TTS Spring 2023 End-of-Semester Community Event
On June 14, 2023, the TTS research team, alongside two 5th-grade teachers from Neabsco Elementary School, Ms. Speights and Ms. Wang, organized an engaging community event. This event provided students with the opportunity to showcase their final infographics and share their science experiments with the school community. Held in the 5th-grade hallway, the event kicked off with an impressive gallery wall presentation. The hallway was adorned with posters displaying the students’ captivating infographics, accompanied by their science fair boards. Enthusiastic students proudly stood by their remarkable work, passionately introducing their science studies to the eager audience!
The event drew a crowd of over 150 students and teachers from various grade levels, including the school principal, Mr. Tsang, in attendance. Mr. Tsang attentively listened to the students’ presentations, engaging in meaningful conversations that extended beyond the realm of their scientific data. The students’ infographics and presentations were a true reflection of not only the science knowledge they had acquired but also their creativity and new knowledge about multimodal design of infographics. As encouraged by their teachers, students delivered their presentations in both English and their respective first languages (L1), sparking immense interest among the audience in the students’ linguistic and cultural backgrounds.
Following the gallery walk presentation, the students and the TTS team members, along with their teachers, came together for an enjoyable end-of-semester celebration. The TTS team had prepared pizza, snacks, and drinks, complemented by custom gifts for each student. Additionally, every student received a certificate acknowledging their participation in the infographic lessons and the completion of their final infographic projects. The celebration event also served as an opportunity for students to share their biggest takeaways from the project and discuss the challenges they encountered along the way.
With this uplifting end-of-semester community event, the first year of the TTS project reached a successful conclusion. TTS team members have gained invaluable insights from this experience, fueling their excitement to collaborate with more teachers in the upcoming academic year. The TTS research team eagerly looks forward to further enriching their partnership with educators in the future.
