Students designed some sort of transportation that would go down the hill as well as keep their little bunny mini eraser safe inside. We had many trial and error attempts where either the bunny fell out or the mode of transportation fell apart (or both). I was so impressed how the students did not get frustrated when things came apart, but rather picked up their pieces, went back to their table, and started fixing or redesigning. We found that larger, sturdier modes of transportation kept the bunny safe and didn't fall apart opposed to the smaller structures. Engineering for the win!
This week with my littles, we read the story Bunny Slopes. This book has been a favorite of my own kiddos for a long time, so I knew I would have to incorporate it during this winter season. I had seen several people share on Instagram about making a hill out of poster board and students designing something (I told my kiddos I didn't want to label it as a sled or something because I didn't want to limit their imaginations) to slide down the hill. I knew this would be perfect for my groups! I fancied up two pieces of poster board that I taped together with some trees, a mug, and snowflakes I cut out on my Cricut. I added a little "finish line" at the end (the colors coincidentally matched the blankets in the book!). Students designed some sort of transportation that would go down the hill as well as keep their little bunny mini eraser safe inside. We had many trial and error attempts where either the bunny fell out or the mode of transportation fell apart (or both). I was so impressed how the students did not get frustrated when things came apart, but rather picked up their pieces, went back to their table, and started fixing or redesigning. We found that larger, sturdier modes of transportation kept the bunny safe and didn't fall apart opposed to the smaller structures. Engineering for the win!
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The third installment of elementary STEAM PBIS celebration activities! I feel like this might be the most boring looking blog post, as I do not have pictures to go along with the activities (I wasn't there for the celebration to capture pictures). Either way, I am still sharing! :) This month I went with a winter theme...even though we don't have any snow right now. The joys of the January highs and lows in the midwest! 3rd GradeActivity: Bunny Slopes (Similar to the Bunny Slopes activity we did in STEAM class.) Materials:
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4th GradeActivity: Winter Task Cards (Similar to the Winter Task cards activity) Materials:
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5th GradeActivity: Fastest Falling Snowflake
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Earlier in the school year, I organized a Family STEAM Night for my district. It was such an amazing evening with loads of educational experiences disguised as fun and games. Hey, learning should be fun if we want to do more of it, right! :) As part of this night, I asked some teachers if they could help facilitate rooms and activities. One of the activity rooms took place in the gym, as Physical Education and STEAM can walk hand in hand. Turns out, this was idea starter for our K-2 PE teacher! She had the idea to combine her K-2 PE classes (teacher: Andrea Donovan) with the K-2 STEAM classes (teacher: Sonna Pohlson) for a week-long unit of STEAM and PE activities. The two teachers asked if I would be willing to help them plan and you know my answer was a big YES!!! This was truly a fun and unique learning experience for the students. The teachers have already said they can't wait to do more collaborations together! Below is a video capturing some of the activities that took place throughout the week. I wasn't able to be there for all of the different activities, but what I was able to observe and be a part of was PHENOMENAL! Keep on reading below the video to see some of the activities they implemented. Lesson #1 - Coding HopscotchThis activity I shared with the PE and STEAM teachers as I was already planning on using it with my Y5 class as part of my introduction to coding. It seemed like a great fit for STEAM and PE together! I believe it worked even better for them than it did for me in the classroom as they had more space and students could build more complex codes. Students had a lot of fun building, testing, and changing up their codes while they were learning introductory computational thinking skills. So much learning wrapped up into one fun kinesthetic package! Lesson #2 - Human CatapultsThe second planned activity was for students to become a Human Catapult. We found the activity here and thought it would be a great activity for a large group. Students who were acting as catapults lined up in the middle of the gym, with groups throwing their balls to the opposite side of the gym. It may appear to be chaotic, but the students knew what their roles were and knew that they would have a chance at both, so they respected their assigned roles. They used a lot of their core muscles while working on how to problem solve how to throw the balls at the right angle to knock down a bowling pin. Not to mention the moving bodies of the ball retriever/loaders moving around - there were a lot of moving parts in the ball launching equation! Lesson #3 - Shadow GameSeveral years ago, one of our elementary Physical Education teachers shared this shadow activity with me. We thought it would be a great addition to the unit - by putting a STEAM twist on it. I took elements from resources we have been using for building and creating and incorporated them in to the video. I tried to have two different scenes for each letter in STEAM. The students enjoyed this so much! They were excited to see what would come up next and see how they could move past the obstacles. Lesson #4 - STEAM ExploreThe last lesson in the rotation was categorized as "STEAM Explore." This was a flexible lesson that looked different for different grade levels and different PE/STEAM time slots. Some of the PE classes go right up to the start of lunch set up, so some different activities were used for those groups. The first option for this activity was Cup Stacking. Students were separated into six squads and they were competing against the other squads. Squads lined up at one end of the gym, and a bucket of cups was on the opposite end. Students ran a relay back and forth, grabbing one cup each time. When they brought their cup back to their group, they had to assemble the cups in a pyramid. This really got them moving and each group decided how they would stack their cups (one designated person vs. the runner stacking their own cup on the way back from retrieval). The other activities that the teachers used due to shortened class times were a couple of videos that reinforced some of their PE concepts and how STEAM is a part of those concepts. This week in Y5/T1, we explored our last Yeti book - Dear Yeti. I have to say, the students have really loved the Yeti stories we have read! I have enjoyed it as well - I love introducing students to new and different things and experiences. So keeping with the theme of new and different experiences, I decided to pair this book with an activity that is new and different for this group - coding! After reading the story, we did a little intro to coding with an unplugged coding activity - Hopscotch Coding. I thought this would be a great way to get them up and moving and understanding that robots (like our mouse) only follow the directions that they are given. I started out by making a path for students to follow and then when they got the hang of it, I let them take over! I separated the class into two groups and gave each group an envelope with direction cards. They had to put together a code/path, test it, and then I would follow it to make sure their directions followed their intended path. We had to do some debugging on their code, but we eventually got them working properly! After our kinesthetic coding activity, we moved into coding with the Code and Go Mouse. We used parts of the story to help us code our mouse from one story element to another. Once we got past the initial phase of wanting to push all of the buttons (I think just because they were there!), the students were able to settle down and code their mouse. Hey, I can't blame them, it is something new, different, and fun! We started out by building their workspace. I know that the mice can be used without the green squares they come with, but I wanted the students to build the workspace to understand the limits we were working with (4 x 4). I think this helped them understand that you can't push forward more than four times as it would go off the workspace. After that, we went over the functions of the mice. I had printed off the two sheets below and clipped them to the board so that they could reference any of my directions at any time. Then we tried some basic directions with the mouse on our workspace to see how the mouse traveled and work through that the orange (or purple) button doesn't move you to the left, rather it rotates in that direction. Once we had an understanding of how the mouse worked and had some productive failure, we moved forward with adding story parts. I had taken pictures of key parts in the story and put some of the story parts with them so the students could remember what happened in that point in the story. I had printed these out and put them up on the board as well. I had also printed out small squares of these story points and gave each group a bag with the story parts. They had to find the matching story parts that I had, match them to where I placed them on the workspace, and then code the directions from Start, to story part, to Stop. I expected frustration and difficulties working in their groups (as I thought everyone would want to always push the buttons). There was some of that (we rotated through pressing buttons at first so everyone had a chance), but they did much better than I expected. I heard them talking about how the mouse was traveling, reminding each other to press the yellow circle to clear directions before starting again, and other things. I get nervous when doing big and new things like this with littles, but they always amaze me! There are definitely some things I learned for next time, but I am glad I just went for it and tried. I know the kiddos were excited about what they did that day and I sure hope they took their learning story home to share with others!
This week, my 4th grade classes had to take a quick break in our games unit do to some classes being gone for a field trip and me missing a day due to a sick kiddo of my own. I really try and keep my classes on the same schedule (mostly for my organization and sanity), so my 4th grade classes today were able to test out my latest Symbaloo Webmix. I set it up so that I could easily share STEAM websites with them, they would have choice in what they wanted to explore, and they would start making connections as to why some topics belong in STEAM (engineering is something they are having a difficult time explaining beyond the building aspect).
I intentionally picked websites that are interactive and do not require them to log in with any username and password. I wanted this to be something they could access at anytime, anywhere, and not have to worry about log in credentials. They really seemed to enjoy having choice in exploring a variety of topics. I would say that overall, math was the most explored area, which made my math teacher heart happy! I will continually add more websites to this Webmix as I find them. Feel free to drop any STEAM interactive websites in the comments below - I am always looking for new ones! We continued our Yeti theme in Y5/T1 and read the story "Bedtime for Yeti." The kiddos have really enjoyed these Vin Vogel! They have been especially captivated by the cuteness of Yeti's stuffed animal, so why not give them a chance to make a stuffed animal of their own? After reading the story, each student received a container of Play Doh and a working math. There was a container of Mr. Potato Head body parts for the table to share. They were tasked with build a stuffed animal for Yeti using the Play Doh and Mr. Potato Head parts. This turned out to be a deeper design task than I originally anticipated, as students quickly learned that the Mr. Potato Head parts were heavier than they anticipated and they would have to do some redesign on their Play Doh bodies so that they would stand upright. They worked hard through the challenge and loved having an opportunity to use the Mr. Potato Head parts in a new and unexpected way! Welcome 2020! In 4th grade STEAM class, we are accepting you with a fresh start, new activities, and lots of learning. But, starting back to school after a couple of weeks off for Winter Break can be a bit rough at first. So as I knew this transition and getting back into routines and norms might be a little difficult, I did what I do best...shake things up a bit! I feel as though the concept of STEAM is something that I haven't really hit hard with my students in helping them understand what STEAM means in the real world and everyday applications. I know that this is something that I want to dig in with them, but depending on how it is presented, it might not be the most engaging topic to them. Soooo....why not use some outside the box thinking to make it fun! With games! I saw this as a perfect opportunity to welcome the Glow Games to our classroom. Before I launched into the Glow Games, I knew that many students would not have played all of the games that I was going to incorporate into the STEAM Glow Games. This provided the opportunity to introduce the games in a non-threatening way where all students were able to have common experiences that would build their background knowledge and confidence for when content was included. I am taking two weeks to introduce the games to students (I only see them once a week for one hour), spending ten minutes per game, playing four games each week. Students started at their normal tables and rotated through the next three stations during the class period. Spending the time to introduce, experience, and play the games was critical to everyone starting off with minimal barriers for them to be successful in the STEAM Glow Games. Each student knew how to play each game, knew how to self evaluated post-playing, and knew strategies for encouragement when playing games. This foundation was essential for me so that when we moved into the STEAM Glow Games, I was not spending time teaching the students how to play the games, but rather the games serve as the engagement component that supported the content. At the end of playing each game station, I asked students to reflect on their game playing experience and how it fit in with the 6C Learner Profile that our district has adopted (based off the book, Becoming Brilliant by Roberta Michnick Golinkoff PhD and Kathy Hirsh-Pasek PhD). I selected a "C" for each game and used that as the focus for my question. Classroom Set UpBelow is a snapshot of the room as I had it set up. I tried to separate the games that would have moving pieces (Basketball Pong/Station 5-Jenga/Station 1 and Perfection/Station 3-TENZI/Station 8) so there wouldn't be a bunch of crazy activity going on in one corner of the room. After playing the games, I feel that the strategic placement of the stations worked out really well and kept materials contained to their appropriate tables. Evaluation & ReflectionWhile students were rotating through the stations, they had a small packet that they had to complete after each station. Each station had three questions with the first one always asking if they had played the game before. The second question asks them to self-evaluate themselves on one of the "Cs" and the last being a more reflective question. One of my district's goals this year is focusing on culturally responsive teaching. I admittedly did not fully understand what it meant at the beginning of the year, but I have learned so much already and feel as though it has helped develop relationships with my students. The last reflection question for each station is a culturally responsive question as it helps students have ownership and validity in their identity and learning as well as an application to their life. As students were playing the games, I wanted them to also reflect on the kind of player they were when they were playing with others as well as how to exhibit good sportsmanship. On the back of each station instruction sheet, I included phrases to help students congratulate winners and encourage losers. This sheet also included the instructions for how to clean up and reset their stations for the next group. Station #1Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had two games of Jenga set up for students to play. They could choose to play in partners or as a whole group of four. Each game had a gallon-sized zip bag to hold game pieces when not in play. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #2Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had two games of glow in the dark tic tac toe set up for students to play. They could choose to play in partners or as a whole group of four. Each game had a quart-sized zip bag to hold game pieces when not in play. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #3Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had two games of Perfection set up for students to play. They could choose to play in partners or take turns individually playing Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #4Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had four games of Barrel of Monkeys set up for students to play. They would play this game individually, so each person had a Barrel of Monkeys. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #5Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had one game of Basketball Pong set up for students to play. They would each play the game individually. The container held the ping pong balls to use for the game. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. This was the only game that I personally had to make an assemble. I simply used a foam board trifold - 36in x 48in (so much sturdier than cardboard!) as the base. I created the basketball hoops and then cut them out on my Cricut. I used neon index cards as the backboard and cut out black inserts on my Cricut for the center part of the backboard as well as the point values for each basket. Using my Cricut, I cut out the letters and dots and then secured the backboards, letters, and dots to the foam board with hot glue. I laminated everything so that it would be durable and hold up over time. I used velcro dots (2 dots per basket) to attach the baskets to the foam board so I could remove them and fold up the board for easy storage. Just kidding, well, kind of! I freely share the resources I use because I truly believe that as educators we are all in this together - making learning fun, meaningful, and relevant to students. They are our future after all! I share and don't expect anything in return, BUT if you like what you see, use it, and see the benefit, I will drop links here to my DonorsChoose page as well as my Amazon Wishlist. ;) All items go right into the hands of the students I work with to build enriching STEAM experiences that support the 6Cs to help them develop a love of learning and a desire to be a life-long learner. Station #6Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had two games of dominoes set up for students to play. They could choose to play in partners or as a whole group of four. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #7Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had two games of Connect 4 set up for students to play. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Station #8Station Materials & Setup: For this station, I had five containers of dice so all students could play at the same time. Pencils were stored in the container so students would not lose track of them as they rotated from table to table. Games In ActionWhat's Up Next?After we become familiar with rules and how to play the eight games, we are going to move into the the Glow Games: All About STEAM! This is where I am going to introduce STEAM content where students will have to answer task cards so that they can have a turn to play a round in the games. Stay tuned!
A new year, so a new theme! I personally love winter and snow. Thankfully I live in a state that gets a decent amount of snow each year. I started off with my Y5/T1 kiddos with a yeti theme this week. I have several stories to share with them over the next couple of weeks about Yetis. I heard many conversations as students were working if they have seen a yeti before. :) The book for this week was, The Thing About Yetis. It is a fun story that shares about what yetis like to do in the winter and that sometimes they miss summer. So for the challenge this week, I asked students to build something with pattern blocks that their yeti (a 3D printed Flockmen) would like to do in the winter and in the summer. I told them that they are now up for more complex challenges as we are halfway through the year, so this time I was going to give them a building restriction. I told them that their design for their winter creation had to fit in the winter box and the design for the summer had to fit in the summer box. I wanted them to focus in on showing what their yeti would like to do instead of building the biggest possible creation. The kiddos really seemed to enjoy this activity and came up with some great ideas. This was the first time (I believe!) that I saw multiple students creating individually, but using colors and blocks pieced together so that their idea made sense to someone looking at it. For example, one student had the yeti ice skate in the winter and used blue diamond blocks fit together to make an ice skating rink. Previously, several students would have just grabbed a handful of blocks, placed them in the middle and then lay the yeti on top saying he was skating. It is great to see their progression with ideas, design, and aesthetics! Student Designs |
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