This past year has been a challenge for most of us. Navigating between in-person lessons and distance learning lessons can be difficult. Even more difficult is keeping student attention and engagement during at-home lessons. This was one of my most successful at home lessons this school year. Most students participated and completed more than one challenge!
First, we started with a story. I created a choice board for students to select the STEAM book they wanted to listen to. During independent lessons, students would choose their own and listen asynchronously. During live lessons through Google Meet, I would suggest a few and we would vote on which one I would read to the class. The books listed include a variety of STEAM topic and include diverse titles.
After the story, students were presented with their building challenge.
After students completed their challenges, they were invited to participate in our Virtual Makerspace. I curated a list of online websites and activities that fit within the S.T.E.A.M. categories and students were able to complete an activity. We had a program that allowed us to monitor what sites students were on during our online virtual classes so I was able to confirm students were participating in the lesson prior to moving on to the last activity, as well as monitor what games they were playing.
The student’s really enjoyed this lesson. Here are some of the examples of the challenges they built.
Library Hijinks 