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District Highlight: Harris County

School District

Making STEAM Adaptive for All

By Amanda Theus, Park Assistant Principal; Lacey

Rabon and Brandy Haralson; Park Self-Contained SPED teachers

As a school works to be STEAM certified, it is important to include all students…and all learning levels. Park Elementary, in Hamilton, Ga., is on that path now. Park’s special education department is working to bring every student on the STEAM journey by integrating hands-on, project-based learning activities. The activities allow for problem solving and opportunities to take ownership of one’s own learning, which is not always a concrete experience. For some students, lessons involving concepts that cannot be seen, touched, or felt, may prove to be challenging and in need of a non-traditional approach. Teachers are using a STEAM-centered curriculum model to counter such challenges and maintain student interests to further bring lessons into tangible existence. Grade level teachers also employ collaborations with specials teachers to form mini lessons that use Professional Arts Integration Resource (PAIR) strategies to bring art integration into life.

To support lesson/unit planning, there are a number of tools to aid in this effort:

• Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) STEAM training webinars

• PAIR (Professional Arts Integration Resource) training to improve understanding and implementation of authentic arts integration.

• Use of the GaDOE Extended Content Standards (under the GAA tab)

• STEAM journal implementation

• Use of adapted paper, highlighting, picture symbols, etc.

Individual Education Program (IEP) objectives can be integrated within the STEAM curriculum approach in a variety of ways, the most common of which is with the use of journals. STEAM journals provide a platform for bridging the gap between standards and levels of student comprehension. The Engineering Design Process is recorded in journals as students navigate the lesson. For Park students, the design process includes the following phases: empathy, ask, imagine, plan, create, improve, and share. The seven facets guide the collaborative efforts of students and teachers.

To support student understanding of which stage of the Engineering Design Process they experience, visuals and picture cues are created from a school wide graphic that is offered as a prompt throughout their journaling process. Voice to text or AAC (Augmentative Alternative Communication) features aid in creating digital journals to meet the needs of diverse learners at all levels.

Park is trailblazing this new curriculum model. Through collaborations, art integration training, and the institution of a design process, all students - from elementary to high school levels - can collaborate in peer-led activities that better prepare students for real world application.