Enhancing K-5 STEM Education with New Bilingual Science Journals

We are excited to announce our collaboration with Erik Ovanespour at Printefex to print thousands of science journals that will accompany our STEM Education curriculum. These journals are crucial in supporting hands-on experiments while incorporating a valuable writing component for our K-5 students. Teachers have been advocating for these journals in their yearly evaluations of the STEM program, with several principals emphasizing the need for a structured writing component to supplement our program. 

Royce Ilaga, a 3rd grade MSP teaching assistant, highlighted the impact these journals have had in the classroom: “As I have learned to integrate the science notebooks into the classroom, I have noticed that students use it to write short notes, synthesize connections between topics, and draw their observations or models that we make during sessions. These have helped increase recall of important vocabulary and participation during activities, making my experience as a TA more enjoyable and fruitful!” This feedback underscores the positive role the journals play in student engagement and learning.

Ms. Campos, a 4th grade teacher and JEP Coordinator at Vermont, also shared her perspective: “This time the science journals are helping the students to establish a relationship with them. It’s not just a notebook, it is a ‘Science Journal.’ It is well organized with titles and headings in English and Spanish. It really engages students as active participants in discovering and learning science.” The bilingual structure ensures accessibility, allowing students from diverse backgrounds to actively engage in scientific discovery.

Prior to COVID-19, we used a blank template version of these journals. However, this year’s edition is far more comprehensive, with content tailored by grade level and aligned with each experiment. The bilingual format—featuring content in both English and Spanish—has been essential to meeting the needs of our diverse student population.

The design process for these books was led by our new second-grade leader, Keira Zoleta, who meticulously crafted the journals using Canva. Thanks to her vision and dedication, these journals will serve as a valuable resource for students to explore, experiment, and express their scientific discoveries. Reflecting on her work, Zoleta said, “I hoped to give our partner schools a journal that not only covered our lesson content but visually demonstrated the themes for each lesson. With these designs, I wanted to create fun journals that our STEM TAs and students could add to their learning experiences. While I had used Canva in the past, I found myself editing and reediting the journals to make sure they would accommodate as many students as possible. I sincerely hope that these journals are something that our student scientists from 1st to 5th grade can use in the future!”

We are grateful for the support of the USC Good Neighbors Campaign, whose funding made the production of these science journals possible. These journals represent a significant step forward in enhancing both the STEM and literacy skills of our K-5 students, helping to foster a deeper connection to the scientific process and an appreciation for hands-on learning.