A Sensory Approach to STEAM Teaching and Learning: Materials-Based Units for Students K-6

Did you know you have the power and the materials at your fingertips to facilitate the actual brain growth of students?

This book is a practical resource to engage K-6 students with STEAM content through their five senses: seeing, listening, touch/movement, smell and taste. It combines historical research, practical suggestions, and current practices on the stages of cognitive development and the brain’s physical response to emotion and novelty; to help you learn ways to transform ordinary lesson plans into novel and exciting opportunities for students to learn through instruction, exploration, inquiry, and discovery.

In addition to providing examples of sensory-rich unit plans, the authors take you through the step-by-step process on how to plan a thematic unit and break it down into daily seamless lesson plans that integrate science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics.

With 25 themed STEAM unit plans and activities based on national standards, up-to-date research on brain science, and real classroom experience, this book shows multiple ways to develop and deliver active multisensory activities and wow your students with sights and sounds as soon as they come through the door of your classroom.

Kerry P. Holmes is Professor Emerita of Elementary Education at the University of Mississippi, USA.

Jerilou J. Moore is Professor Emerita in the School of Education at the University of Mississippi, USA.

Stacy V. Holmes is Associate Professor Emeritus of Electrical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, USA.