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Goal

1. To increase engagement and the desire to learn among EBD students.
2. To expand vocabulary and increase knowledge through a broad array of topics in science, math, and history, using adapted novels.
 

What will be done with my students

Students will explore science, math, history, and culture through the voice of literature. Through 4 adapted novels, students will study vocabulary, plot structure, narrative writing, reading comprehension skills, figurative language, character development, and other literary elements.
Each individual adapted text also brings its own related content:
Jurassic Park Jr.: earth structure, paleontology, dinosaurs, fossils, and carbon-dating
What was the Titanic?: industrialization, ship-building, icebergs, buoyancy, and classed societies
Totally True Adventures - Apollo 13: space race, rockets, atmosphere, force, and the scientific process
Shoeless Joe and Me: history of baseball, bat development, physics of a hit, and the 18th Amendment.
Character development lessons have also been embedded in each unit. Lessons include: discrimination, peer pressure, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Each unit concludes with an opportunity for students to share their knowledge through alternative assessment: poster, power point, or model. Students will also view a movie related to the topic of study.

Each of these units will be studied over the course of a 9-week period. Each one will also be supported with primary documents, artifacts, and technological components.
Jurassic Park - Smithsonian, Kids Discover (website), two labs
Titanic - National Titanic Museum, Kids Discover, one lab
Apollo 13 - Kennedy Space Center, National Air and Space Museum, Kids Discover, one lab
Shoeless Joe - Baseball Hal of Fame, Louisville Slugger Museum, NTSA website, one virtual field trip. 

Benefits to my students

The students in this class are 10th/11th grade boys in an IBI (EBD) class. The students are in this ELA class for 2 periods daily for English and Intensive Reading. These young men struggle to engage with any material. They are not particularly motivated to read or be successful in any academic area. All of the students have IEPs, and most have a limited interest in anything school-related. The topics for study have been chosen with this in mind. The subject matter will stimulate interest for this population of students. As the students are below level in many subjects, the variety of lessons has been developed to increase general knowledge in history, science, and math - as well as build reading and writing skills.  

Budget Narrative

I have already purchased a few copies of the books and some posters/replicas for each unit, so those items have not been included in this budget. The books are not currently available at the school, so they need to be purchased. Kids Discover is a wonderful resource for video-enriched lessons and activities. It is a resource that will be utilized several times during the year. The dinosaur dig kits will provide the hands-on discovery of digging for fossils. The virtual field trip would make it possible for the students to experience a special presentation by The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY. 

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