Teaching STEAM

    For second quarter, I put together a coding unit for the 3rd-5th grade classes I teach. I have taught computer programming through various means over the years and decided to use Scratch this year. Students using Scratch can learn to develop their computational thinking and logic skills while actually making a game or an animation. Other software, like code.org, develops these skills while having the students play games. Both avenues of learning have their place.      Scratch has improved over the years and now has tutorials available for the students to learn how some of the command blocks work. As students follow the tutorials they get a basic understanding of the goal or outcome they are trying to achieve and can add embellishments from there.      I developed a rubric for students to map the level of computer programmer they wanted to become. The rubric is a list of "I can" statements related to my unit goals, at the top, and the types of ...

       I belong to a Facebook group called Teaching STEM. It’s a place for STEM teachers to share ideas and ask questions. The group was created a year ago and has over 12.3K members. Many of the posts I read are requests for help from new teachers. The people in the group are awesome and many give great suggestions. This week someone asked, “When teaching coding, what do you list as your objectives, or I Can statements?” This question inspired me to start posting on my blog again.     Before I post my response to the question about I Can statements, I want to address the difference between STEAM and STEM and why I choose STEAM. Check out this link to a little presentation I put together for you. Dr. Stelck's Introduction to STEAM