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Goal

I teach STEM (robotics) in a Title I middle school where 25% of our students are monolingual in Spanish and labeled English Language Learner (ELL). With 1 of every 4 students struggling with language acquisition and retaining science vocabulary, it can be challenging to master robotics. The goal of this grant is to introduce vocabulary through easy to digest graphic novels that promote STEM vocabulary and encourage reading for pleasure. An example is The Robo-battle of Mega Tortoise vs. Hazard Hare which retells Aesop's fable using robots. This grant would buy two of each book, one for the media center and one for the classroom library. If students finish their work early, they can grab a book in the classroom to read, but if they want to take it home, they can check out a copy at the media center.
 

 

Category

Learning Aids - Sunshine state book sets, robotics kits, puzzle boards, science models, engineering supplies, etc. 

 

What will be done with my students

My students take their final exam in English and monolingual students use a Spanish-English dictionary to look up words they do not know. It can be a daunting task to look up words. As a teacher, I would like to have high interest books that include STEM vocabulary in order to allow students to freely read in my classroom after finishing their assignments in order to strengthen their vocabulary acquisition that can help them during testing. 80% of my students are Hispanic with strong family ties. If they want to share their reading with a younger sibling, grandparents or other family members, I want to have the same books in the media center for them to check out.

According to Scholastic, “Graphic novels can dramatically help improve reading development for students struggling with language acquisition for various reasons. For example, special-needs students may find that the illustrations provide contextual clues to the meaning of the written narrative. Graphic novels can also provide autistic students with clues to emotional context they might miss when reading traditional text. English-language learners may be more motivated by graphic novels, which can help them acquire new vocabulary and increase English proficiency.”

STEM relies on the acquisition and application of specialized vocabulary. If awarded, students have additional resources to gain the vocabulary they need to do well on exams.
 

 

Benefits to my students

We enroll new monolingual students throughout the school year and that poses several challenges. Many of our students struggle with language acquisition, even past their first year in the country. Science relies on vocabulary that is not used in day-to-day conversation. The expected outcome is that students gain vocabulary that helps them understand the concepts since it is hard to learn without first having the vocabulary to receive the instructions. The measurable outcome in the classroom is 1% gain in scores in robotics. The measurable outcome in media center is 2% increase in circulation of graphic novels in the media center the first year and 1% the following year.  

 

Budget Narrative

The list of 2 copies of 36 titles listed in the request. Some are boxed sets, and some are individual books. The list of books can be found at:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3ICL9FIOX934Q?ref_=wl_share 

 

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