FIRST CLASS TROUBLE STEAM CHARTS HOW TO

One method for integrating STEAM in your classroom is through child-centered projects. They also promote similar processes for learning, such as asking questions, making connections with prior knowledge, gathering and analyzing data (including observations), and communicating findings and ideas. For example, you could engage children in recording the weather each day on a chart and creating weekly summaries (three sunny days, two cloudy days) to support their learning of science and math content and also data gathering and analysis processes.įor a long-term, well-integrated STEAM project, you could support children as they learn about what conditions are best for a class pet and then explore locations (a dark corner or a sunny window?), observe conditions (too cold or too hot?), measure spaces (is the table big enough for a cage, an observation space, and a caretaker schedule?), and draw plans to create the pet’s new classroom home.Īs you dive into integrated activities, you’ll see that the STEAM fields provide complementary perspectives on the world.

FIRST CLASS TROUBLE STEAM CHARTS HOW TO

STEAM integration helps teachers focus on content ( what to learn) and processes ( how to learn).

In early childhood, we encourage STEAM teaching to integrate these subject areas within a meaningful context. Inquiry practices provide young children with opportunities to approach problems in new and authentic ways. You can facilitate inquiry experiences by creating opportunities for children to learn about the world through STEAM lenses and by asking high-quality, open-ended questions. Inquiry instruction encourages active (often hands-on) experiences that support building understanding and vocabulary, critical thinking, problem solving, communication, and reflection. STEAM for young children falls under the umbrella of inquiry instruction. (STEAM refers to science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics.) In the rest of the series-which will be published in future issues of TYC-we take a deeper look at each of these examples, focusing on extending children’s STEAM learning through conversations, open-ended questions, and informal assessments. Here, we introduce three examples of STEAM instruction in early childhood settings.

This is the first article in a four-part series.

First class trouble steam charts