STEAM Cycle 11

Mrs. Totten, Mrs. Akins, and I went to Indianapolis to explore a possible STEAM curriculum.  We were trained to teach and use Project Lead the Way lessons.

• "Project Lead The Way provides transformative learning experiences for K-12 students and teachers across the U.S. We create an engaging, hands-on classroom environment and empower students to develop in-demand knowledge and skills they need to thrive. We also provide teachers with the training, resources, and support they need to engage students in real-world learning" (pltw.org).  

The training was awesome and we are hopeful that this curriculum can become the base for our STEAM program in Hudsonville.  While I was gone, the students continued to build their technology, engineering, art, and math skills.

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Kindergarten & 1st Grade-STEAM Bins

Using the STEAM Bins and task cards, the students created structures using the materials found in the bins.  Each group of students had a bin that included materials like pipe cleaners, dominoes, Play-Doh, craft sticks, paper cards, base-ten blocks, tangrams, Unifix cubes, and Legos to explore and create.

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2nd Grade-Roll an Autumn Leaf

The students created an autumn leaf by rolling the dice and following the pattern sequence for each section.

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3rd Grade-Roll a Hot Air Balloon

The students created a hot air balloon by rolling the dice and following the pattern sequence for each section.

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4th Grade-Nitrotype

The students used the online typing game NitroType and raced to practice typing skills. They recorded the words per minute and accuracy of 4 races, then used the calculator on their computers to determine the average score of the 4 races.

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5th Grade-Final day of Coding

This was our final day of coding.  The students used Khan Academy and participated in “The Hour of Code” mission learning how to draw shapes using code.  Students learned new concepts using a talk-through, doing step-by-step challenges to practice newly learned concepts, and worked on a project to get more practice and be more creative with the skills learned.