Rockin' With STEAM at NRC

The STEAM program is thriving at NRC/New Roberto Clemente School in Paterson, NJ!
Here are some of the wide variety of highlights:

In Ms. Roche's and Ms. Aramayo's art classes at NRC, the strips of paper that have been created in other classes over the past few months for concept and vocabulary re-reinforcement have been patiently collected and sorted.  Students and teachers are now constructing a large scale sculpture with these strips that will occupy a space in this public school building.  Below, Ms. Roche instructs children to form 3-D loop forms to add to the larger structure with these "strips of knowledge" as she calls them.  Students often read the strips as they create this sculpture, reinforcing their knowledge in other content areas.
See images below) 

 

On the first floor of NRC, an attractive new STEAM art/math display created by Ms. Roche and Ms. Aramayo, art teachers, captures the attention of viewers at the school. Creative and colorful tetrahedrons and color strips stressing the range of values existing in color are exhibited together.  See images above and below.)

In Ms. Selino's and Mr. Baldwin's technology classes there are two new and exciting pieces of equipment:  3-D printers! These machines will increase the possibility that STEAM lessons can be created and taught for all grades in the classrooms. In addition Ms. Selino's students recently participated in the "Hour of Code" National Program LINK sponsored, in part, by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  In this program students of all ages learned code using colorful and creative software tools. (See images below)

 

In Ms. Flores' Spanish Classes at NRC, students used STEAM art supplies for a classroom art/architecture project.  These students were asked to imagine, create, and label in detail an image depicting the house of their dreams.  (See images below.)

 

Math teacher Ms. Moose used STEAM art supplies with her students to teach the mathematical concepts of translation, reflection, rotation, and dilation.  Using bright colors and grids helped these students understand and remember these concepts better. (See images above and below.)

Eighth grade algebra  teacher Ms Diaz, as well as several other teachers at NRC including science teacher Ms. Cunningham, are using a creative type of notebook with their students in their classrooms.  These personalized notebooks include tidbits of the a student's autobiography as well as the required concepts and vocabulary in any given content area. The students use colorful tapes and collaged images.  Students also use many techniques from "foldables"  a method created by Dinah Zike. These are used within each notebook to make the content material more personal, more hands-on, and more stimulating for each student.  Below Ms. Diaz proudly displays one notebook.  (See images below.)

Ms. Roche's art students studied two-point perspective in her class creating stunning three dimensional buildings that now make an eye-catching sight on the 2nd floor of the building. (See images below.)