[November 08, 2018] |
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Schools Choose LEGO® Education Hands-on Learning Solutions
Today, in celebration of National STEAM Day, LEGO®
Education is spotlighting schools across the country that are
introducing hands-on learning solutions to build their students'
interest and confidence in science, technology, engineering, arts and
mathematics. Together with these school leaders and educators, LEGO
Education aims to inspire and develop the builders of tomorrow by
enabling every student to succeed.
"On National STEAM Day, we're thrilled to showcase some of the
exceptional schools and educators who are going above and beyond to
provide their students with engaging classroom opportunities that
inspire and grow their interest in science, technology, engineering,
arts, and math," said Silver McDonald, head of LEGO Education North
America. "By using hands-on LEGO Education learning solutions, these
students are getting excited about STEAM while building confidence that
equips them for future jobs and inspires them to dream of a big future."
According to the US
Department of Education, the total number of STEAM related jobs in
the U.S. will increase by 14 percent over the course of a decade. The
below school leaders and educators are just a few in the U.S. who are
incorporating STEAM learning into their curriculum to ensure their
students are learning critical 21st century skills.
Stanley Mosk STEAM School/Magnet Center (Los Angeles Unified
School District) Stanley Mosk STEAM School/Magnet's mission
is to inspire their students to be innovative thinkers. To help achieve
this goal for all students, Jodi Harrison, principal, chose LEGO
Education solutions to challenge students to think creatively and
critically and facilitate engineering learning across grade levels.
Through unique lesson plans, like using LEGO Education solutions to
create stop motion videos that promote kindness and anti-bullying,
students engage in 21st century learning skills through an
integrated curriculum approach.
Andrew Cooke Magnet School (Waukegan Community Unit School
District 60) Rebecca Voight, STEM and Drama teacher, chose
LEGO Education Early
Simple Machines, Simple
and Powered Machines, STEAM
Park, WeDo
2.0 and MINDSTORMS®
Education EV3 for her students from kindergarten through fifth
grade. Across every grade level, Rebecca combines her drama classes with
STEAM lessons, encouraging her students to incorporate a lesson they
learned from drama class, whether dance or music, into their learning.
Voight says, "The students preexistig familiarity with LEGO helps
excite them from the beginning of the lesson. It allows them to
incorporate what they learn in the classroom into hands-on play at home.
They're excited to learn and think to themselves: 'if I can do this with
LEGO, what can I do next?'"
Sessions Elementary School (San Diego Unified School District) School
leaders and educators at Sessions Elementary are dedicated to
implementing a curriculum that focuses on challenge-based learning and
encouraging student to master real-world problem solving. Adam Foster
Carlin, principal, chose LEGO Education solutions to support this focus,
and the partnership has successfully given students opportunities that
strengthen STEAM learning skills like design thinking, creativity,
problem solving and communication. Carlin says, "LEGO Education has
allowed our students to demonstrate their knowledge in creative ways.
The materials, combined with the STEAM curriculum, keeps students
engaged and provides unique learning opportunities that are
student-centered. I have seen students build models, adapt and
manipulate their designs, and display genuine excitement when explaining
their thinking. Students at Sessions are now provided daily
opportunities to actively become leaders and participants in the world
they live in by collectively working through problem solving activities
utilizing LEGO Education."
Consolidated School District of New Britain Jenn Wright,
facilitator of STEAM and Summer Programming for Consolidated School
District of New Britain, sought to start their new integrated STEAM
curriculum with LEGO Education solutions WeDo
2.0 and MINDSTORMS
Education EV3. Wright says, "LEGO Education tools are versatile
solutions that help us get every student at every level involved in
STEAM learning. Our main goal is to teach students 21st
century skills, like critical thinking and problem solving, and LEGO
Education tools have the flexibility to adjust lesson plans to match
each student's skill set."
Jesse Bobo Elementary School (Spartanburg County School District
06) Alisha Bridges, LEGO lead teacher for kindergarten
through fifth grade, uses a variety of LEGO Education solutions to
ensure her students are learning the 21st century skills
necessary for the future workforce. Alisha leads a LEGO Lab across grade
levels and chose WeDo
2.0 to provide her students with a tool that seamlessly integrates
each part of STEAM learning into one lesson plan. Bridges says "WeDo 2.0
is the best solution for my students because it gives them a real-world
scenario where they learn the critical thinking skills they'll need in
the future. The product seamlessly connects all parts of STEAM and
integrates creativity through model design. This is what my students
really love about LEGO; it gives them a creative outlet for
self-expression."
Mountain View Elementary School (Anchorage School District) Marcy
Richards, who leads the STEAM curriculum for elementary students as
Anchorage School District's 21st Century program manager (the most
diverse district in the country), chooses LEGO Education solutions WeDo
2.0 and MINDSTORMS
Education EV3 to help her students with English as a second language
and develop critical STEAM skills. Richards says "Watching my students
build robots with LEGO Education is amazing because many of them are
working to develop English language skills. Despite language differences
in the classroom, the students can still participate in the lesson plans
with the picture instruction. They learn crucial teamwork and
communications skills this way and it makes an incredible difference."
Hillsborough County Public Schools Larry Plank, Ed.S.
director of kindergarten through twelfth grade Science, Technology,
Engineering & Mathematics Education and Shauna Tirado, Elementary
Science supervisor, choose LEGO Education solutions to serve as the
foundational element to teach students coding, robotics and computer
science district-wide. Hillsborough County Schools have a dedicated
kindergarten through fifth grade plan using LEGO Education solutions
like WeDo
2.0 to teach students foundational skills that prepare them for
middle school. Plank says, "LEGO Education tools teach our students the
fundamental concepts needed for their educational growth as they
progress through each grade. Across our district, LEGO learning helps
them build upon prior knowledge and apply it, creating a strong
understanding of concepts to prep them for middle school and beyond."
Greenwood Elementary School (Waukegan Community Unit School
District 60) Maryann Lukos, kindergarten through fifth
grade STEM teacher, challenges her fifth-grade students each year
with an entrepreneur project where they are tasked to pick a problem in
the world and design the solution. Using LEGO
MINDSTORMS Education EV3, her students effectively and creatively
identify problems and use critical thinking skills to develop a solution
for the project. Lukos says, "With LEGO Education tools, my students
immediately become more engaged with the task at hand. They take
ownership of the lessons and learn valuable skills like collaboration
and creativity to complete the project."
Discover these stories and many more classrooms engaging students
through hands-on learning at LEGOeducation.com/stories. For
STEAM inspiration, LEGO Education lesson plans and more information on
how to implement LEGO Education's hands-on learning solutions in your
school, visit LEGOeducation.com.
About LEGO Education: From early learning to middle school
and beyond, LEGO
Education provides hands-on learning solutions that engage every
student's natural curiosity and helps them develop the skills and
confidence they'll need in the future.
LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks and/or copyrights of the LEGO
Group. ©2018 The LEGO Group. All rights reserved.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181108005559/en/
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