Our 1st graders can! It is not breaking news that students are being asked to do more and do it at an earlier age than when I was in school, but this is amazing! 1st grade students had collected survey data from other classes on what season was their favorite during this STEM unit on Weather. They made graphs with paper and pencil, but then they logged into Chromebooks, created tables in Google Sheets, created graphs, and personalized them! If these kids are doing THAT at 6 or 7 years old, what are they going to be doing in jr. high or high school?
Other students were writing and drawing about the seasons in a foldable that they later glued into their STEM journals. Mrs. Branigan tied the STEM theme into multiple parts of her lesson, including using a poem about seasons to connect rhyming words. Utilizing rhyming words is a skill that helps students break up words and the sounds within words when they are reading, writing, and spelling.
I’m very proud of the teachers of Eminence Elementary School in how they’ve stepped up to the challenge of moving us to be STEM certified. This includes Ms. Miles, our STEM facilitator, who supports our teachers and students by teaching new techniques and helping them see how we use STEM to make what we do here in shchool more relevant to what these students will do in the world. If this is any sign, what they will be doing in the world will be BIG!