Small grants for book club projects

Executive Summary: The U.S. Department of State’s Embassy in Ashgabat announces availability of funding as specified below through the Embassy’s small grants for book clubs program. The U.S. Embassy Ashgabat has translated prominent American literature items into Turkmen language. These books include teenage and children’s literature and are available in English and Turkmen languages at the U.S. Embassy and across American spaces in Turkmenistan. This small grant program seeks to develop critical thinking among youth (teenagers and children) and their parents by promoting reading and discussions of the provided American literature. Applicants must develop a year-long program focusing on a selected audience and demonstrating the need and the will to engage into reading. As a result of the program, participants must develop ability to read and analyze the materials and discuss relevant subjects. The program can be offered in English or in Turkmen languages. Please follow all instructions below.Background: The U.S. Embassy Ashgabat has translated 19 prominent American literature items into Turkmen language. These books include adult, teenage and children’s literature and are available in bilingual editions (English and Turkmen) at the U.S. Embassy and across American spaces in Turkmenistan. List of available books is provided below. 1. Little House in the Big Woods, Laura Ingalls Wilder2. Farmer Boy, Laura Ingalls Wilder3. A Wrinkle in Time, Madeleine L'Engle4. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain5. Where the Red Fern Grows, Wilson Rawls6. Charlotte's Web, E. B. White7. The Little Engine That Could, Watty Piper8. Harold and the Purple Crayon, Crockett Johnson9. Blueberries for Sal, Robert McCloskey10. Peter's chair, Ezra Jack Keats11. The Runaway Bunny, Margaret Wise Brown12. Good night moon, Margaret Wise Brown13. To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee14. What Do People Do All Day, Richard Scarry15. Best Little Word Book Ever, Richard Scarry16. Hidden Figures, Margot Lee Shetterly17. The Story of Helen Keller, Helen Keller18. Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein19. Native American Folk TalesWith the number of translated books reaching almost 20, the U.S. Embassy is looking to promote reading culture and critical thinking among the young residents of Turkmenistan. Critical thinking is an ability to consume information and analyze the facts objectively. It contributes to the informed decision-making process and helps to be objective, think rationally and develop problem-solving skills. Up until now, American literature translated into Turkmen has been freely distributed in a form of the bilingual books to unspecified audiences during public events and exhibitions. It is available in the American Center and American Spaces across the country. The U.S. Embassy seeks to streamline its efforts of promoting American literature through a small grants program which would support education centers and private education entities to design, start and lead book clubs around the country. The goal of the program is to develop critical thinking among the residents of Turkmenistan by reading and discussing American literature. Grantees are expected to design a year-long program, suggest methodology of teaching, select literature from the proposed bilingual editions of all the books and identify their audiences. Recommended audiences include teenagers and school children who study English and are looking for extracurricular activities to practice their language skills; or, adult audiences, parents, who are seeking to explore American literature and build their critical thinking skills. Programs can be conducted in English or Turkmen to meet the needs of the audiences. The suggested program must clearly indicate the audiences and the objectives that project seeks to address. It should also indicate the plan of the meetings, suggested venues and bilingual literature to be used from the list suggested above. Grantees must also create a project monitoring and evaluation plan, indicating how they would measure the change in their audiences with the progress of the project. The list of literature must include books from the provided translated literature stated above and will be provided by the U.S. Embassy in Turkmenistan. Grantees must fully develop the format of the book club, the venues and the number of people who will be engaged. Book club activities are not limited to the classroom only. The U.S. Embassy welcomes creative methods of promoting critical thinking through reading. This small grant program is a pilot and seeks build partnerships with private entities in promoting soft skills. It also builds on the Embassy’s existing experience of teaching English to a variety of audiences. Project Audience(s): There are two primary audiences of the current program:· Younger children (of 5-9 age) across Turkmenistan (all five regions and Ashgabat) who study English (entry/beginner levels) and attend private language courses to study English.· Teenagers (of 10-15 age) across Turkmenistan (all five regions and Ashgabat) who study English (entry/beginner levels) and are looking for extracurricular activities to practice their language skills.· Adults/parents and young professionals across Turkmenistan (all five regions and Ashgabat) seeking to explore American literature and build their problem-solving skills through a structured interaction. The U.S. Embassy seeks to engage audiences across Turkmenistan and will prioritize working with the regional partners. Project Goal: · Increase interest in English language and awareness of U.S. culture and values through exposure to American literary classics. · This project goal ties into the Mission objective of promoting critical thinking by supporting the reading culture and familiarizing target audiences with American cultural and educational programming throughout Turkmenistan. It also seeks to build capacity of the private sector and civil society representatives to manage community development projects and administer public outreach events. Project Objectives: (Project proposals may address one or more of these objectives, or other objectives within the above policy priorities. NOTE: These are example objectives – PDS will also consider projects with different objectives targets that support the above project goal.)Within 12 – 14 months, 1. Develop the habit of reading and analyzing of at least 20 younger children (of 5-9 age) by reading American literature.2. Increase English comprehension skills of at least 20 teenagers (of 10-15 age) in Turkmenistan by reading American literature. 3. Develop critical thinking (active, reflective and analytic reading) skills of at least 20 adults through regular book club meetings and discussions of American literary classics. 4. Increase understanding of American culture, values, and historical contexts among teenagers and adults through reading of American literary classics.Applicants are encouraged to choose one or more project objectives listed above, or suggest their own project objectives, identify indicators that track success towards progress made towards objectives, and develop their own Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) plans.