IN Brentwood-Baldwin-Whitehall Winter 2019 | Page 64

Brentwood
Borough
School
District
Full S-TEAM
Ahead!
Over the last year and a half, several teachers at Moore
Elementary School have been working diligently to add more
STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics)
activities and tools to their daily lessons. Teachers worked together
to create a list of tools that they wanted to use with their students
based on what the students tended to gravitate towards in the
after-school STEAM club. They also looked at other projects and
activities that they wanted to bring to our students. Two main
areas of interest emerged; robotics and videography using green
screen technology. Since both robotics and video production are
relatively new concepts for students, the teachers’ schedules were
revised to provide time for collaborative classroom instruction.
Now during class time two teachers, Ms. Cosner, the librarian,
and the math/ science teachers, Mrs. Steigerwald, Mrs. Wilson,
Mrs. Hagerty, or Miss Downey teach together once in the rotation.
In preparation for this change, the district collaborated with
BirdBrain technologies to implement “Hummingbird Kits.”
BirdBrain came to Moore elementary over the summer and taught
the specials and classroom teachers how to incorporate the
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technology into their lessons and how to use the Hummingbird
kits to create their own robots. In addition, this summer, several
teachers attended the National Math Science Initiative workshop
held at Keystone Oaks. After attending a variety of workshops this
summer, many of the teachers were inspired to bring these ideas
into the classroom, to expand the learning process.
Since the start of the school year, our families have been
extremely supportive and excited about the expansion of our
STEAM program. Families have helped by supplying recycled
materials and other supplies that have allowed students the
opportunity to be creative. Mrs. Hagerty’s class, in the first
weeks of school, worked in groups to create their own robotic
masterpieces using the Hummingbird kits. When visitors came
for open house the hallways were filled with moving, light up
creatures. The students and staff are very grateful for the support
of the district, community and families in helping to provide such
an amazing opportunity for students to grow and develop skills in
collaboration, creativity, and problem solving.