Additional Can’t Hold Down Hands-On Learning articles:
In 2019-2020, the STEM program at
Broadway Elementary in Broadway, NC, was
brand new. And Emma Smith, Broadway’s K-5
STEM instructor, was excited to introduce her
students to the hands-on STEM activities.
“That first year, students would come to me
for 45 minutes once a week,” Smith explained.
“There were nine centers they could choose
from, including a plastic bricks wall, building
blocks, puzzles, crafts, games, an investigation
center, books and magazines, a magnetic
marble maze, and a challenge activity.”
TEACHING STUDENTS TO ‘PLAY’
Smith soon discovered that an integral part
of her job as STEM coordinator was going to be
directing, inspiring, and harnessing their natural
tendency to learn through hands-on play and
discovery. “Students struggled with puzzles,”
she said. “Kindergarten, first-, and second-grade
students couldn’t do 60-100-piece puzzles.
The third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students
struggled to complete the 60-100-piece large
floor puzzles. At the blocks/building center,
students didn’t have any ideas.”
Even board games and card games seemed to
baffle the students. “Most kids had never played a
board or card game before,” recalled Smith.
So, Smith took a step back, considered what
her students needed most, and got to work.
She bought smaller puzzles to give students
a sense of satisfaction at completing them
before the class ended. She showed students
pictures and gave them building challenges
to get their creative juices flowing. She added
random toys to encourage imaginative play.
And for the board games and card games,
she got very intentional. “I laminated the
instructions and gave tutorials before
introducing any game to the centers. I posted
instructional videos on our Google classroom
and taught kids as they played. As a group of
students learned the game, I instructed them
to teach someone else.”
In short, Smith taught her students how
to “play” – to engage in hands-on, creative,
critical-thinking and social-emotional skills
vital to the workplace and beyond.
VIRTUAL STEM AND COMING BACK TO THE CLASSROOM
Broadway Elementary’s students were just
getting the hang of hands-on play and learning
when COVID hit in 2020, and STEM went virtual.
“That year, I taught science concepts, coding,
and typing,” said Smith. “There were choice
activities they could do at home, but very few
students completed those projects.”
When students were finally allowed back
in the classroom, Smith, like teachers around
the globe, had had to do some reminding,
remediation, and reenergizing. “Students still
struggle with open-ended activities,” she
noted but she’s committed to fostering their
abilities with guided direction and task card
suggestions to spark students’ ideas.
To get students excited about hands-on
learning and “to encourage more creativity,
I’ve taught the history of LEGO®, flight, igloos,
and sports; tied activities to events (we’re
currently doing Olympic-themed activities);
and shown videos of people who have
created things from their imaginations,”
she said. “I also take a lot of pictures of
students’ creations and post them outside the
classroom for students to see as they walk by.”
CELEBRATING THE STRUGGLE
Although Smith admits she’s put a
tremendous amount of time and effort into
engaging her students in hands-on STEM
learning, none of that is as important as the
overarching theme she has for her STEM
program. “The biggest thing I do in my
classroom is allow students to struggle,” she
said. “When they run into a problem, I don’t
solve it for them. I don’t cut their paper. I don’t
tell them what mistake they are making.”
But why make them struggle? Won’t that
lead to frustration and, eventually, students
who give up?
Not according to Smith. “I’m trying to
make them problem solvers,” she explained.
“I tell them to ask a friend or try something
different. I encourage them to take risks. This
is not a class where there is one right answer.
My students are taught that failure is part of
learning. If something doesn’t work, figure out
why and change something.”
Along the way, she also takes time to
applaud students’ efforts. “We stop if someone
has done something amazing, creative, or
unique to celebrate their achievement. And,
I’ve added a five-minute closing to my classes
during which we discuss the successes and the
learning (failure). What went well today? What
discoveries did you make? What struggles did
you have, and how did you improve – or how
could you improve the next time?”
In Emma Smith’s classroom, STEM means
so much more than just science, technology,
engineering, and math. For her students,
it’s embracing hands-on exploration and
celebrating the struggle that leads to creative
thinking and innovation!