Studies have shown that high school science courses present as many new words as high school language courses! Word games and literacy exercises are crucial to student command of the vocabulary that allows successful completion of chemistry and physics courses and state test performance.
This school serves a diverse array of students ranging from homeless to the highest economic strata, and a equal split amongst major racial demographics.
We have an ambitious and successful International Baccalaureate magnet program that is available to all students and forms a high performance standard for all. These students are in the midst of a thriving major American city in Texas with a rich offering of industries and post-secondary education available to those who graduate successfully from high school.
My Project
Children learn best when allowed to do activities themselves rather than being shown how. The tactile and simple games of "Scrabble" and "Bananagrams" allow students to experiment with spelling and word arrangement in a fun and safe way since mistakes can be corrected and no permanent record of the mistake remains. In breaks between other activities I often have students spell out words relevant to the lesson, or race their elbow partner to come up with matching terms. For example, if I give a key word "neutralization" and ask for a related word, students may validly spell out "ions", "acid", "base", "titration", "hydronium", "hydroxide" or other words that are related. This exercise stimulates their understanding of the words and allows a tactile expression which so many students need and learn from. Ideally I would like for each pair of students to have a bananagram kit at their station for frequent use throughout the semester.
Imagine a student facing the following question on a state test for Chemistry:
Which of the following answers best explains the role of an acid during a titration reaction?
The student may well have fully understood acids and bases and their behavior, but fail to identify the word "titration" and its meaning due to the strangeness of the term. This student, who knows their chemistry, may fail to answer the question correctly simply due to a matter of vocabulary. A bananagram kit can help!
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