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September has started with STEAM at Mount Vernon Elementary School! Teachers incorporated STEAM activities in their classrooms during the first days of school, at Back to School Nights, and they are pumped to see their students so engaged!
The MVES MakerSpace is in full swing – focusing on Career Connections with their STEAM activities this year. Fourth and fifth grade explored civil engineering as they built bridges with Keva planks – it sounds so easy, but how to make it span the 9-inch river and be at least 6 inches tall? Second and third grade focused on mechanical engineering while building rollercoasters with Steampark duplo. All four grade levels worked on Lego Robotics as well – learning how to make colors change, motors run, and sensors work with motion and position. First and kindergarten is coming to the MakerSpace this week to work on beginning robotics and a building challenge with Keva planks. All grade levels started their Engineering journals as well to document their engineering work this year – starting in October! Teachers are now busy planning their upcoming visits to the MakerSpace, expanding upon experiences from last year and incorporating an increasing number of engineering projects rooted in their own curriculum.
In addition to MakerSpace during the day, Mount Vernon is committed to expanding the MakerSpace to our school community. Last year we began MakerMondays, after school events that parents and children could attend together. Events included: string art, Sphero car races, cupcake decorating, duct tape wallet making, and more. This year, Third Thursdays continues the tradition, moving to a once a month model. We will start with a “Calming Toys” workshop. We haven’t set up the lineup for the year yet, but will definitely include robotics and coding and recycled engineering. A call has gone out to community members and teachers to see who might want to lead a session!
