STEAM

STEAM encompasses the components of Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics. STEAM activities encourage students to think critically and creatively. There are many ways to incorporate STEAM into the Language Arts. Technology provides an endless list of resources to aid in integrating STEAM. Many times, the Language Arts is left out of STEAM activities because most people associate the “A” in STEAM with arts and crafts, but it is so much more than that!

            When we bring STEAM to the Language Arts, we are opening a whole new world of possibilities. When teachers pull in literature it can spark inspiration and creativity in our students. Children’s Literature presents many opportunities to discuss culture, diversity, world issues, and gender bias; incorporating all of those topics with STEAM can be revolutionary. Teachers can introduce students to characters in books from different cultures and backgrounds that face different problems than we do in America and have the students work together to come up with unique solutions for the characters’ problems.

            Whether we like to admit it or not, we live in a world that still views scientists, doctors, and engineers as primarily male occupations. Just the same our society views teaching, nursing, and child care as typical female occupations. There is an abundance of children’s literature that dismisses these typical gender roles and portrays females as engineers and males as teachers. By introducing children to literature without typical gender roles we are taking a step to preventing gender biases before they form. If we are reading these books to older elementary students, then they can play a huge role in breaking down any gender barriers that the students may have formed. Books like Ada Twist, Scientist and Rosie Revere Engineer present teachers with a unique opportunity to discuss both gender bias and teach and engineering lesson.

            In my future classroom I would love to incorporate STEAM with social studies. I have come to learn that social studies and history often get left out in the younger elementary grades, and I think that is a shame. By using STEAM elements when teaching a history or social studies lesson teachers would still be able to hit on the required math and reading standards.