My BIG IDEA is creative teaching and real life connections, specifically using dance and music to teach about math and science. There are key academic concepts in math and science that connect to the dance aesthetic. In dance, there are mathematical elements - patterns, rhythms, number sense, geometry, and physics. There are also science concepts that can be represented in dance. For example, the motion of our universe includes rotation, revolutions, speed and gravity. These scientific concepts can be shown through choreographic composition. This type of disciplinary learning has an enduring value for students in that it helps them to interpret math and science concepts that show understanding. According to Mansilla and Garder, the goal of disciplinary thinking “is to instill in the young the disposition to interpret the world in the distinctive ways that characterize the thinking of experienced disciplinarians - historians, scientists, mathematicians, and artists.” Representing mathematical and science concepts through dance is a disciplinary approach to learning that helps students interpret the world around them.
In addition, 21st century skills include collaboration. Students will work in pairs and/or groups to learn, demonstrate and apply their understanding.
PERFORMANCES OF UNDERSTANDING
I will utilize several methods of assessment, including informal and formal assessments. I will start with a diagnostic of students' beliefs and opinions about math, science and dance. I plan to use a Google form for this assessment. Throughout the year, I will be using Google apps to communicate with students and capture student responses and reflections. Students will also show their level of understanding of math and science concepts and their connections to dance by completing a pre-performance (choreographic composition) assessment. I will also assess students' math and science understandings by discussing and practicing math skills visually and conceptually/kinesthetically with manipulatives. Throughout the learning, I plan to use various forms of technology such as Kahoot to help motivate students and to gather assessment information about student understanding. From this process, students will exhibit acquired knowledge of math concepts by taking digital images that represent math and science concepts in the real world and by creating their own STEM dance choreography. Students will also watch videos of dance and analyze them for math and science connections using. Mid and post-performance assessments include choreographing and producing and performing a STEM Dance demonstration that must adhere to a predetermined criteria. Students will use the Design Cycle (Ask the problem, Imagine solutions, Select a solution, make a plan, create, test the creation, and improve). Youtube Video Creator will be used for students to also create their own digital video that represents math and science concepts through dance.
Other technology components that I will incorporate to help students communicate with each otherDance - use of video creation technology such as YouTube Creator, Weebly, Twitter, Plicker, Kahoot - https://getkahoot.com, and use of social media like Twitter for students to share their work and understandings with the world. Collaborative skills will be assessed through rubrics and and student self-assessment tools.
PLANNED LEARNING AND INSTRUCTION:
Context: I am a STEM Specialist at Langston Hughes Elementary School. The mission of Langston Hughes School is to provide meaningful learning experiences that will equip our students with 21st century skills and prepare our learning community to be lifelong learners through rigorous and relevant instruction, ongoing professional development, and opportunities for self-improvement in order to become positive contributors to humanity. Langston Hughes is a preK-8 school. I teach middle school students in grades 5-8 in our STEM Lab this year. The students come to the STEM Lab twice/week for one hour each. I plan to work with a small group of STEM students on the STEMulating dance project for 2 hours/week. Our math and science curricula includes Pearson Envision, Glencoe Math, Eureka Math, STEMScopes, and McDougal Littell and SEPUP. I will select various teaching lessons from among these materials as well as other online, print and manipulative resources.
I am also an instructional coach for our PreK-8 grade teachers, which means I plan and facilitate STEM professional development, model STEM best practices, and assist teachers in implementation of STEM best practices, primarily in math and science. Teacher professional development is usually completed monthly during our weekly teacher team meeting, as well as during occasional after school professional development sessions.
Content: The STEM discipline that I want my students to learn include math, science and technology. I also want to incorporate the art of dance, making this a STEAM project. I want my students to learn the foundation of various math areas and be able to represent them through dance choreography and performance. Students will be able to collaborate and problem solve with one another and utilize technology to communicate and share resources, creations and understandings.
Pedagogy: Instructional strategies that I plan to use include group discussions, Kagan Cooperative Learning strategies, print, image and video journaling and analysis, I will utilize scaffolding strategies to help develop student understanding from concrete to abstract.
Technology Integration: (Google apps, Kahoot, Youtube Video Creations, Power Point, iPads, laptops, desktops, Twitter and digital cameras). I think the discussions, digital camera images and video studies will peak students' interests in STEM and dance and help develop conceptual understanding. I have access to laptops, desktops, ipads, chromebooks, and digital cameras. I will have to check out the ipads and laptops because these are assigned to teachers.