The Gingerbread Trap

So this is Christmas,

And what have you done?

These lyrics from a popular Christmas song always make me pause as a teacher and a person and think, “What have I done?”  To answer this question in December of 2019, I can say that rebranding my classroom as a STREAM Studio this year has allowed a fresh perspective to invade my teacher heart.  I have provided numerous opportunities to create, collaborate, communicate and critically think in Grades K-5 at the new whiteboard tables with flexible seating.  Using the Book Creator app on iPads to document the engineering design process is one of my most favorite times of the day with my first graders!

Here is a description of how I have framed my lessons using the STREAM acronym with pictures!

S – Self Directed Learners are planning a trap made from popsicle sticks and binder clips to catch the Gingerbread Person who has run away.

T – Technology use of Book Creator app on iPads, Thinkers who have to collaborate to build a group trap while combining ideas, Tinkering with binder clips and popsicle sticks to generate a solution is a challenge!

R- Reading versions of “The Gingerbread Man” but deciding that we should trap the Gingerbread person so it won’t get eaten by a Fox then we will take him or her back home.

E – Engineering Design Process to plan, build and test out our designs

A – Artistic representations of a Gingerbread person including decorating it with ideas from a glyph, Adaptability when needing to make adjustments to the design and incorporate ideas from collaborative teammates

M – Maker mindset is developing as students make design using simple materials

My design challenge question is “Can you create a trap that can catch and hold one Gingerbread person?”  I provide plastic Gingerbread people on sticks that I bought at Michaels and plush Gingerbread people who smell like Gingerbread that I bought at CVS.  I have each child get an iPad with Book Creator app, choose a partner, get a bag of popsicle sticks and binder clips then pick up a Gingerbread person.

They begin by drawing their trap idea in Book Creator, show it to a partner then decide how they will combine drawings to build the actual Gingerbread trap out of the materials!  Next, they test it out to see if their trap works and take a picture of it in a Book Creator.  Finally, they write about “How to Catch A Gingerbread Person” in Book Creator, change font and text size to make the sentences special!

I have asked our art teacher to have students make Gingerbread people and decorate them with a glyph.  For ex., put One stripe on the leg if you have a sister or two stripes if you have a brother.  Put various color buttons to represent the month that you were born in, etc.

Since I don’t have time to always read an entire book to the class and do the design challenge, I asked our Media Center teacher to read various versions of “The Gingerbread Man” to students.

I also think that students learn to use sequence words like first, next, then and last when typing about how to catch a Gingerbread person.  I have an example on an anchor chart to provide writing support!

 

 

Our Own Balloon Parade!

 

During the past month, my 2nd Grade students have learned about the history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  I had never known the rich history surrounding it until I read a book called “Balloons Over Broadway” which I also shared with students.  It describes the puppeteer, Tony Sargh, who was asked by Macy’s Department Store in the early 1900s to create mechanized puppets to be placed in windows of their stores.  Later, Macy’s asked Tony Sargh to create a puppet street parade to celebrate the street parties that people had been accustomed to before they left their homes and immigrated to the USA.  Over time, Tony Sargh redesigned the balloons to be made out of rubberized silk and they flew high above New York streets.

I have included my Google Slide Show in case you’d like to see the book and see my lessons.  My students went through the engineering design process to develop balloon characters on paper, then created their designs using actual balloons!  They hooked them to plastic sticks, taped them to Sphero Chariots and learned to navigate their balloon float through our school hallways by controlling the Sphero robot which was located under the Sphero Chariot using the Sphero EDU app on iPads!

I loved collaborating with the Art Teachers at my school so that the students made the balloons during Art Connect Class.  In Art, students also made two large murals to go in the hallways where they drew New York City Skyscrapers and faces of people in the windows who would watch the parade as students drove their Balloon floats past the murals!

The children loved getting to shake bells or play sticks during the parade which gave us the feel of live music!  The children had to problem solve and apply their understanding of how Sphero robots work to make this project come alive.  They loved being a part of it all and I did too!

Here is the link to my presentation which I showed each class!

Google Drive “Balloons Over Broadway” link:  https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1cnjlZaOMNunKaSrJvLm489iNCYmQq8LNRxFOUkUHpW0/edit?usp=sharing

I am also including some of the videos that I have taken of each class in the school!

Videos:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17Ds97RkA3cZJSPT7EbACzJi_kJkSw0jB/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1k44Hr3dQ7KoH9HXXyGwEJddVqDrpxqbd/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fxmT4q0Tj8gALIt0i7o7F4l8bRQuVLRb/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AdHp2RYg2ISP4dukfCUE7SxkUOxyVXtn/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/17tevfmIhhFQWeZ4HcgTQCvazvw4vh69o/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1TuQmWATb0BSsB0ji2J7tRX_UuM8Yrf_d/view?usp=sharing

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1bhXnorPB6YZEXEgZY94ksslCf4XRUpHJ/view?usp=sharing

I am excited about the last phase of the project where I will have partners develop and write out at least three reasons of why they think that their balloon character should be in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on an index card.

Next, I will have them scan a Flipgrid QR Code to open a Flipgrid project.  They will record a Flipgrid about why their group’s balloon character should be added to the actual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and give at least three reasons from their index card.  The balloons are losing air and are deflating but I hope that they will last one more week until I see each class again so that each group can hold their balloon as they read their reasons for their balloon to be included in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade!

They will watch each others’ Flipgrid presentations and share positive feedback.  

We will also check out this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade Balloons and watch each class’ Balloon Parade Video that we created in our last class.  Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

 

Engineering Design Process in Book Creator App

My first graders have been busy as they developed ideas in the engineering design process!

They would open Book Creator app, draw their design then build it out Jumbo K’Nex!  I captured a lot of pictures to share and am so proud of their creations along with the text that they wrote to accompany their picture.  They also changed size of text in their sentences, changed font and color of text!  Their favorite part was recording their voice reading aloud their sentence into Book Creator and sharing their recording with others.

The Book Creator app allows children to begin to fluidly create with tools at their fingertips.  For example, when you open a New Book and choose the Landscape option, then you can press the “+” symbol to see the Pen tool which allows you to draw in many colors, the Add Text tool, the Camera tool, the Photo tool and the Record Voice tool.  I love that kids can select many types of fonts, colors and sizes of text.

Today, a child was asking me how to spell “built”.  I said the letters b, u and i then the word populated above the text.  Book Creator tries to help kids to spell the words correctly by predicting the text that they are typing.  I love that kids can create then use language to describe their drawings and engineering design products!  My favorite description in one of the pictures using Jumbo K’Nex is translated as follows:  We built a tank that is undefeatable.”  The kids absolutely love recording their voice and hearing it played back.  Recording brings the process to a close as they wrap up their creation in the Engineering Design Process and are ready to share with others.

Another exciting piece of this project was in the collaboration that occurred.  Having six year olds collaborate is possible but not always easy.  They had to draw what they wanted to create then share the drawing with a partner or partners.  Then, they had to compromise and decide on the one creation that they would make using the Jumbo K’Nex blocks.

I was glad that I started using Book Creator without having them collaborate at first a few weeks ago.  Back then, I read aloud “What Do You Do With An Idea?” then they created a drawing of an object that they could create to help the world.  I have given them opportunities to also draw a tower that would hold mini apples from the craft store then create it with Unifix Cubes and mini apples, take a picture of their tower holding the apples and then type text about how many cubes they used in the building of their tower and how many apples it would hold.  They also got to use the Record Voice tool to read their sentence aloud about their apple towers.  I think it is important to facilitate proper use of the tools in Book Creator so that students can do increasingly more difficult challenges and begin to compromise as they collaborate with others to build designs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections on my Transformation of my Learning Environment

I finally finished designing my STREAM Studio letters! In my last post, I shared the excitement I had about purchasing the 18 inch tall letters to eventually be painted, decorated and placed on my rebranded classroom’s big bulletin board. After painting the paper mache letters in various grays, blues and a light orange, I began the process of gluing on objects which represent each letter and tiny blocks which spell out the actual meaning of each letter.

I reflected a lot last year on what an optimal learning environment would look like for my students at my elementary school. I see 1100 of them once every school day when they come with their homeroom class. In the past, my classroom had 15 computer desks and 30 computers on them. I envisioned getting rid of the bulky computers and 15 tables but then funding for new furniture became my focus.

I developed a vision for a STREAM Studio to replace my Computer Lab Technology Class. As the months moved on and I continued to do STREAM focused lessons which I have shared in previous blog posts, I framed my thinking and defined each letter of STREAM. I created a graphic on puzzle pieces to capture the idea that all of the pieces have come together for me to launch into designing a rebranded learning environment that is welcoming and child centered. Here it is: https://view.genial.ly/5d0ae7c6e4bc100f2baf5d59/horizontal-infographic-diagrams-stream-studio

I wrote a $5000 Grant but found out in May that it was not funded. My visionary principal talked with our PTO about funding some new tables, stools and two large area rugs for my classroom. She let me know that PTO would make the purchase along with some of our school funds!

By the last day of school on June 7, the new items had arrived and volunteers put together the tables. To my surprise, PTO contacted me during the last week of June to tell me that they could fund Phase 2 of my project to complete my new learning environment! In addition to the four whiteboard trapezoid tables on wheels which they already purchased, I requested another whiteboard trapezoid table, two whiteboard rectangular tables on wheels, a low to the ground circular table, more Wobble Stools for a total of 12, four reclining Flex floor seats, six Otto Stools which double as storage containers and which will house new floor cushions from Ikea! They will also purchase some new Chromebooks for my classroom!

As I wait on the delivery, I wanted to get the letters designed so that they will be ready to go up on my royal blue covered bulletin board. Last week, I enjoyed looking in the Dollar Section of Target and at Hobby Lobby for items to adhere to the STREAM letters. I glued every item on the letters with a clear, industrial strength adhesive which took five hours! It was tedious to glue each tiny cube on but I love how it turned out! The smell of the glue was overwhelming at times so I kept on the stove fan in my kitchen as I worked into the wee hours of the morning at my kitchen bar.

I squeezed the glue tube until my fingers were sore and used every drop! The images of the tube provide a picture of how I now feel after getting to this phase of the whole STREAM Studio project after working on it for this last year. Don’t get me wrong and think that I am all used up! Instead the idea is that I have poured hours of time into a research project known as an Impact Project in my school district to research learning environments that promote Personalized Learning through flexible seating. I selected Lakeshore Learning as the provider of most of my new tables, rugs and seats which required a lot of thinking about how I wanted my space to feel and look. I had to stay within a budget so calculating costs required time and forced me to make financial decisions.

Then, there has been the eight or more paint colors which I have contemplated to be painted on my feature wall. I asked my students some of their favorite colors for the wall before school got out. They were open to grays and blues for the wall. After painting swatch after swatch and comparing how the colors looked with my green and blue new rugs along with the orange, gray, blue and green Wobble Stools, I finally decided on a gray called Northstar by Sherwin Williams. Choosing paint color was a huge decision as it required me to read articles on decorating and study how each color looked on sample environments in the Sherwin Williams Color Snap Visualizer program at their website. Truthfully, I estimate that I spent hours on the paint decision. Some people could have made a quick decision but I deliberately chose to spend time thinking about the overall aesthetic that the paint would evoke and getting input from others.

In the end, I am now expectant as to how this new space will come together as my STREAM Studio classroom. I know that I have squeezed every ounce of energy into this project so time will tell. I will post pictures once I get the letters on the bulletin board and show the big reveal of new tables and seats!

My last pic is of the Northstar color on a sample wall! It shows the other colors which I considered at the bottom of the pic. And now, I will step back into relaxing for a few more weeks of summer vacation and be ready to decorate in August!

STREAM Dream

“What are you going to do with those letters?” asked a friendly older woman at the back of Hobby Lobby. I had just found the 18 inch tall cardboard style letters and was reaching for the R. They were lined up like soldiers on five shelves at the end of an aisle; that is, soldiers who were resting and waiting for me to dress them up!

I began to tell Susan, the nice lady whom I had just met who was a former teacher, all about my journey to develop the idea of my class becoming a STREAM Studio. These tall letters would be painted by me then decorated to match each letter of STREAM. I have visions of hot gluing green and blue Lego style blocks on the E as students will engineer plans to build structures as they effectively communicate. Little robots will be glued to the R along with the small letters that say “READ” and “RESEARCH” with little books.

Here is a version of my what each letter of STREAM stands for: https://view.genial.ly/5d0ae7c6e4bc100f2baf5d59/horizontal-infographic-diagrams-stream-studio

On recent Target runs I have found fun pipe cleaners, Science and tech symbols and various 2D shapes to place on other letters. My purchases have gotten me very excited to know that the little symbols will bring to life the letters of STREAM to excite students as they arrive in our STREAM Studio! I will begin painting and decorating the letters and post pics in the next few weeks.

I also bought smaller cardboard STUDIO letters so they will hang on a bulletin board in my classroom. My new STREAM Studio letters will set the tone of Creativity, Communication and Collaboration. Not only will the bulletin board announce my newly branded learning space, but the whiteboard tables on wheels in the shape of trapezoids and rectangles, low and high circular tables, blue and green rugs and flexible seating choices in blue, green, orange and gray will welcome my students. It is all about them! At Target, I found adorable mini chalkboard easels to place on each table to manage table numbers.

My PTO decided to continue purchasing tables and flexible seats for my classroom in addition to the tables, rugs and Wobble Stools which they purchased in June of 2019. My Phase 2 budget items were approved today by my principal and sent to PTO. Hopefully, the new tables, stools, flex seats and cushions will arrive to my school by the end of July. Being able to have a completely new space to teach in is incredibly exciting!

I thought I had decided on a feature wall color of Melon Meloso, a color by Sherwin Williams. Orange evokes excitement and energy so this shade of orange which is reminiscent of a slightly pale orange sherbet. I am now leaning toward a pale blue by Sherwin Williams called Mountain Air. I have to choose the color soon so that the feature wall can get painted.

While in Marshall’s on two separate shopping trips in the Spring, two map paintings on canvases found me as I walked through the store. One is a world map and the other is a USA map. They needed to be in my new STREAM Studio even though at the time in the Spring, I had not fully envisioned how my new space would look. My paint color on the feature wall will serve as a warm backdrop to the two maps which I plan to hang on both sides of my bulletin board.

All of these ideas have been building in my mind all year as I researched Learning Environments that invited students to work together and feel comfortable. I am so excited to share pictures soon on my blog. My space will give children the space to use Chromebooks, iPads and other creative items! Here are some pics from the last day of school when the tables were put together by volunteers! I love the vibrant colors! Check back for updates!

STREAM Lessons with Sphero Robots

My students dove into STREAM projects using Sphero robots this year! The S in STREAM stands for not only Science but also Social Studies projects! I also have added “Self Directed Learners” to the “S” too! The “R” stands for Robotics, Reading and Research! My fifth graders read about various Science and Social Studies topics that I had posted in their Google Classrooms, then used our Sphero Robots to create lines of code, collaborate and communicate with each other!

In a Social Studies project, 5th graders researched Paul Revere then programmed a Sphero hooked to a blue chariot/horse with a Lego Paul Revere on it to each city where Paul Revere rode on the night of his famous midnight ride just prior to the start of the American Revolution! They collaborated in building the cities out of Legos too! Their favorite part was programming the Sphero EDU app to proclaim, “The Regulars are coming! The Regulars are coming!” (The Regulars were the enlisted British soldiers.). Each time Paul Revere was programmed to a new city represented by Legos and a city name card, Paul Revere would announce his famous and urgent sentence which awakened people so that they could prepare for the beginning of the American Revolution!

As a 5th grade Science project, students researched Mars Rovers and engineers at NASA like Diana Trujillo who give Mars Rover directions from earth. They designed their own Mars Rovers out of K’NEX and drove them around by programming Sphero robots. They worked together to bring their designs to life and made adjustments in their designs as needed.

Third grade students composed Spring poems then published them on paper. Then, they laid out foam flowers and their poems to create a geometric shaped garden. Next, they programmed Sphero robots to roll to each flower or poem. It was so fun to have them type in their poems into the Sphero EDU app then hear the poem read aloud as their Sphero traveled to the poem. Groups also programmed the sounds of birds to chirp when the Sphero arrived at various flowers along the path! I called this project, “Stop and Smell the Flowers”! It was a great way to introduce them to coding Sphero robots in small groups.

I enjoy planning STREAM lessons for my students! What are your favorite STREAM lessons?

Rock STREAM

My fourth graders are amazing! Here are pictures of their hard work in a rock unit that involved STREAM:

Science

Technology

Reading/Research

Effective Communication with Thinking Maps and in collaboration to build Google Slides

Adaptability and Flexibility in considering input from group members

Music and Movement with creating songs about rocks, developing choreography for a rock themed song and visiting Google Slides of others in a Gallery Crawl

Snowflake STREAM

I have developed a Snowflake unit to use with my third graders using the STREAM lens.  These lessons will be done over a series of days when they visit my class.  Since I enjoy having our students do STREAM projects in other Special Area classes, I asked our Media Center Teacher to share the story of “Snowflake Bentley” with students and they analyzed the story events with her.  I also asked our Art Teacher about developing a Snowflake themed art project with our third graders so she will be doing this project in January with them. Here is a video of many highlights from the lessons!

In my lessons, the acronym STREAM stands for the following words:

The S stands for Science or Social Studies and Self Directed Learners.  

The T stands for Technology and Thinkers.   

The R stands for Reading, Research and Reflection.  

The E stands for Engineering and Effective Communication.  

The A stands for Art, Adaptability and Academic Risk Takers.  

The M stands for Math, Movement and Music.  

Science and Self Directed Learners:

Study the people who have been Snowflake researchers.  Watch videos about them and be prepared to compare and contrast their work.

Discuss Snowflake Bentley in small groups using the discussion cards found at this Freebie on Snowflake Bentley!  I love the resources found in this Paid Unit on Snowflake Bentley that could be used with your class!

Response:  Create a graphic organizer comparing the work of two scientists who studied snowflakes.  You could use a Venn Diagram or a Double Bubble Thinking Map.

Create a Bubble map to include adjectives that describe snowflakes!

Technology, Thinkers: 

In January, I will place a copy of Build a Snowman in our Google Classroom to have them creatively develop a snowman or snow-woman using their copy/paste skills inside of a great Google Slide Presentation found here then they will create a story about him or her and type it!

Reading, Research and Reflection:

Read this Nonfiction Article from NewsELA about Snowflakes

Read this Smithsonian article to learn about the categories of Snowflakes that exist!

Response:  Create a Tree Map to categorize the types of Snowflakes that have been discovered.

Engineering and Effective Communication: – Become a designer of code which will guide characters from the “Frozen” movie to skate in the shape of various snowflakes.  Try to categorize the type of snowflake shape that you program the character to skate!  Use the Frozen Hour of Code tutorial!

In addition, my students loved using Winter Themed STEM Mats to create Winter Inventions using Legos!

Art and Adaptability: – Use paper and scissors to create a snowflake using these directions.  See if you can categorize it using the categories in the Smithsonian article which are on your Tree Map.

Math, Music, Movement:

Students can conduct a Math investigation by throwing cotton ball “snowballs” or larger cotton snowballs like these that I found at Target.  They can throw it a few times, measure how far the snowball traveled and record it on a sheet.   They can create math word problems with their data and share them in a Flipgrid that the teacher would create then solve each others’ problems!.  They could graph their results on a bar graph or other types of graphs too!

You can view my students’ Flipgrid responses on winter inventions by visiting this guest Flipgrid link.

They could discuss Symmetry in snowflakes and use pattern blocks to create symmetrical snowflake designs!

I really like this Movement lesson involving creative dance as if they are snowflakes falling and music!

There are so many fun snowflake themed lessons that are great to do in winter!  I hope you will enjoy framing your thoughts about snowflakes using the STREAM lens!

Lindsay Petlak’s Scholastic Blog Post is full of awesome snowflake lesson ideas!

Another resource which I’d like to recommend is this Paid Resource from Teachers Pay Teachers for additional lessons to go with “Snowflake Bentley”.

I love to use Sphero robots in my lessons and really like this lesson on going through the engineering design process to have the Sphero act as a snowplow to move “snowballs” to a location in the class.  I have modified this lesson a bit and am doing it with my 5th Graders using the larger cotton snowballs from Target and the Sphero Chariots!

I am excited to implement this Snowflake STREAM unit!  I hope you enjoy it too!  Please let me know your ideas!

STEM to STREAM

I am thrilled to share projects done with my first graders based on the acronym of STREAM. You are probably familiar with STEM but the addition of the R and A put a new twist on STEM. Instead of just Science, Technology, Engineering and Math the R adds in the component of Reading while the A brings in Art!

Here are some of my favorite pictures where students built artistic representations of the Statue of Liberty and used Legos to recreate famous landmarks mentioned in “Iggy Peck, Architect” by Andrea Beatty.

I recently recorded a podcast to describe this first grade STREAM project and asked my teacher colleagues on my Special Area team to join me in sharing how they planned lessons with a STREAM focus. I have decided to share the podcast script below but first included an Animoto video of pictures from the project and shared a Google Slide Presentation too which I shared with first graders to prepare them for their Maker Day! The podcast will be shared at this website during the first week in December: https://sites.google.com/cms.k12.nc.us/cmspdl/design/podcast

Here is the specific link to the Podcast.

Animoto Video of The Statue of Liberty project

Google Slide Presentation on The Statue of Liberty Maker Projects

I think that when we can provide students with the opportunity to construct their understanding of the world in a playful and supportive environment, we are leaning into their strengths and building positive relationships with them. They are learning how to be flexible and adaptable when they consider the ideas of peers while building with Legos or foam blocks. When they have to design a structure on a blueprint by painting it, they are using spatial knowledge and thinking deeply about design. As they sing, they are building neural pathways to connect the history of the Statue of Liberty with the Maker Days when they designed their own Statue of Liberty out of Play Doh, made foil or pipe cleaner sculptures or created unique crowns like the ones that the Statue of Liberty wears. My students have begun to be willing to accept a challenge and view mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow as they have been a part of the various STREAM projects. I love that they developed as effective communicators, self directed learners and academic risk takers who build on the ideas of others.

Script for STREAM Podcast by Lisa Maples and the Connect Team at Elon Park Elementary School:

INTRO​​:

Welcome to this week’s CMS Personalized Digital Learning Teacher Voice Podcast, Season Three, episode 15. My name is Lisa Maples and today we are going to talk about an effective strategy to frame lesson planning using the acronym of STREAM. I am going to share how I have expanded the STEM acronym to include an R and an A to create a new acronym of STREAM. The podcast will also include our Special Area team describing lessons that integrate STREAM.

Podcast SCRIPT​​:

I am the Technology Teacher and teach one thousand one hundred children in grades K-5 each week. I enjoy infusing technology into my lessons, but I have now started planning lessons through the STREAM lens. STREAM is an acronym which has expanded from the original STEM acronym which means Science, Technology, Engineering and Math. STREAM has been used to identify lessons that are built around Science, Technology, Reading​​, Engineering, ​Art​​ and Math. The R and the A are inserted into STEM to make STEM embrace Reading and Art.

In my expanded definition of STREAM, I have layered in our Learner Profiles as a part of Personalized Digital Learning in CMS.

In my lessons, the S stands for Science or Social Studies and Self Directed Learners.

The T stands for Technology and Thinkers.

The R stands for Reading, Research and Reflection.

The E stands for Engineering and Effective Communication.

The A stands for Art, Adaptability and Academic Risk Takers. The M stands for Math, Movement and Music.

You might be wondering how I orchestrated a STREAM unit.

Well, this year, in October, I reached out to first grade teachers and asked them what ELA Standards that they would be working on. We had a discussion and they sent me their nine week planning guide. I saw that they were focused on reading nonfiction, informational text. I decided that I could support their efforts by having students read and learn about famous landmarks in the world using the PBS Learning Media website. I also knew that in Andrea Beatty’s amazing picture book called “Iggy Peck, Architect”, that Iggy built a lot of famous landmarks. I asked our Media Center Teacher, Ms. Buncum, if she would share “Iggy Peck, Architect” with our first graders during their Media Center time while I shared information about famous landmarks with them during Technology Class.

I am now thinking that you would appreciate me sharing specifically what was planned to go along with each letter of STREAM so here’s how it worked:

The S in STREAM refers to Social Studies or Science but specifically in this unit, it was connected to a Social Studies idea. As I mentioned earlier, we used the book, “Iggy Peck, Architect” by Andrea Beatty, as our inspiration. In this book, Iggy builds many different landmarks around the world such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa, The Eiffel Tower, the St. Louis Arch and the Great Sphinx. I had students listen to information about some of the landmarks. My students found the country of their landmark on tiny globes to give them an idea of where they live compared to where the landmark is located.

The T in STREAM occurred when students created Technology Projects using an iPad app called Pic Collage. They also listened to articles found at http://www.Wonderopolis.org on iPads which they accessed by scanning a QR code to learn more about them and then built the landmarks out of Legos. In the N.C. Standard Course of Study, in the Writing Anchor Standard 1.4, it states this: “With guidance and support from adults, use a variety of digital tools and resources to produce and publish writing, including in collaboration with peers.” My students were able to collaborate and publish a digital writing piece that encorporated what they had learned using the Pic Collage app.

The R in STREAM occurred when students Read and Researched The Statue of Liberty, a famous American Landmark. In the N.C. Standard Course of Study, the Reading Informational Text Standard 1.2 says that students will, “Identify the main topic and retell key details of a text.” Getting students to identify and retell key details is easier said than done! But, I did this with students while using digital text using http://www.pbslearningmedia.​org about the Statue of Liberty.

In my opinion, the R that means Reading in STREAM can be considered anything related to Literacy such as Listening, Speaking and Writing. The N.C. Standard Course of Study Anchor Standard 1.5 of Speaking and Listening says that “Students will add drawings or other visual displays to descriptions when appropriate to clarify ideas, thoughts, and feelings.” I had them draw the Statue of Liberty in the Pic Collage app and type the information that they learned which was captured on our Brace Map Anchor Chart.

The Writing Anchor Standard 1.2 from the N.C. Standard Course of Study says, “Students will write informative/explanatory texts in which they name a topic, supply some facts about the topic, and provide closure.” They were able to develop informative Pic Collage presentations about their Research of the Statue of Liberty.

The E in STREAM stands for Engineering and occurred when students built famous landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower out of Legos and built bridges. In​ ​​my Connect Class in Technology on a Maker Day, they chose one of the famous landmarks that Iggy Peck had built and recreated it out of Legos. They practiced being collaborators and creatively thinking. We have a focus on the CMS Personalized Digital Learning Learner Profiles of being Creative Thinkers and Collaborators so this activity allowed students to consider the thoughts and ideas of a partner. It also gave them the chance to be kids and create with LEGOS which was so much fun!

The A in STREAM stands for Art and Adaptability. On another Maker Day in my class​, students artistically represented The Statue of Liberty as they used materials like green playdoh, green and gold pipe cleaners, foil, foam spheres and paper plates. They became young architects of the Statue of Liberty! Once they had created their model of the Statue of Liberty, they took a picture of it with the iPad and inserted it into an app called Pic Collage. They typed the facts from a Brace Map that I had made into their project too.

It is my privilege to get to teach with an amazing Special Area Team. I would like to share now how my colleagues and I planned with the STREAM lens.

We call our Specials “Connect” because our special areas connect to each child’s experience as a learner. I have invited the other Connect teachers to share how we have collaborated on projects with first graders that integrated STREAM across the curriculum.

In “Iggy Peck, Architect”, Iggy designs a suspension bridge to help his class get off an island using their shoestrings, sticks, socks, etc. Ms. Buncum, our Media Center Teacher, had kids participate in an Engineering Challenge by building bridges.

Ms. Buncum, tell them about the bridge building project:

Ms. Buncum​​: I gave them a graphic organizer to plan their own bridges. I then had them use 30 colorful popsicle sticks and 10 large binder clips to actually bring their designs to life. They were able to place their bridges on top of red plastic cups. They had a great time designing. She will share their responses and her reflection of this activity.

Ms. Pylant​​, is our Art Teacher. Ms. Pylant, tell us how you were involved in “A” or Art part of this STREAM project.

She will talk about having kids create Blueprints of a structure on blue construction paper where they made a grid with white crayons. They dipped small strips of cardboard into white paint then stamped the paint on to the blue print. She required them to design it so that the structure had support under it. She will share her reflections and what went well and what she might change for next year.

LISA:​​ The “M” in STREAM in our case stands for Movement and Music.

Mr. Cunningham is our P.E. Teacher who has children collaborate through movement to build amazing structures.

Mr. Cunningham, tell us how you were involved in this project:

He will talk about the Imagination Station Playground in the gym. He had purchased enormous foam pieces which children use to build a variety of structures after being given building challenges. By giving the children building challenges, it gave them a way to have hands on practice with designing a structure, collaborating, communicating and critically thinking. They were active and got to touch each piece to make their vision come to life.

Ms. Proctor is our Music Teacher.

Ms. Proctor,​​ share how you built on what students had learned about the Statue of Liberty through Music:

She will share how that she built on the research that I had done with students on the Statue of Liberty and taught them a song about it. They were able to solidify important facts about the Statue’s history such as it being given to the USA as a gift by France. They were able to locate France and see where it is in relation to the New York Harbor area where the Statue of Liberty is located. They made a global connection between France and the location of the Statue of Liberty in New York City by learning the song. She has them closely read the lyrics to deepen comprehension of the text and then develop their musical sense by having them sing to a beat and enjoy music. They discussed more complex vocabulary like “immigrants” and how the Statue of Liberty was a symbol of freedom.

Lisa: ​ ​Thank you all for sharing how you were a part of this exciting chapter with first graders!

Our focus is on developing the whole child while empowering them to take ownership of their learning. The STREAM themed activities helped children apply information in productive ways to help them construct new and deeper understandings of the world.

If you would like to get started with planning a STREAM project, first identify standards that you want to address and Learner Profiles to highlight such as being a “Collaborator”. Locate a picture book to share with students or a resource which can be referred to during the process. In our case, it was “Iggy Peck, Architect”, but you could use any text. In our case, the Special Area teachers decided to have children build bridges, paint a structure, make a model of the Statue of Liberty, sing a song about the history of The Statue of Liberty and creatively collaborate to build Imagination Station structures. The support of the Special Area team was critical to the success of this STREAM project, but you could start with just your class. Plan with your STREAM lenses on and you will probably discover an idea to collaborate on with another colleague. You can plan a Maker Day with a variety of craft materials like popsicle sticks, binder clips, paper plates, pipe cleaners, Play Doh and Legos, but start with what materials that you have. I love the book “Iggy Peck, Architect” so all of these ideas were inspired from that book.

We know students engage more when they are connected to creative thinking and learning at a deeper level. I hope that you have been inspired by how the STREAM lens has shaped our thinking and planning for our students.

CONCLUSION​​:

Thank you for listening to CMS Teacher Voice this week, we look forward to learning more

with you next week.

STREAMline Your Plans

Genial.ly is a site that allows graphic templates to organize thoughts, ideas, presentations. I created this genial.ly to organize my presentation on implementing STREAM in planning for instruction. I am sharing it in hopes that it will inspire other educators to use genial.ly for their instructional purposes.  I have also shared it as my Google Presentation on “STREAMline Your Plans”.

I hope you enjoy the easy maneuvering inside of my www.Genial.ly presentation and hope that you might create your own! I shared a lot of my lesson ideas on how to incorporate STREAM (Science, Technology, Reading/Research, Engineering, Art, Math) into my lessons with first graders. You can also access my school website to see more about STREAM at bit.ly/lisamaples.

Visit https://www.genial.ly/interactive-content-education to see more templates!