STEM in the Lower School

The concept of voice and choice is essential to Rowland Hall’s vision to develop people the world needs, giving students of all ages agency and purpose in their learning.

Voice and choice is often called out when it comes to giving students a say in what they learn (think: elective classes in middle and high school), and that’s certainly true at Rowland Hall.

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This dual commitment [to voice and choice], both in the breadth of our program and in the daily classroom experiences of students, ensures that they not only acquire skills, but also discover how they learn best, cultivating depth of understanding and confidence as learners.—Brittney Hansen, assistant head of school for academics

“Voice and choice begins with a rich array of offerings in our course catalog,” said Brittney Hansen, assistant head of school for academics. “Students have genuine opportunities to pursue subjects that ignite their curiosity and dive deeply into areas of passion.”

But at Rowland Hall, voice and choice also extend beyond course selection.

“In every classroom, from 3PreK to 12th grade, teachers design multiple pathways to engage with the same learning targets, whether through different ways of exploring a concept or diverse avenues for demonstrating understanding,” Brittney explained. “This dual commitment, both in the breadth of our program and in the daily classroom experiences of students, ensures that they not only acquire skills, but also discover how they learn best, cultivating depth of understanding and confidence as learners.”

Examples of voice and choice are found in classrooms across all divisions every day—for instance, during a recent math lesson in Hannah Ruske’s fourth-grade class. Over the early weeks of the school year, the fourth graders had been reviewing multiplication and division, and Hannah wanted to highlight the many methods for visually solving division they’d been covering.

Hannah invited students to gather on the rug, then asked the group to identify a number sentence to tackle together. Class members called out ideas until Hannah heard one that would suit the group well—not too hard, not too easy. She wrote it on the white board:

56 ÷ 8 = ?

“Okay,” said Hannah, turning back to her class. “What are the different ways we can show this problem? What works for your brain?”

“An array,” came one suggestion.

“Great,” said Hannah, uncapping her dry erase marker. “Let’s count together.”

As the class started counting, Hannah began drawing a column of circles—one for each number—on the board. When she completed a column of eight, the divisor in the problem, she began a new column, repeating the process until the class counted to 56. At that point, the board showed seven columns, each containing eight circles. It was an illuminating way to identify the missing quotient: 56 ÷ 8 = 7.

“This works well,” said Hannah. “I would love to know a different way. I want to know what works for you.”

Students began tossing out other favorite strategies: traditional skip counting, skip counting on a number line, the loops and groups method. Hannah added their contributions to the board, showing how each one arrives at the same answer: 56 ÷ 8 = 7. Along the way, Hannah engaged the group’s critical-thinking skills: What strategies take more time? Where do we need to be careful to not miss a step?

The more strategies [students] have, the more likely they are to find something that clicks for them.—Hannah Ruske, fourth-grade teacher

As the board filled, it became clear just how many problem-solving options there are for today’s students. That’s a good thing. Making space for a variety of approaches to in-class work, whether it’s solving a math problem or presenting a book report, is at the heart of voice and choice. It lets students be their authentic selves at school by allowing them to embrace the learning approaches that feel most intuitive to them. This grows their understanding of themselves, not to mention their confidence.

“It reiterates that every kid has a math brain,” said Hannah when asked about why she uses choice in daily math work. “The more strategies they have, the more likely they are to find something that clicks for them.”

Class member Kinley P. said voice and choice has definitely made her more confident, and she believes her classmates feel similar.

“At my old school, they’d teach the same strategy and everyone had to do the same steps,” she said. She’d see peers struggling with this approach and said many finished the lesson feeling defeated. Kinley now enjoys being in an environment where students are reminded of their capabilities, and where it’s safe to try out strategies to find what works best for you. “It makes school fun,” she said.

Classmate Claire C. agreed, saying this approach lets students focus more on getting better at what they can do, not on what others are doing. “You’re all learning the same thing but you learn it at a different pace and a different way,” she said.

And as students find the approaches that work for them, they begin to more easily grasp the lesson at hand, preparing them to navigate increasingly challenging material. In fourth-grade math, this can be seen as students move from concrete approaches to problem-solving (like drawing an array) to more abstract approaches—using efficient mental shortcuts, built on a solid mathematical foundation, to solve problems even quicker. A glimpse of this kind of learning transformation happened during Hannah’s lesson, when class member Stevie S. raised his hand to offer a final strategy to the problem on the white board.

“I already knew eight times eight,” he shared, “so then I just went backwards.”

Stevie’s approach—based on the multiplication fact “snap” that 8 × 8 = 64—shows that students begin to build sophistication around material once they identify the learning methods that make the most sense to them.

“Kids don’t need to memorize every fact,” explained Hannah. “They just need access points.”

As the discussion began to wind down, Hannah moved to reinforce the day’s lesson by having students return to their tables to write their own division number sentences. She asked them to challenge themselves with a problem that’s a little tricky for them—like writing a sentence with 7 as the divisor if you’re working on mastering your 7 times table. Students were then to show how to find the answer in three different ways, using methods covered in that day’s discussion or others they’d learned, such as area models and ratio tables.

“And if your strategy is like Stevie’s, something that works in your brain, show me that too,” said Hannah.

While the class worked, Hannah walked around, offering fist bumps and affirmations that fueled their efforts. “Proud of you for picking a big one. I hope you’re proud of yourself,” she told Monroe O., who was solving for 84 ÷ 12. Hannah then held up a paper as an example: “Check out the way Stanley labeled his number line.”

At Rowland Hall, we’re huge on kid voice. It solidifies concepts and lets students take ownership.—Hannah Ruske, fourth-grade teacher

As she continued to circle the room, Hannah offered support as a coach and cheerleader, as well as provided plenty of opportunities for students to speak out as the experts—another way educators use voice and choice to strengthen learning.

“At Rowland Hall, we’re huge on kid voice,” Hannah explained. “It solidifies concepts and lets students take ownership—they say in their own words and feel like they’re the pro. Plus, it’s easier to understand a concept when you explain it.”

And, added class member Elliana R., “It’s fun to teach one another.”

Before long, the students began completing their division models and prepared to head to lunch. To many, the math lesson they’d just completed was fun, but routine—and that’s exciting. That’s because at Rowland Hall, this way of learning—of prioritizing students’ self-understanding and curiosity—is baked into the day-to-day. This allows for the full reach of voice and choice, which builds over time, quietly accumulating toward something profound: students who know and trust themselves, and, as a result, are empowered to lean into their passions as they become people who positively impact the world.

Academics

Students are not the only learners at Rowland Hall. Every day, teachers are finding new ways to practice their craft and make education more impactful and resonant to the children in their classrooms. And this fall, in Tiya Karaus’s second-grade classroom, that meant starting small. As small as a bug.

The study of insects has been part of the second-grade curriculum for decades. The students learn about the anatomy, the biology, and the ecological impact of various bugs. This year, though, Tiya partnered with music teacher Susan Swidnicki to add a creative layer to the lessons.

“Working together allows us to try new methods and get feedback in real time,” Tiya said. “It makes it easier to put ideas into practice and refine and iterate on them through constant check-ins with each other.”
 

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Before starting, the pair came up with a number of ideas of how the unit could be structured and how to make the lessons as cross-curricular as possible through the addition of music, movement, creative writing, and more. “We were looking for ways to put more child-friendly creativity into the day,” Susan said. “We wanted to do something that would engage the children and add meaning for them.”

It started with the basics, as it has in years past. The students learned the biological and anatomical features of insects, worked bugs into their math problems, and read both fiction and non-fiction books on the subject. Then, on Fridays, a new layer was added: they took all of their knowledge and set it to music.

“We usually didn’t have a set plan in place; we wanted to let the kids lead and then help them build upon it,” Tiya said. “That feeling of creation at the moment allowed us and the students to find and learn unexpected things.”

During the Friday sessions, the students would explore their knowledge of insects by creating dances that turned them into honeybees, and by playing instruments that helped turn stories into songs.

The creative exploration of insects led to the students seeing things differently across the board.—Tiya Karaus, second-grade teacher

“The music tells us certain points in the story. It’s hard to forget when you are listening to the music,” said second grader Ember H. “It’s really hard at first but it gets easier and easier.”

The kids did more than expand their knowledge of insects. Allowing the children greater freedom to be self-directed required them to use and improve social and collaborative skills. Without a teacher as the central focus, the students had to regulate their own behaviors more closely. Listening and finding compromises became much more important.

“We got to do special things,” said William J. “We acted out The Very Clumsy Click Beetle and we all worked together to make the songs.”

The lessons learned on Friday went beyond the walls of the music room and into everyday classroom activities. “The creative exploration of insects led to the students seeing things differently across the board,” said Tiya. “They’re becoming more open to exploring new ideas and finding different ways to express themselves.”

Susan sees it as the children embracing their potential. “The child is a whole child. They are an artist and musician and a dancer and a creator and a reader and a mathematician and scientist, and they are all equally important,” she said. “By putting the academic and the creative together, they learn those different aspects shouldn’t be isolated and compartmentalized.”

The child is a whole child. They are an artist and musician and a dancer and a creator and a reader and a mathematician and scientist, and they are all equally important. By putting the academic and the creative together, they learn those different aspects shouldn’t be isolated and compartmentalized.—Susan Swidnicki, McCarthey Campus music teacher

The partnership between Tiya and Susan will continue for the rest of the year with an exploration of the Great Salt Lake and a study of native Utah animals. This continued collaboration is a great benefit for the students, and also a benefit for them as both work to improve their pedagogy, even as veteran teachers.

“I’ve brought that musicality back to my classroom,” said Tiya, and it can be used for more than just lessons. “Using rhythms and movement with the kids is so much more comfortable and effective than asking for their attention in more traditionally used ways.”

“I am constantly finding ways to integrate the academic curriculum into music classes,” added Susan. “Whether it’s incorporating a book into a lesson or bringing in other subject matter, there is always a way to find that bridge.”

Teachers at Rowland Hall are preparing students to go out into an ever-changing world. By being lifelong learners, and embracing collaboration, they are teaching not only through instruction but also by example. These are the lessons Tiya hopes her students will carry with them long after they have forgotten which bugs have zero wings and which have four.

“I want them to remember the importance of working together,” she said. “And I want them to look for ways to learn, in any way they can.”

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Watch the second graders perform their original skit, “The Very Impatient Honey Bee”:

Academics

Since its opening in fall 2022, the McCarthey Campus’s TREC Lab—short for ​​Technology, Robotics, Engineering, and Coding Lab—has been an exciting place for students to explore a variety of STEM projects during their specialty classes. This year, the lab expanded its offerings with a new opportunity: Open Lab.

Offered twice a week and available to all McCarthey Campus students, Open Lab allows classes, small groups, and individual students to access the TREC Lab outside designated class time. Students can use the space—and its tools, technology, and materials—to work on projects, as well as exercise choice and voice as they explore the STEM activities and supplies they’re most interested in, including micro:bits, Scratch coding software, 3D printers, LEGOs, and even craft supplies.
 

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“Open Lab can be an adventure of choice,” said TREC teacher Kaelis Sandstrom. “It’s time to use the lab’s tools, figure out a way to put things together, do collaborative work rooted in play, and explore.” 

Open Lab can be an adventure of choice. It’s time to use the lab’s tools, figure out a way to put things together, do collaborative work rooted in play, and explore.—Kaelis Sandstrom, TREC teacher

Whatever a child chooses during Open Lab, they’re engaging in active and beneficial learning, getting familiar with STEM thinking in all its forms. That’s because giving children chances to tinker freely helps them get familiar with materials, experiment and explore, problem solve, get resourceful, and engage in design thinking, among other benefits. Fifth-grade classmates Jules O. and Zoe Y., for example, have enjoyed Open Lab this year because it gives them the chance to experiment and build with the TREC Lab’s wooden domino sets. Both girls say the tactile nature of this activity is important to them.

“I think the most fun things in TREC involve building,” explained Zoe. “A robot can be coded for you, but dominoes are something physical. It’s a lot more fun when you can see something physical happen. You can understand how it’s working.”

Both Zoe and Jules became interested in dominoes during a TREC specialty class where they learned about the domino effect—the cumulative effect that’s produced when one event initiates a succession of similar events (such as when a line of dominoes falls). While in class each group had to build in a four-by-four square, the girls love that in Open Lab they can take their domino experimentation to new lengths … literally. “We use, like, half of the room,” laughed Jules.

And the classmates appreciate that Open Lab gives them a say in what they want to learn about and lets them work through any problems they may encounter on their own. “There’s more freedom,” said Zoe, “and when you can be creative and do whatever you want to, it’s a lot more interesting. When things don’t work, it’s not for adults to fix. It’s nice to have that time.”

Importantly, these types of experiences are open to any student on the McCarthey Campus. While the TREC specialty starts in second grade, students from 3PreK through first grade can also take part in Open Lab. Liz Ellison, one of the Beginning School’s 3PreK lead teachers, has enjoyed this new resource and said it’s super beneficial for early childhood learning.

“Young children are so drawn to building, creating, and making, and this is open space for them to explore and start building the foundation of bigger skills,” she said.

They’re creating that story about themselves: we are coders or creators or builders. It’s ownership and positive labeling. If you tell yourself, ‘I am a mathematician or innovator,’ you become that.—Liz Ellison, 3PreK lead teacher

Liz has signed up her class for Open Lab slots multiple times this year and said students always look forward to walking over to the TREC Lab, where they’ve participated in a variety of activities, including mapping and setting up mazes, creating a market out of cardboard boxes, constructing ice castles with colored cups, and building with a type of block that’s not available in their own classroom. These activities are not only an age-appropriate introduction to the kind of knowledge that will support these students’ future STEM learning, but they’re also helping the students understand their capabilities.

“They’re creating that story about themselves: we are coders or creators or builders,” said Liz. “It’s ownership and positive labeling. If you tell yourself, ‘I am a mathematician or innovator,’ you become that.”

And it’s moments like this that show the magic of Open Lab—a time for pressure-free activities that quietly build students’ self-esteem.

“It’s low-stakes, high-choice exploration,” said Kaelis. “It’s a time where students can build confidence in skills they may not be as confident in, or explore without the pressure of a final outcome. They can take risks and it’s not as scary.”

STEM

Tribulus terrestris is a deceptively lovely plant.

It fans out across surfaces with delicate fern-like leaves and, when in full bloom, displays tiny and charming yellow flowers.

Under the surface, though, this plant is a nightmare. More commonly known by names like goathead, tackweed, devil’s weed, and puncturevine, it has learned to adapt to almost any environment, pushing out native plants in its wake. It also has a myriad of defenses, making it hard to kill. Students in Rowland Hall’s fifth grade can tell you all about it. The first problem? The thorns.

“The thorns can get stuck in tires and shoes and all sorts of things,” said fifth grader August P. “It was sharp enough that it would just go through your gloved hands when you were pulling it. It went through the trash bags too.”

Hannah Blomgren got the fifth graders involved in puncturevine eradication efforts after seeing the vine’s damage on the trails along the river and realizing how perfectly the situation illustrated lessons she was teaching about the problem of invasive plants in Utah.

The roots also pose an issue. They go deep into the soil and spread around the plant in all directions. “You have to get all the roots,” said Katie P. “If you leave any of the puncturevine it’s going to regrow. It’s hard to pull it all out. Some of them were very heavy and bigger than they looked.”

The students battled the prolific and hazardous weed this fall as part of the Jordan River Commission’s puncturevine eradication efforts. Science Specialist Hannah Blomgren got the fifth graders involved after seeing the vine’s damage on the trails along the river and realizing how perfectly the situation illustrated lessons she was teaching about the problem of invasive plants in Utah.

“In fifth grade, we talk about what plants need to survive, and how invasive species use up the nutrients native plants need,” Hannah said. “We also discuss the environmental impacts involved, like erosion, especially in river areas.”

So in late September, the grade headed to Jordan Park on the west side of Salt Lake City to help remove the vines from fields and riverbanks. While working to pull the puncturevine, the students quickly learned that the tools provided to them (basic two-prong weed pullers) were not up to the task. “We noticed seeds were being left behind,” said Freya S. “We needed a machine that would pull out the roots, but then vacuum up the seeds too.”

Luckily for the students, TREC (technology, robotics, engineering, coding) teacher Kaelis Sandstrom had joined them for their field trip and was ready to help them design better tools for the job. After returning to campus, the students were given class time to build their own. Using LEGOs and basic building materials, the kids built models of their ideal puncturevine pullers. Groups came up with lots of ideas, like a puncturevine-sensing drone that could destroy the weed on sight, or a robot that looked like a small animal but was designed low to the ground to successfully get under the vines and pull them out. Since coming back from the field trip, the students have continued working on these designs in the TREC Lab on campus, working through design issues and developing new prototypes. 

They’re taking on the engineering process. They are learning you can build something really cool in a short amount of time, but in order for something to be lasting and useful, it takes time and work. And they’re learning that they can take on local problems here in Utah.—Kaelis Sandstrom, TREC teacher

“They’re taking on the engineering process,” Kaelis said. “They are learning you can build something really cool in a short amount of time, but in order for something to be lasting and useful, it takes time and work. And they’re learning that they can take on local problems here in Utah.”

Community engagement was a big reason for getting the students involved in the puncturevine eradication efforts. Part of Rowland Hall’s first strategic priority is about cultivating community partnerships, and the students did just that in a part of the city many had not visited before.

“We wanted to tie this into the idea of all of us being a part of a community or an ecosystem,” said fifth-grade teacher Samantha Hemphill. “One area where they were working was a soccer field, and so pulling out the puncturevine and helping the people who would play there made it feel important.”

In addition to the time spent working, the students also got to spend time exploring the International Peace Gardens, a site on the banks of the Jordan River that features different areas devoted to the diverse populations that call Utah home. Fifth-grade teacher Rachel Slivnick said the visit highlighted lessons the kids were learning in social studies at that time.

“We had talked a lot about the idea of windows and mirrors, learning about how their cultures can be both a window into a different way of life and also a mirror that reflects your own values and the things that are important to you,” said Rachel. “So, at the International Peace Gardens, it was almost like a scavenger hunt or a treasure hunt, identifying what makes cultures unique and how students could relate to them.”

The students aren’t done with their work along the Jordan River. In the spring they plan to return, not to pull out plants but to place new ones. They will be planting trees in the area along with their kindergarten buddies. And their impacts on the community go beyond the banks of the river. You see, puncturevine has a bounty on its leaves, and the students received two dollars a pound for the plants they pulled. A grand total of $204 will be donated to the school on their behalf, and they have lots of ideas on how it could be used.

“Maybe they use some of it for the new Upper School,” said fifth-grader Aster S.

Tribulus terrestris is a terrible plant, but Rowland Hall’s fifth grade may have helped stop its spread. At the same time, the lessons they learned planted seeds that have already grown roots, sprouted, and will continue to grow for years to come.

STEM