September 2018

STEAM is off to a great start for the 2018-2019 school year. All classes began with designing name tags for their class and then making them. I have found them very helpful. Ms. Durling's class was very helpful in helping figure out class procedures for how to pass out and recollect the name tags.

All classes then moved on to team building activities to help them learn how to work together in groups.​

Kindergarten & 1st Grade

Kindergarten and 1st Grade started by playing a game called Don't Wake the Dragon. The objective was simple. Scare away the dragon by lining up around it in order from tallest to shortest then everyone say "Boo!" at the same time. Of course they had to get in line without waking the dragon until they were ready to say boo, and the dragon has very good ears. The classes started learning how to share and discuss ideas as they tried to figure out, first, how to get everyone to the circle without waking the dragon, then getting in the right order, quietly, then finally getting everyone to say boo in unison. Different classes tried different things like picking one person to dismiss tables or individuals in order to limit the noise. They discussed ways of walking quietly. They tried different ways of getting in the right order. Some classes tried letting one classmate place them. Other classes decided to make a practice line to know where to stand. One class decided to make their line at the back, get in order their then walk to the circle in the right order. Finally they tried to figure out how to say boo all at the same time. They all thought it would be easier than it turned out to be. They had fun trying and worked on persistence as they had to try several times.

2nd Grades 

2nd Grade started with Hula Hoop Pass. The class had to work together to pass a hula hoop around the whole circle. The rules were the students had to all hold hands as they pass the hoop from one person to the next. They had to figure out how to get through the hoop without using their hands, that are being held by their partners, and pass it on. To complicate things and to make them think about solving the challenge they were not aloud to talk while they held the hoop so and ideas or directions they wanted to give each other they had to put down the hoop first. They practices with small teams, then tried larger teams until they did the whole class. I timed the attempts so they could try to improve by beating their times.

3rd Grade

3rd Grade investigated the importance of clear communication with a game called The Bee Dance. Everyone made a small item they could hide under a tray. Teams of 3 to 4 then worked together. One person would hide what they made under a tray in the circle. Then, like a bee, they had to give their teammates directions how to find them. One person at a time got to look and they only get to look under one tray. The catch was they could not use spoken or written communication. Each team had to figure out a code to use to give their directions. 

4th & 5th Grades

4th & 5th used Helium Hula Hoop to practice working together. Teams of 4 held a hula hoop on their index fingers at shoulder height and while only touching the hoop with two index fingers lower the hoop to ankle level. Additionally teams were not allowed to talk to coordinate while they lowered their hoop, so they had to work out other ways to time their actions. Each team member had to keep contact with the hoop with both fingers under it. To make it an additional challenge the teams also did the same activity using a plastic pipe that had 3 marbles in it. They had to accomplish the same shoulder to ankle lowering without dropping the marbles. Teams tried different techniques. Some put their foot on a stool to raise the ankle height. Some knelt on the floor to lower their start height. Many used head nods or foot taps to coordinate their work.