Embedded Files
Students work independently and collaboratively in an inquiry-based learning environment that encourages finding creative solutions to authentic and complex problems.
ST1.2 Narrative
ST1.2 Narrative
Strengths
Lincoln Elementary School students are engaged daily with exploration in their classrooms, Makerspace, and/or STEAM Lab. Our commitment to the innovator’s mindset involves developing skills of resiliency, empathy, observation, risk taking, problem finding, creating, and becoming networked. As leaders, we had to determine what these skills meant for our students and our classrooms. We recognized that we have conditioned kids to expect a controlled classroom learning environment. Innovative teaching and learning involves taking risks. Initially termed the 5 Es (Engage, Explore, Explain, Expand, Evaluate), this process has evolved over time into the engineering design process (Ask, Imagine, Plan, Create, Improve) and today is the backbone of the student learning experience at LES. Learning is a process of creation, not consumption, and if we truly want our students to grow in their knowledge we have to provide consistent opportunities for them to create. Innovation is about blending together ideas and hard work. Without the opportunity to create or act on ideas, those creative sparks burn out. LES is a place where students put learning into action.
Weaknesses/Challenges
Our weakness is that business leaders are hesitant to pose authentic problems to be solved by our students due to the elementary age-band. Community partners are most involved with building background, providing feedback, answering questions and/or evaluation of process and product.
Action to Sustain Strengths/Action to Address Weaknesses
In order to sustain our strengths in this area, teachers and students will continue to utilize the engineering design process within their PBL lessons and put learning into action through collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and communication. Differentiated lessons will be created to extend from current standards and skills. It is our goal to provide opportunities for all students to participate in endeavors where they can be creative, take risks without the fear of failure, and become independent life-long learners.
To address our weaknesses, leaders at Lincoln Elementary School will create an awareness in the community of the capabilities of our students regardless of age. Business owners will be invited in as guest speakers, career day presenters, STEAM project facilitators/experts, and collaborators for STEAM Night. Our goal will be to create partnerships with business owners to provide students with real-world issues with the intention for the students to take part in the solution process.
Key Exemplars
Key Exemplars
Tiny House Project
Tiny House Project
After learning about area, perimeter, and volume students discussed planning and designing a tiny house. Students visited Lincoln High School's engineering class and discovered connections between tiny houses and our natural resources. They discovered many positive reasons to build tiny houses; for example, a tiny house costs a lot less to build than a full-sized one, less cost to maintain, and provides mobility. Most importantly tiny houses leave a smaller foot-print on the environment. Students then applied geometry skills learned in class to design and create their own tiny house blueprint. Students used their blueprint and measurements to create a 3D printed prototype of their tiny house using Blockscad and Tinkercad. After the layout of their tiny house was complete, the students then decided to design and create furniture with storage compartments for the house. Students entered their designs into the AETC Technology Fair to showcase their learning, creativity, and innovations skills and won 1st place for their division.
The Life of a 6th Grader
The Life of a 6th Grader
The National Education Association states that an indicator of a successful middle school experience is a positive transition from elementary school. In an effort to design a transition program for fifth grade students at LES, our students embarked on a PBL titled "A Day in the Life of a Sixth Grader". The goal during this PBL was to ensure all students would experience a smooth transition from elementary school to middle school. As part of the PBL, students toured the middle school to conduct surveys and answer questionnaires. Utilizing voice and choice, students worked in groups to create a book for the library for future 5th Graders. They also created a WeVideo of " A Day in the Life of a Middle School Student", and a Google Website that explains middle school expectations . Students culminated thier PBL by conducting a Parent-Student Night where all stakeholders were involved in a Questions/Answer session. The result of the PBL was that students and parents were left feeling less anxious and more at ease with the transition.
Reuse, Reduce,
Reuse, Reduce,
& Recycle
& Recycle
Students in Fifth Grade were posed with a problem to identify and plan possible solutions to lessen the human impact on the local environment by using the recycling process. While learning about ways to help make a positive impact on our environment, fifth grade students researched the 3 R's - reduce, reuse, and recycle. These fifth grade students partnered with kindergarten classes to teach them about the importance of the 3 R's. Through this partnership, the entire student body was introduced to the county-wide Soles4Souls donation drive. For every 25 pairs of shoes collected for Soles4souls, $10.00 would be donated to Alabama Food Solutions. Lincoln Elementary School collected over 185 pairs of shoes. Collectively as a District, we collected 80 bags of shoes...or 2,000 pairs! That's a lot of shoes!
Parts of a Seed
Parts of a Seed
As an AMSTI (Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative) school, second grade students participated in a class PBL called Plants and Bugs. As part of the PBL, students walked through the steps of the engineering design process to construct a bean seed model. They labeled the parts and connected them to a Makey Makey. A Makey Makey is a device that allows students to connect everyday objects to computer programs. Students utilized a circuit board, alligator clips, and a USB cable to make their model come to life. These components allow the Makey Makey to work with any computer program that accepts keyboard or mouse click inputs. Using Scratch software, students recorded and programmed each functional part of the seed and coded the individual parts to speak when arrow keys are pressed.
Animal Adaptations
Animal Adaptations
As part of our blended learning approach to teaching and learning at LES, students used reading and STEAM to deepen their learning of animal adaptations. In addition to students reading informational text about animal adaptations and text features, students used Mystery Science to observe other social animals and construct an explanation of how living in groups helps these animals survive. Afterwards, students went on a Virtual Reality field trip using Google Expeditions to visit the San Diego Zoo and learn how the polar bear, giraffe, rhino, and elephants used adaptations to survive. Students took Field Notes for reference. To culminate the investigation, student groups recorded the most interesting animal adaptation using Flipgrid.
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