February 2024 Grant Recipients

I am teaching a split class this year and I felt that this would be a perfect opportunity to center my ELA lessons around novel studies. I'm seeking the ability to purchase multiple class sets of novels of different genres. Studying novels can offer a multitude of benefits for 4th and 5th-grade students in Idaho, helping them meet state standards of learning while also promoting various essential skills and knowledge.

Novel studies provide improved reading comprehension by exposing students to complex text structures, vocabulary, and literary devices. Novel studies encourage students to think critically and make connections between the text and their own experiences, other texts, and the world. This promotes higher-order thinking skills which is vital for meeting Idaho's educational standards. Reading novels expand students' vocabulary by introducing a wider range of words and phrases. Novel studies inspire students to write creatively and express their thoughts clearly.

I am a Reading teacher to Deaf and Hard of Hearing (DHH) students 6th-12th grade. I am passionate about teaching reading to DHH students. Learning to read for DHH children is extremely challenging with their hearing loss. Reading is such an important skill to have to become a successful in life. There are major challenges DHH students face when learning to read. The use of Phonics is for those who are able to hear the sound, with DHH students the use of phonics is not feasible. Deaf students learn reading by memorization of the whole word, how it is spelled, using visual representation via pictures, and Sign Language. It is also important to practice using the words in a variety of situations. I would like to supplement my classroom with a variety of educational reading games and book sets to further their reading skills in a variety of interesting and fun ways which will encourage their desire to continue learning and reading.

We would like to purchase a classroom set of VexIQ robots. These robots come in packs with Vex IQ robot education kits (including 5 robots). The kits contain all of the parts and the electronics, and the students have to build the robots. It includes the instructions for them to build the robot, and then the students must code the robots to get them to move correctly to complete the challenges. The education bundles also include tactile objects the students can use in the labs to challenge themselves even more. There are 23 challenges on the Vex website for students to do.

Many of these are challenges that include coding the robot and changing the design to better fit each challenge. The students would have ample opportunity to learn about how to design, engineer, and code their own robot to learn more about the opportunities available to them in STEM careers and education. Eventually, we would also like to start a robotics club that could utilize the robots to compete with other robots. At first, this may be only within our school because other local schools do not have robots. We would like to grow the program even further to challenge other schools in robotics competitions to foster a passion for STEM and robotics in our students.