Engineers in the Block Corner Susan Belgrad Professor

Engineers in the Block Corner Susan Belgrad, Professor California State University Northridge and Ronnie Silverstone, Retired LAUSD Kindergarten

What Exactly Is Engineering?

Let’s Be Engineers Cooperative Block Play Each cooperative learning group will be asked to design a different structure for an “Ideal Community” (vision of a 5 -year old) A bridge (over river, streets, canals , etc) Streets and Roads in a town or city A City Skyscraper A Building with a Keystone (find someone who knows what this is).

Engineers in the Block Corner

Our goals for this presentation. . . Block play enables boys and girls to acquire the 21 st century skills of the mathematician, scientist and engineer. It is applied math, science and communication. Set loose in the well-equipped block corner, kindergarten children engage in “multi-sensory experiences through environmental encounters” in which they imagine, visualize, explore, predict, test and strive to accomplish what they want to do. Block play is a key learning process that can assure the foundations for success in all academic subjects but especially math and science.

What skills were we engaged in during our block building? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

What skills do you see were engaged in this capture of children’s block building?

Pair-Share in Your Teams What mathematics knowledge did you have to use to design and create your structures? What science knowledge did you need to have and apply in designing in your structure? What conversations (communication skills) were needed? Did you have any problems with ideas, design, creating? How did you solve them?

What children look like when they are engineering in the block corner

Let’s Play! Build with a Barrier Use communication skills Visualize each direction Place your blocks to create the structure Compare with your partners

Follow up What communication skills did you need to successfully create your structures? What science (physics) knowledge did you need to have and apply in designing in your structure? What clarifications were needed? Did you have problems? How did you solve them? Could you use these questions when children are engaged in block play?

Engineering IS Considered an Important 21 st Century Skill Let’s look at how the Common Core State Standards Support the Promotion of Block Play in your Kindergarten or Transitional Kindergarten….

The Common Core State Standards Grade K Overview Counting and Cardinality Operations and Algebraic Thinking Understand addition as putting together and adding to Understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from. Number and Operations in Base Ten

The Common Core State Standards Grade K Overview Measurement and Data Describe and compare measurable attributes. Classify objects and count the number of objects in categories. Geometry Identify and describe shapes. Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes.

The Common Core State Standards In Kindergarten, more instructional time should focus on these critical areas: 1. Representing, relating, and operating on whole numbers, initially with sets of objects; (more learning time should be devoted to number than to other topics). 2. Describing shapes and space. 3. Describing their physical world using geometric ideas (e. g. , shape, orientation, spatial relations) and vocabulary.

The Common Core State Standards In Kindergarten, more instructional time should focus on these critical areas: 4. Identifying the name, and describing basic twodimensional shapes, such as squares, triangles, circles, rectangles, and hexagons, presented in a variety of ways (e. g. , with different sizes and orientations), as well as three-dimensional shapes such as cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres. 5. Using basic shapes and spatial reasoning to model objects in their environment and to construct more complex shapes.

Concluding Thoughts “We believe that it is critically important for all children, from all backgrounds, to grow up knowing how to design, create, and express themselves. ” We want to extend a vision of the developmentally appropriate kindergarten style of learning, returning to U. S. institutions of learning “so that learners of all ages continue to learn through a process of designing, creating, experimenting, and exploring. ” Mitch Resnick, MIT (Lifelong Kindergarten)

Contacts: Susan Belgrad susan. belgrad@csun. edu Ronnie Silverstone slvrstn@verizon. net