STEM Through Story Telling

 
I am most inspired and awed by STEM through story time (McClure, Guernsey, & Ashbrook, 2017), as I never thought that such an analogy could be drawn! There are two aspects of this that intrigued me, (1) using drama in story telling as an analogy to describe the kind of skills that STEM inspires and builds and (2) using stories that are inclusive of real life math and science issues and therefore can lead to learning the STEM based skills such as design thinking, collaboration, perseverance or small term memory.

Students of this age group love stories so this could be the perfect space to introduce to them a situation that enables them to learn about STEM based skills early enough. Hence the activity I would like to have is a story telling session full of drama and context that involves walking to a secret place, counting steps and coming to math through the story.

Definitely counting to a certain number. And using the context of walking to something small such as a fish pond or an eco-system to ensure Science is included in it. Open ended questions during the story would give them the space the think openly (McClure, Guernsey, & Ashbrook, 2017). Develop vocabulary using the keywords in the story. Develop collaboration by discussing the story with the group.

The best practice in early education is to break away from passivity to allow for more play (Sneideman, 2013). This is the strength of play but this is where the challenge also that comes. Unfortunately, in most academic instruction, teachers and children are in a passive or receptive mode (Sneideman, 2013). And that is the challenge one can expect to encounter. The students and the adults are not in their play mode and have forgotten the joy of play.

For me the way would be to train myself in the way of STEM, to bring back the playfulness in my own life. I would join the kids in reading and exploring the story and jump the wagon with them. It is that sense of explorer that we need to tap into (Sneideman, 2013).



References

1. McClure, E., Guernsey, L., & Ashbrook, P. (2017). Where’s Spot? Finding STEM opportunities for young children in moments of dramatic tension. American Educator, 41(3), 12-15. Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1156381.pdf

2. Sneideman, J. (2013). Engaging children in STEM education EARLY! Retrieved from http://naturalstart.org/feature-stories/engaging-children-stem-education-early