An I Love to Read Month STEAM Challenge

It is I Love to Read Month and our school's theme this year is STEAM. Our media specialist did an amazing job planning activities centered around this theme, including our school's annual door decorating contest.

I had planned to post part two of our Eric Carle art projects this week but since they are still a work in progress, I will share our whirlwind door decorating adventure instead. Whirlwind, because we crammed the whole process into a few short hours. Not ideal, but a reality in an already jam packed month!

We started out by reading the books Not a Box by Antoinette Portis and What to Do With a Box by Jane Yolen and Chris Sheban.

Next, the students were split into groups and they began brainstorming ideas of what they could create with their boxes. 

After they finished brainstorming, they shared their ideas with the class. Then, they chose the ideas they wanted to create.

The next day, each group made a list of materials they would need for their project. Some of the materials I had in the classroom, and some they brought from home.

I love the "palm palm" (pom poms)!

We were getting down to the wire (the contest judging was in two days), so the students used most of the next afternoon building their projects. I had to leave for an appointment, so I had no idea what I would find when I returned!

When I returned to school, I was delighted to see what they had accomplished in such a short period of time. All except one of the groups had completed their projects, and they looked amazingly close to their plans! I attached the completed projects to our door, which I had previously covered with pieces from a cardboard box and labeled "Not a Box."

Robot

Our School

Guitar

Castle

House

While we didn't win the contest (that prize went to the really cool maze created by the classroom next door), it was a wonderful hands-on STEAM learning experience!

Fort Friday

Fort Friday is one of my favorite activities to do each year. It embeds engineering and the 21st century skills of collaboration, problem solving, critical thinking, creativity and imagination.

Using the Seesaw app, I send a note to all parents, inviting them to send a standard bed sheet to school with their child, along with an explanation of what it is for. In the morning, I split the students into groups of four or five. After being assigned a certain area in the classroom, the group's first task is to share ideas and then plan and design their fort. All students in the group must get a chance to share, although the final plan may be a compromise of ideas. I have found that this step can be very difficult for some students--which is one of the reasons I find this process so important!

Once the design process is completed, the next step is constructing the fort according to each group's plan. Again, this is a test of patience and teamwork, especially when the students realize their plan may have some design flaws.

After constructing their fort, each team tests their fort to see if it works the way they had planned (and hoped). Then, they get a chance to redesign and rebuild. Sometimes this results in a better constructed fort, sometimes, not so much.

At the end of this step, some teams were still struggling to create a useable fort. We decided to add a step to our engineering process: Call in an expert. We phoned our fourth grade friends and they sent 6 experts to assist our teams. Team members explained the problems they were facing and the experts helped them find solutions. The students made revisions to their plans to reflect these changes.

Finally, all forts were complete! Whew, it was a long morning! Sometimes, when doing this project, I start to get that anxious feeling that comes when I don't feel like I am doing something "academic." However, I simply have to reflect on the process and the conversations I overheard and know that valuable skills were developed on this day--skills that will prepare students for a lifetime of working with others, solving problems, and persevering in the face of difficulty. Nothing can top that!