How Does Playing Help Us Learn?

For three weeks in April, we have let the students explore electronics and complex materials to see if "playing" with them helps them learn.  We were wondering if the opportunity to create meaning without rigid expectations (other than behavior) would result in the students gaining in skills, confidence, and learning through play.  Here's what they had to say!

How does playing with these materials help you learn?  How does it change your thinking?

It's clear that all students, regardless of age or gender, find the opportunity to learn by hands-on exploration valuable and meaningful! We couldn't agree more!

Electronic Sea Life!

Here are some of the examples of that third, fourth, and fifth graders made out of dismantled electronics.  They created sea life as art to raise awareness for the need to protect our oceans from plastics and other pollutants!  We were so proud of them!

Sea monster

Jellyfish

Seahorse

Jellyfish

Saltwater Crocodile

Turtle

Shark 

Narwhal

Sea Turtle

Penguin

Learning Through Play!

For this short STEAM unit, we will be orchestrating various opportunities for students to learn through open-ended play! We are focusing on Global Goals 4 and 5: providing an inclusive and effective learning environment for all students, regardless of gender, socioeconomics, etc.

The first thing we did to set kids up for this unit was to entice them with all these awesome tech opportunities, highlighting what they do and how the students can use them to to explore and learn.

We told the kids that only one gender would have the opportunity to use these, while the other gender would color quietly. We made broad generalizations to justify this choice (girls like art more, girls are quieter and like to do more fine motor activities or the boys get too rowdy so they need a quiet activity, the girls are already good at art so the boys need additional practice) and the responses were immediate, large, and indignant. I was really proud of some students of the opposite sex who stood up for their peers, pointing out that we were being unkind, sexist, and unfair. They were great, passionate discussions, and resulted in cheers when we told them everyone could use any materials they want!

. Then we let the kids explore with these dynamic materials! We will be reflecting on how open-ended play with these materials help them learn!

What's One Thing You Can Do To Help The Ocean?

Please click here to go to our students' Flipgrid where they created responses to the question, What is one thing YOU can do to help the ocean?  The password is OQSlib19! with the exclamation point.  You can also view the video about Veta, an inspiring young woman who is making a significant change on her small town in the West Indies, which we shared with all the grades.

One of my favorite parts about STEAM is listening to my students' absolute conviction that when they see something in the world that needs fixing, they are going to be the ones to do it.  These Goalkeepers just melt my heart with their beliefs and determination!

Exploration & Breaking Stuff

"Kids should be allowed to break stuff more often. That's a consequence of exploration. Exploration is what you do when you don't know what you're doing. That's what scientists do every day."

~Neil deGrasse Tyson

Okay, Mr. Tyson.  We can get on board with that!  Let's go!

Students in grades 3-5 will spend three weeks deconstructing donated electronics, sorting the materials collected, and then reconstructing those materials into an art project that will tie in to our study of ocean conservation and Global Goal #14.  These electronic sea creatures and sea life will raise awareness as art that expresses our belief that the ocean's ecosystem is valuable and we want to our best to save it!

The students' imaginations were instantly fired up as they found pieces of electronics that looked like a shark's fin, or a crocodile's snout, or a turtle shell.  They quickly got to work and began creating impressive works of art!

Although these masterpieces won't be ready in time for the school's art show this week, we're certain that the finished products will be worth the wait!