshops effective? Do parents
• Gain new knowledge/understanding of early
  literacy techniques to use with children?
• Read (talk, sing, play, write) more with children
  at home after attending workshop?
• Visit library more after attending workshop?
• How can workshops be improved?
• Implementation tips

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Methodology

• At first workshop
• Pre- and post-workshop question What can we do
  to help kids get ready to read?
• Post-workshop survey
• Observation of parent reaction during workshop

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Methodology (cont.)

• At follow-up workshop
• How have you been helping your children get
  ready to read?
• Have you visited the library since the last
  workshop? More than usual?
• Surveys
• Observation

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Input from Childrens Librarians

• How have the workshops been going?
• What challenges have you encountered?
• What response have you gotten from community
  members?
• What changes would you recommend be made to the
  workshops and/or workshop process?

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Findings

• 85 of parents strongly agreed that I learned
  that my children need help getting ready to
  read.
• 84 of parents strongly agreed that I learned
  ways to help my children develop early literacy
  skills so they are ready to learn in school.

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Findings (cont.)

• After first and second workshop, parents
  demonstrated a greater knowledge of early
  literacy techniques
• Parents at the second workshop who had attended
  the first workshop indicated that they had been
  reading, playing, singing, and talking with their
  children
• Most parents visited the library at least once
  between the first and second workshop

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Other Observations

• Parents responded well to the workshops they
  enjoyed the slides (whether via PowerPoint or
  placards) and the videos
• They particularly enjoyed any chance to
  participate and interact, such as

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The decoding exercise
Reading is learning the code.
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee Ff Gg Hh Ii Jj Kk
Ll Mm Nn Oo Pp Qq Rr Ss Tt Uu Vv Ww Xx
Yy Zz lt / gt \
)
// ! ((
gtgt \\
lt gtlt.
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Singing and doing finger rhymes
Singing
Twinkle, twinkle little star, How I wonder
what you are. Up above the world so high, Like a
diamond in the sky. Twinkle, twinkle little
star, How I wonder what you are.
Singing helps your childget ready to read.
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And crafts, activities, and experiments parents
can do with their children!
Matching games!
Color-changing milk!
Sock puppets!
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Drawbacks of Report

• Very small-scale 6 branches out of 72, and only
  12 workshops
• Hard to get the same parents to come back to
  second workshop, so longitudinal aspect was not
  as successful as hoped

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What Next?

• Continue using ECRR 2 workshop model it works!
• Use the Spanish version when it becomes available
• More training for childrens librarians to
  incorporate interactive elements
• Create task force to figure out how to best
  present workshops across our diverse city

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For more information Eva Mitnick, Youth
Services Coordinator emitnick_at_lapl.org Find the
full evaluation report at everychildreadytoread.ni
ng.com