STREAM and Learning Labs

STREAM

STREAM Program Students in grades 3-5 benefit from a creative program that integrates Science, Technology, Religion, Engineering, Art and Math.  Most schools that offer this program call it STEM. But St. Matthews adds a component of Religion and Art to create a unique experience for students in the younger grades. STREAM is a weekly program that requires students to build solutions to problems. Students are grouped together with others from all three grades. The groups rotate every 9 weeks to a new teacher and a new challenge. Each challenge begins with a planning and brainstorming session and the collecting of recyclable items and other materials. Then the building begins. Each week the students add to their creations; cutting, glueing, measuring, and figuring out how to make the creation in their heads into mini-models.

There are wonderful study skills and life skills that develop over time as the students become comfortable and more adept at building models.  The engineering component is the most fun, but can also be the most challenging. Figuring out how to attach two parts, or bend something into a specific shape, or cut something to be proportionate to the rest of the model might take several tries. The students must remain resilient when attempts don’t work, and flexible with the solution’s outcome.  Imagination, creativity, and collaborative discussion are key.  Conversations that occur between the students and teachers can be quite insightful, and sometimes students reveal a deeper creative or problem solving side of themselves through the STREAM activities. When students practice seeking each other out for solutions, and engage in discussion about problems and how to solve them, this becomes a natural behavior that can impact the dynamic in the classrooms for other content areas. This is the model for a classroom where the teacher is the facilitator. Students view others as resources for information and solutions to problems, and as fellow-visionaries.  The students also benefit from developing a relationship with two additional teachers who have a vested interest in the success of every child.  Giving students the opportunity to actively create solutions to problems can change the way they look at things, where suddenly a problem is a welcomed situation just waiting to be solved. Cultivating an ‘I can solve this’ attitude, and pride in one’s work are basic to what we want our children to experience in school.  

The St. Matthew’s STREAM program is a means to get them there.Members of the Diocese of Metuchen’s Department of Education were so pleased with our initiative and our progress in this area, they asked if our school would take the STREAM concept a step further by incorporating more of today’s technology into classrooms as well as establishing some new class configurations and learning spaces where our students can continue to grow in their love of learning and their social development. School administrators agreed it would be a wonderful and bold opportunity that would have a positive impact on the educational experience of our students. This program, used in grades K-5, focuses on differentiated learning.

Our curriculum aligns with Common Core State Standards; however, the methodology of teaching is different. Our instructional model essentially aims to increase student engagement and comprehension through the use of technology and classroom instruction that meets the needs of individual students.  The use of technology infused with the curriculum offers students a unique opportunity to master skills and concepts according to their own personal learning style or preference. Some classrooms are configured with distinct learning spaces, including an Engineering Lab, designed to create an environment where students in grades 3 to 5 are immersed in what they are learning. A Discovery Room for students in Kindergarten through Grade 2 allow students to work collaboratively on theme-based projects throughout the school year. This dynamic student-to-student learning space enables students to study multiple aspects of an established theme and then share what they know with their schoolmates, providing more depth and context to their understanding. Through this cross-curricular hands-on learning experience, students develop valuable discovery and team building skills.

Engineering Lab for 3-5 students

Expanding off the STREAM program, grade 3-5 students embrace problem solving on a grander scale. The engineering lab is a large space where students can engage in design thinking that directly relates to content study. Collaboration, research, design analysis, critical observation and perseverance are skills that students will develop and use in this creative space.  An extension of the lab is our 13-acre school campus, which offers tremendous flexibility for learning opportunities that take students outside the classroom. Projects such as creating a monarch butterfly garden and the building of a Native American long-house are some of the considerations for the coming school year.

Discovery Lab for K-2 students

Students collaborate to construct and create environments for thematic units that provide a cross-curricular hands-on learning experience. As individual classes research, learn and complete projects, their work becomes part of a larger environment, which combines for a type of immersion experience. For example, a unit on Native Americans would include elements that simulate what it would be like to be on an Indian reservation. Painted murals would surround the room to depict the landscape and the sky. At the end of the room would be a stream with life-size paper corn growing up out of the classroom floor.  A fire ring where community meetings are held would be located just outside a life-size teepee, painted with Native American symbols and animal skins and pelts inside for comfortable bedding. An outdoor kitchen where bread is baked would be in the corner.  Freestanding human forms would allow students to show Native American dress, a chieftain’s feather headdress, and replicas of turquoise and silver crafted jewelry, wampum belts, and beaded moccasins. Other elements would be woven baskets, totem poles depicting clan families, kachina dolls that remind children to behave, sports equipment such as lacrosse sticks, and weavings. As students enter the room, they imagine themselves on an actual Indian reservation. Teachers will plan lessons that use the environment to compare and contrast across the curriculum, extend the learning and continue the discovery experience.

Our approach to student engagement impacts the delivery of instruction for all content areas on a daily basis. Differentiated instruction embraces the differences in the way individuals learn. Some of us learn by listening or speaking, others by seeing and watching, while others learn through movement. School children need to have lesson content and assessments presented in a variety of ways that speaks to the types of learners that they are. Children learn at an optimal level when they are presented with information in the way that suits their learning style. St. Matthews continues to improve upon adjusting daily activities to include differentiated instruction and assessment. This included the use of Chromebooks, which presents information in multiple formats through written material, pictures and video. Google Education and Google Classroom engaged students as they completed and turned in assignments through the cloud based platform. Some students have made dramatic academic strides as a result. We will continue to identify the learning styles of our students and plan the delivery of instruction to maximize academic outcomes. Grouping students together by learning styles for individualized instruction is a strategy that maximizes learning. This would also include grouping students according to their progress on the learning continuum based on data and performance outcomes from a variety of sources. The benefit is that students are learning material that is attainable and through a style that meets their individual needs.

To maximize the learning experience for this year’s 3^rd grade, we will use a team teaching approach paired with the 4^thgrade. Curriculum content aligned with CCSS will include Language Arts, Math and Social Studies for each grade, with Science, STREAM and Religion taught as a whole class.  The team teaching approach will enhance a learning environment that optimizes the options for small group instruction to meet the needs of the individual students in two unique classrooms – an LA, Social Studies, Religion room with cozy reading spaces, and a Math and Science room where hands-on learning is maximized. The Engineering Lab is a third classroom that the 3^rd and 4^th grade will use on a daily basis. Students will benefit from the support, perspective and instructional styles of two terrific teachers. 

Many graduates of St. Matthew School pursue careers in the sciences after college. The exciting changes that we have implemented over the last two school years and plan for the future will continue that tradition. We are thrilled to have the support of the Diocese of Metuchen and believe that our academic program provides students with an educational experience that promotes academic achievement and a lifelong love of learning.