STREAM AT ST. THERESA Pre-School Program

STREAM – INTEGRATED/COLLABORATIVE/STUDENT ENGAGED/CROSS-CURRICULAR STUDIES AT ST. THERESA  PREK PROGRAM

SCIENCE – This area of STREAM is meant to allow students to explore a variety of science topics and Makerspace research projects.

TECHNOLOGY– Technolgy is one of the tools that drives the STREAM activities. It provides tools for research, data collection and utilization, design, collaboration, and sharing of their work.

RELIGION / READING – In some STREAM concepts the R aspect is limited to reading both non-fiction and fiction works that support the STREAM Unit theme. At St. Theresa school we use this as an opportunity for students to explore the scriptures, Catholic teachings, and religious thought and belief and how it relates to the unit theme we are studying in addition to including reading in the STREAM process. The Religion aspect of a STREAM Unit is often the starting point for the STREAM process.

ENGINEERING – Is the process of allowing students to design and create real-world objects that related to their STREAM Unit Theme. This can be done via a MakerSpace activity or via other Project Based Learning Experiences.  While the STREAM/MakerSpace lab no longer exists at the school, we have moved these resources into various storage locations in the old third through fifth grade wing of the school and teachers have access to these storage areas to retreive materials and other resources for these projects.

ARTS – Movement, Music, and Art are essential parts of the development of a cross-curricular Unit Theme activity. An effort to integrate art, music, and movement activities into the Unit Theme with the help of the Specials teachers is an important aspect of the STREAM Units.

MATHEMATICS – Learning how to apply math skills they are learning to real-world problem solving is the primary focus of the STREAM Unit themes and activities. Students may learn new math concepts in order to accomplish tasks in the STREAM unit or they may simply learn how to apply skills they already know to those tasks.

STREAM Units can be teacher created or taken from print or Internet-based STEM, STEAM, and STREAM unit resources. Often these are built around some curricular area of studies such as Science, Social Studies, Religion, Reading, or Math. They can also be initiated by Specials teachers who are interested in working with the classroom teachers on Cross Curricular activities.

HOW ARE STREAM UNITS CONSTRUCTED:

A unit theme is chosen and the general theme is introduced to the students. Specific goals and objectives for the unit are also presented and discussed. The theme, goals, and objectives are posted throughout the STREAM Unit process so that students always have a reference point for their STREAM activities.

Classroom teachers and participating specials teachers meet to discuss what Projects and activities will work best for the student group that the STREAM Unit will be used with. All areas of the STREAM Process are discussed and at least one activity must be planned around each of the core STREAM components. Additional activities can be planned depending on the time being allocated for the STREAM Unit. The Technology teacher also often plans supplementary online WEBinars or other collaborative activities to cover materials that related to the Unit, but may not be available via in-house resources, or as an extension of some limited in-house resources.

Once the activities are selected a tentative timeline is created for the Unit and a basic schedule of activities is indicated in that timeline. If any activities will involve some aspect of homework, parents are notified of the STREAM Unit information and asked to assist their child with any at-home project activities. This also promotes parent engagement in the STREAM process.

The classroom teacher initiates the STREAM activities and then all supporting teachers join in the process based on their role in the planned activities. Often times teachers working on similar curricular topics can join together to do joint collaborative projects. In some cases, the Technology teacher will look for opportunities to collaborate with other schools in our area, the state, the nation, or around the world to enhance the students learning experiences.

Student projects should be showcased during the STREAM Unit Process as well as at the end of the STREAM Unit. In the future, it is hoped that we will be able to develop a more robust video component to the STREAM process that allows students to create and demonstrate their work so that it can be shared with the entire school community and the local community as well.

ROLES FOR SPECIALS TEACHERS –  As of the 2021-2022 School Year all STREAM themes and projects were planned and will be planned by the PreK Program Director.  Teachers have the option of participating in these projects as a whole school activity or choosing not to participate by notifying the PreK Program of their intent not to participate.  As of the 2023-2024 School Year, the Technology Teacher will again be creating some STREAM activities during specific times of the school year, as requested by the PreK Program Director.  I will be working with the Art Teacher and our Library Teacher to integrate content into all planned STREAM activities and lessons.