The arts community has successfully combined STEM with art to create the STEAM movement. But what about Language Arts? Consider STREAM! That is the link between STEM, Arts, and Reading (and writing)! Certainly children need to learn STEM concepts but they also need to be able to communicate these concepts to others. This is especially true when they grow up and find themselves in a STEM-related career.
It is estimated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, that as many as nine million occupations will be added in STEM between the decade of 2012 and 2022. Today's learners need to be able to understand the vocabulary of their STEM careers in addition to being able to communicate their ideas to others at their place of employment. Communication skills are just as important as STEM skills.
Some Language Arts teachers have included STEM in their curricula in several ways:
- Design a house for the main character using that character's personality traits
- Find the STEM in a guided reading passage and discuss what would happen if...
- Design a game based on a book, to be used as a presentation method to share the book
- Find the STEM in the daily news report and comment on the issue presented
Some Science teachers have included Language Arts in their classrooms in other ways:
- Write a summary of a STEM article in a magazine or newspaper
- Design a structure, and then write a verbal description of the process used to build it
- Describe step-by-step instructions for another student to follow
- Compare and contrast two STEM items from a list
A merger of the two curricula is essential to success as an adult in modern employment. In 2011, The National Writing Project published "Turning STEM into STREAM: Writing as an Essential Component of Science Education" by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein. In that paper, the authors feel that science teachers also need to add the thinking skills embodied in reading and writing. They also reveal that the average science course requires a student to learn the same number of new vocabulary words he or she would learn in a foreign-language course.
How do children learn that STEM vocabulary when they are overloaded with other vocabulary in their language arts classes? STEM vocabulary words probably are not included in the weekly lesson. Consider things like the difference between "rotor" and "motor" or the meanings of "lever" and "wedge." These are simple enough words to read but a little more difficult to understand. When STEM is integrated with art and language arts, students learn STEM vocabulary and creative writing in one neat STREAM of knowledge.
To add cooperation and respect to the mix, check out my STEM Stories activity for a whole-class effort that includes 160 STEM-related vocabulary words, 50 different settings for stories, and 40 literary devices to use in those stories. This is a whole-class activity for grades 4-8 where 5 small groups each contribute a paragraph to the whole story. What fun! Picture Friday afternoon STEM day where your students work cooperatively and creatively while they learn about STEM vocabulary, literary devices, and the components of a mini-story.
Renee Heiss
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