The last time I wrote about our STEAM Centers was the end of the 2016-2017 school year! I meant to post an update from the 2017-2018 school year and it just never happened! STEAM centers have become a favorite of my students, and we are all looking forward to beginning year 3 in just a couple of weeks!
A few things I’ve learned along the way: 1. Technology is more than screens! We definitely use iPads and chromebooks frequently during centers but I try to find a balance between centers that require screens and centers that don’t. 2. All centers should involve hands on learning and problem solving! 3. Involve different forms of art as often as possible! (Our school doesn’t have an art teacher so I try to incorporate art in at least one center for each grade level.) 4. Children learn through play! Allow them the freedom to explore on their own and work together to construct new learning with their classmates. Be there to support each center but don’t tell them what to do! 5. Model what you want to SEE and HEAR in each center. During the introduction week, we always discuss what I should see and hear as I walk by your center. For example: *No one should be being bossy! Teamwork makes the dream work! *I shouldn't hear "I can't". I should hear "I'll try". Remind them that failure is OK! Just try again! *I shouldn't hear "You are wrong." I should hear "What if you try it this way?". I made some adjustments to how we did centers and the centers that we did for year 2. I discontinued a few that I didn't feel worked well and added a few as we purchased new items. I also increased the amount of time we spent in centers from 4 weeks to 8...and really I let them convince me to extend it an extra week or so to complete some of the centers. :) This year, for Year 3, I plan to take it back to 6 weeks (6 centers) and do smaller groups. The past 2 years I have done a rotation of 4 centers for 4 weeks and had groups of 5-6 students. Some of the centers are harder to do with larger groups or we don't have quite enough materials to go around. I'm hoping smaller groups will help! OSMO
This was one of our favorite additions! I'll be honest...I had seen the OSMO advertised and wasn't really impressed. Our PTA bought a couple for us so I decided to try them out in centers. I completely changed my mind about them after seeing them in action! I love that there are activities for all ages and across various subject areas. My kindergartners all the way through my fifth graders loved using the OSMO. For my littles, we did the numbers and letters activities that came with the Genius Kit. My 2nd - 5th graders did coding activities, Masterpiece (art) and the Pizza Co. game (they thought they were playing a game but really they were working on making change with dollars and coins!). I have purchased several more bases and have several new games ordered as well for this year!
Storytime STEAM
I found the ideas for these STEAM activities on Pinterest and tweaked them a little to fit what we needed. I included library books in the tubs with each activity as well. I guess for these I should add the R(reading) in for STREAM. These are a great introduction to engineering challenges for kindergartners! These activities are a part of myK-2 STEAM Centers on TeachersPayTeachers!
Building Challenge Cards
Building Challenge Cards encourage thinking critically, creatively, and working together as a team. I have a variety of cards that can be used for various age groups. We use Legos, wooden blocks, Zoob builders, Playstix, and Geostix for these activities. Click on the images below to download the challenge cards.
Dash and Dot
The Dash and Dot Robots are a favorite among all of my students. One thing I love is that they are simple enough to be used by my littles but can also provide a challenge for my older students. For the older students, we use these Dash and Dot Task Cards. We have purchased the launcher attachment and the xylophone attachment.
Art Centers
I try to include an art component in at least one center for each grade level. Here are just a couple of them. These and more can be found in my K-2 STEAM Centers and 3-5 STEAM Centers on TPT.
Bloxels
Bloxels were a new addition this year! I'll be honest...I still don't quite have it all figured out. But, my kids LOVED it! You use the Bloxels kit and an IPad to create your own video game. This was definitely an older student center. I used it with my 5th Grade students. One change I will make for this year is to have a smaller group size. It was hard for more that 2 or 3 students to work together using Bloxels.
These are just a few of the centers and products we love! Here is a list of a few other items that we love using in STEAM centers:
*Sphero *Sphero Mini *Learning Resources Code and Go Robot Mouse *LEGO Storytales *LEGO Stop Motion App *Strawbees *SnapCircuits *Squishy Circuits *LittleBits I am always looking for new ideas! I would love to hear what you love using in your STEAM activities or in your Makerspace!
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AuthorI am an elementary educator in Birmingham, AL. I have previously taught preschool, kindergarten, and first grade. I now have the BEST job as an elementary school librarian or "The Library Lady" as I'm called by the kindergartners! Archives
March 2017
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