Collaboration and Literacy Tools Boost Confidence and Skills

When a child attends Camp Invention®, one of the most impactful materials they receive is an Inventor Log. Not only is this an inspiring resource that encourages children to express their observations and ideas, but it is also a powerful tool for building strong literacy skills.

To provide each young innovator in every Camp Invention program across the country with Inventor Logs, the National Inventors Hall of Fame^® (NIHF) relies on the support of our many partners, including Annual Fund donors.

“We have discussed the value of notebooks and logs with hundreds of inventors, and we know that this is a key tool of an innovator,” says Jayme Cellitioci, creativity and innovation strategist at NIHF. Applying the insights of real-world innovators, NIHF’s education team designs effective and empowering curricula and literacy tools.

Like many districts nationwide, Florida’s Pinellas County School District has made it a priority to help children build their literacy skills and confidence. With the support of our partners, Camp Invention has helped the district’s educators and students to reach these key goals.

Joining Forces for More Effective Learning

Pinellas County School District officials needed to find a way to increase the number of students from underrepresented groups in their gifted and talented program.

When Coral Marsh, supervisor of gifted and talented education at the Pinellas District, began considering solutions, she thought of the positive experiences the district has had with implementing Camp Invention over the past five years.

Marsh and her colleague Natasha Karac, director of English learner services, decided to team up to both apply for separate grants that would serve their needs and implement Camp Invention together.

“We implemented Camp Invention as part of our summer camp collaboration between the Gifted and Talented (G&T) Office and English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) Office,” Marsh said in an interview with NIHF. “We wanted that career preparedness, the mindset piece, the connecting to literacy. I think that’s one reason we continue to work with Camp Invention in the summer programming, because it takes all of that and it is created for us."

By bringing G&T and ESOL students together in the same Camp Invention program, Karac and Marsh realized both groups would benefit. The educators learned they could help English learners improve their confidence and literacy skills while also making measurable improvements on the G&T spectrum through writing and sketching in their Inventor Logs, completing hands-on problem-solving challenges and engaging in direct collaboration with their gifted peers.

“The big piece for English learners is the level of language development. The academic level of language they are exposed to during the camp is extremely helpful in moving their language proficiency, but also that interaction with their gifted peers is what helps boost their self-confidence, their language speaking skills — where gifted peers also serve as the models of academic language from somebody who is their own age,” Karac said.

The supportive environment at Camp Invention also allows the ESOL students to feel comfortable expressing themselves and practicing teamwork with their peers. “One of the pieces of feedback from one of the [ESOL] students that we received was that he finally felt he was in an environment where he felt safe to state his opinions and, in turn, to have his opinions or thoughts or critical and creative-thinking skills validated from the teacher,” Karac said.

For the G&T students who participate in Camp Invention, the open-ended nature of the program allows them to deeply explore STEM topics while building literacy competencies in ways that keep them interested and engaged. “Because the activities are differentiated, the experience is equally fun and beneficial for both the G&T and ESOL students.

“You don’t need a separate camp for gifted kids and talented kids, and English learners and so on,” Marsh said. “It is a comprehensive enough program curriculum that naturally differentiates, and so it serves the needs of a lot of different kinds of kids in one package.”

Provide the Opportunities and Resources Children Need

Your support for the Annual Fund makes it possible for NIHF to continue developing inspiring curricula, offering hands-on learning experiences and providing expertly designed literacy tools. Every time a child opens their Inventor Log, your Annual Fund gift will be helping them to build both their skills and their confidence.

Use the link below and select “Area of Greatest Need/Annual Fund” as the program you would like to support to reach children across the country.

When you give today, you can change tomorrow.