UCSB Club
UCSB Club focuses on developing upper elementary students’ literacy skills and strengthening their academic identities through project-based learning. In the Fall quarter, we invite students (our “co-learners”) to see themselves as part of our university community as they learn more about what happens at UCSB through readings and structured campus explorations. In the Winter and Spring quarters, they work in small groups facilitated by UCSB undergraduates to develop and carry out an original research project. As our young co-learners collaboratively deepen their understanding of their topic through field trips, readings, interviews, and/or surveys, they grow in their ability to work together, their capacity to articulate and communicate their ideas, and their confidence.
Environmental Literacies
Working in small groups facilitated by UCSB undergraduates, students (our “co-learners”) use reading, writing, discussion, and art to explore interdisciplinary topics related to climate justice. Over the course of the year, our young co-learners grow in their ability to comprehend and critically engage with texts, their capacity to communicate their understandings of climate justice issues important to their communities, and their sense of agency in confronting the climate crisis.
School Kids Investigating Language in Life and Society (SKILLS)
SKILLS introduces students to the discipline of sociocultural linguistics and guides them through the process of conducting original research projects into the role of language in their lives and communities. At the end of the program, students present their research projects at UCSB to the broader community. Students also receive sustained mentoring from UCSB undergraduates, most of whom are first generation college students and/or from immigrant families and who share their own journeys applying to, paying for, and navigating higher education. To learn more about SKILLS, please visit https://www.skills.ucsb.edu/