Today in our PED3145 (Kindergarten and the Early Years) class we were discussing early literacy and embedding STEAM activities into your program. We explored literacy activities that were naturally part of the student’s learning, literacy provocations, and the importance of keeping the learning authentic. In a play based learning environment many curriculum areas are connected and experienced during the play. Writing becomes part of the learning when students design, record and share their ideas. When reading and writing are part of student’s play, this takes the learning to a much deeper level.
Using the mentor text Flight School, students were challenged to:
Build a bird with at least 4 feathers that can fly off your desk and land safely.
We discussed the engineering model :
Plan – Build – Test – Plan Again – Fix – Test Again.
There were many test flights- modifications and re-tests. We discussed how important it is for both the teacher and the students to have a growth mindset when completing STEAM challenges.
“A connected teacher with a growth mindset is more important that any robotic device.” Amy Westman
naturally inspired learning 