Alabama is known for its historical landmarks, and arguably nowhere in the state
will you find more than in the small town of Tuscumbia, tucked snugly into the
northwest corner of the Heart of Dixie.

The hometown of Helen Keller, our most famous resident, Tuscumbia also
boasts a rich Native American heritage and was the first frontier railroad town
west of the Alleghenies. The Trail of Tears passed through a young Tuscumbia,
and the residents at the time, aghast by the horrors of the Indian Removal,
were the only ones on record to petition the federal government to allow the
Native Americans to stay and live among them rather than continue west onto
reservations. The Alabama Music Hall of Fame, a tribute to the famous Muscle
Shoals sound of the area, is in Tuscumbia, just a few minutes away from Ivy Green,
Helen Keller's world-renowned birthplace.

The Northwest Alabama Reading Council, the local affiliate of the Alabama
Literacy Association and the International Literacy Association, capitalized on these rich community assets to organize a series of STEAM events for local teachers and students, presenting ideas for using and integrating these assets across the curriculum in local elementary classrooms.

The STEM framework includes science, technology, engineering, and math. The Rhode Island School of Design championed the addition of art to this concept, creating the STEAM initiative. Our version of STEAM includes the social sciences and the arts, incorporating history, geography, storytelling, visual arts, photography, painting, and writing into the more traditional STEM framework. Adding the arts to STEM activities offers students invaluable opportunities to express their creativity, imagination, and innovation as they explore, create, and problem solve within science and math endeavors.

Three of our most successful STEAM events were STEAM Night at the Tennessee Valley Art Museum, a workshop for elementary teachers; STEAMing Into History at the Tuscumbia Depot, a field trip for elementary students; and Putting the ART in Language Arts, presenting ideas for integrating photography and theater into STEAM lessons.

STEAM Night

Our chapter's STEAM Night at the Tennessee Valley Art Museum hosted approximately 50 local teachers who enjoyed dinner in the museum, a guided exhibit tour, and STEAM sessions facilitated by the University of North Alabama's (UNA) departments of Elementary Education and Geography and the Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI).

The museum exhibit at the time was "Oklahoma Skies" by Veda Reed. Capitalizing on this theme, the STEAM sessions focused on sky-related activities. Teachers downloaded apps on their phones to examine the stars, wrote Twitter poems about the art as they perused the exhibit, then doffed their shoes and engaged in lively
geography lessons on a giant floor map of Alabama.

These giant floor maps, which include state, national, and world maps, are available to be checked out for classroom use through our state's Alabama Geographic Alliance. To find out if your state offers similar resources, visit the National Geographic Network of Alliances for Geographic Education at nationalgeographic.org/education/programs/geographyalliances.

STEAMing Into History

STEAMing Into History at the Tuscumbia Depot was the result of a collaboration among the Tuscumbia Parks and Recreation Department, our chapter, AMSTI, and UNA's departments of Elementary Education and Geography. Third through fifth graders were given a train ticket for their journey, which was punched by a conductor at each stop, or station, as they STEAMed through history. 

Students toured the Railroad Depot, built in 1888 and now a museum, led by storytellers portraying characters from the 19th century. Reenactors were provided by the local Colbert County Historical Landmarks Foundation and included a portrayal of Captain Keller, Helen Keller's father, arriving at the Depot to bring home a young teacher named Annie Sullivan. Keller's original carriage is on display at the Depot.

Students then walked next door to an event center called The Round House, where they engaged in hands-on sessions that included computer coding to make an Ozobot travel along a map of Tuscumbia, the giant floor map of Alabama on which they played a geographic version of Alabama Twister, and a challenging session putting together tabletop maps of Alabama. They also watched a steam engine create steam and learned how steam propelled early train engines. Finally, they toured an elaborate model train exhibit created by the local Shoals Model Train Club.

Putting the ART in Language Arts

Held in a beautiful boutique bar called The Creative Grape, teachers who attended our Putting the ART in Language Arts event enjoyed a rich discussion about the arts led by famed photographer Abraham Rowe and author/director Darren Butler.

Rowe and Butler shared creative ideas for incorporating photography and theater into elementary language arts instruction. Rowe encouraged teachers to allow children to use their devices to take photographs throughout the day and to use those photos to inspire science or history research, write poetry, examine math concepts, or practice writing descriptively. Butler offered ideas for incorporating theater into the classroom to empower literacy instruction by having students act out scenes from a novel or create their own scripts during writing workshop.

STEAMing into your community

Each STEAM event, whether designed for teachers or students, was wildly successful and filled to capacity. Through community partnerships with the Tennessee Valley Art Museum, the University of North Alabama, and the Tuscumbia Parks and Recreation Department, our chapter designed powerful opportunities for professional growth and student engagement.

To create strategic partnerships in your own communities, consider contacting your local tourism office for ideas, connections, and resources. Find a local community landmark, invite others to join you, and build your own STEAM event to create a fun and meaningful learning experience for all.

Lorie Johnson, an ILA member since 2007, is the ILA state coordinator for the Alabama Literacy Association.

This article originally appeared in the September 2018 issue of Literacy Today, ILA’s member magazine.