How does Ms. Alicia determine engaging, high-quality STEAM curriculum?
- Students must be able to make observations using their senses (sight, hearing, etc.).
K0/K1 Young STEAM Inventors are shown in the following slideshow conducting research on snails and making observations about how snails interact with their habitat:
- Students must be able to make something happen and draw connections to the real world. This phenomenon should occur immediately or gradually over time.
Whenever I am engaging students, I make sure to ask them questions that cause them to think critically and to make connections. This process is called “think-alouds,” and you can learn more about them in the following video from the Education Week Teaching Channel:
In this slideshow, a student and his teammate tell me about the strategy behind their structure and how they were able to connect it to mathematical concepts, namely counting:
- Students must design and redesign their ideas. Redesigning includes strategy, reflection, logic, reasoning, and problem-solving. Testing out their hypothesis is an essential component of design thinking and overall quality STEAM Learning.
In this slideshow, students share how they redesigned their projects, and the thought process behind why they decided to do so:
Young STEAM Inventors 