What’s Right with Our Schools Building a foundation of literacy through STEAM education BY TIM WILLERT . PHOTOS PROVIDED.
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MCKINLEY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN NORMAN PARTICIPATE IN STEAM ACTIVITIES.
I n classrooms across Oklahoma, teachers are transforming how students learn by blending creativity with critical thinking. Through innovative STEAM education initiatives, like robotics programs and cross-curricular lessons, educators are not just sparking curiosity — they’re laying a strong foundation for reading literacy. These efforts are helping students regain ground lost during the pandemic, proving that the right tools and strategies can inspire a lifelong love of learning. Engaging the whole child through STEAM Amy Fullbright spent nearly two decades as a classroom teacher, so she knows what it takes to get and hold the attention of young learners. Fullbright, who oversees STEAM education for Oklahoma City Public Schools, focuses her efforts on engaging the whole child through a combination of science, technology, engineering, art and math. “You’ve got to get the kids engaged, and you do that by offering them creative ways to learn,” said Fullbright. “In our STEAM classes, we teach collaboration, we teach communication, we teach critical thinking skills.” District teachers are generating classroom interest and promoting hands-on learning with the help of Sphero BOLTs — robotic balls designed to help students learn the curriculum along with robotics and coding skills.
All OKCPS elementary students see a STEAM teacher on a regular basis in addition to their grade-level instructor, and they are equipped with iPads to help them operate the robots. “It’s a more creative tool; it allows for more student choice in their learning and their creating,” said Fullbright, who works with 31 elementary schools and 12 middle schools as the OKCPS STEAM coordinator. “It’s reinforcing general education concepts, but they’re getting to do it with a robot or some other products that we have in the classroom.” Robotics is one of the innovative ways the 34,000-student district has countered the negative effects of the pandemic, which began disrupting learning in early 2020. “We had students who had to leave the classroom, go to at-home learning and of course that’s not the best learning environment for students to reach mastery of any skill,” said Fullbright. “I think just making up for lost time is what our teachers are really working on, meeting their students where they’re at, not necessarily grade-level wise, but where they need to be.” Enhancing literacy through STEAM education Critical to reading literacy are the early childhood years, when kids learn how letters make sounds, sounds make words and words make sentences. “We do struggle with high illiteracy rates, especially in our state,” said Stephanie Hinton, OKCPS’s early childhood director. “We have really been focused on ensuring that our teachers have access to high- quality training on the teaching of reading.” Hinton works with teachers to ensure they know their progressions and where to start if “kiddos are below the expectation,” even when they enroll in school for the first time. “Where do you start if their vocabulary isn’t what we expect for a typical 4-year-old?” asked Hinton. “And teaching those very practical skills that they can use in the classroom to build vocabulary, for example.” Along those lines, the district has started an initiative with the Oklahoma City Public Schools Foundation called Read Across OKCPS, which provides reading challenges that are no longer limited to school breaks. “Those sorts of little engaging activities tie into that, building children’s literacy rates,” said Hinton. “But it also builds in that attendance incentive: ‘Come to school, we’re doing these fun things to support your learning.’”
THE OKLAHOMA AVIATION ACADEMY IN NORMAN HELPS PREPARE STUDENTS FOR STEAM-BASED CAREERS IN AVIATION AND AEROSPACE. 24 Learning Guide
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