Wednesday, January 26, 2022 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon 15 ON LEARNING WITH LEGO Young or old, it’s common knowledge that we learn best when learning feels more like play than work. Sisters Elementary School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) Teacher Jocelyn Gary Blevins recently led kindergarten teachers in a session exploring ways to use education-oriented LEGO education sets purchased through a STEM grant from Sisters’ Roundhouse Foundation. Roundhouse also provided funds for storage facilities for STEM-related equipment and materials. The grant provides class sets for each classroom. The sets are designed to promote learning in English Language Arts (ELA), mathematics, and in the “social-emotional” arena. For mathematics, students learn by “decomposing” and putting back together LEGO structures and figures — adding and subtracting as they go. Storytelling is the foundation of the ELA instruction. Kits contain prepared story materials. “As you’re telling stories, the kids are building the pieces of it,” Blevins said. “They’re acting, playing, and learning a story as they build the background to it… They have all the diff erent modalities going on in their heads.” Build Me Emotions helps young children identify emotions through the expressions on LEGO characters’ faces. Through a story, the children identify expressions, name emotions, “build” that emotion with the LEGOS, and talk through problem-solving. Calm Down Construction helps children express feelings through building something. Both elements are tied to the “social-emotional” aspect of learning. Not only does the directed “learning through play” impart educational benefits — it also builds fine motor skills as the children build and take apart structures and characters. The use of LEGO is scalable up into older grades, where LEGO THANK YOU, TEACHERS The Nugget N E W S PA P E R NUGGETNEWSCOM•-- Principal Broker, Lic#201218852 SUZANNE CARVLIN Principal Broker PATTY CORDONI Principal Broker LomaSmith.com | 503.475.0988 Sotheby’s International Realty© is a registered trademark licensed to Sotheby’s International Realty Aff iliates, LLC. Each off ice is independently owned and operated. All associates are licensed in the State of Oregon. 541-549-8424 541-549-3574 www.therapeuticassociates.com/Sisters 290 W. CASCADE AVE., SISTERS, OREGON 541-549-0416 www.vanhandelauto.com GET ALL YOUR OUTLAW GEAR Your full-service tire store! HERE 541-549-1560 • 600 W. Hood Ave. Open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 541-549-2059 Tires • Wheels • Brakes & Shocks • Chains Alignment • Batteries • Mobile Tire Service 377 W. Sisters Park Dr. WAY TO GO, OUTLAWS! KIDS CLOTHING FOR SCHOOL AND EVERYDAY! GO, OUTLAWS! Corrie C. Lake 541-521-2392 robotics come into play. “They can engineer anything,” Blevins said. The “play” starts to become related to real-world activity. Blevins hopes to see the program link up with the construction of a new Sisters Elementary School over the next couple of years. “We were thinking we could tie in the LEGO Robotics with the landscape architecture piece,” she said. Teachers brainstormed ways of using the LEGO sets in the classroom — all part of ongoing eff orts to use innovative and exciting ways to reach children and not only impart knowledge, but a love of learning. Because learning is easiest and best when it’s fun. 121 W. Cascade Ave.