STEMterprise spotlight: Ms. Michalofsky’s Grade 3 class

Reading time: 3 minutes

We have fully enjoyed developing Ontario Farming STEMterprise and hearing about how teachers are using the resource. 

We’ve already learned a lot from teachers’ feedback, which has helped us revamp the resources. It is now leaner, more focused, includes more hands-on experiences, and even has a surprise or two!

We are thrilled to share our “report card” from teacher Jody Michalofsky, who teaches grade three in Kitchener.

Spotlight: Ms. Michalofsky’s grade 3 class

Jody observed that her students really enjoyed the project, noting that “the ultimate measure of a fun experience is when a student chooses to come to school so they won’t miss anything instead of missing 2 days of school for a dance competition!”

Among the things STEMterprise does well, Jody gave us a “well done!” on:

• Editable slides that teachers can revise and rearrange to suit their students and that convert well to Google slides
• The farmer visit engaged the students, who devised their own thoughtful questions. They “had a real purpose and a real interest.” And the students now want to visit their farmer!
• Lessons align closely with the grade three curriculum and “combine 2 Science strands and a Social Studies strand into one engaging project with real-life hands-on activities” that students enjoyed doing

Jody’s class chose to wrap their project up by a presentation for the school’s principals and administrative staff. Students took turns sharing the steps they followed, sang their jingle, and taste tested the granola bars. It was one of many solutions teachers told us about to overcome barriers to cooking, tasting, or selling at school.

When you see the new, revised Ontario Farming STEMterprise, you will see that we took Jody’s advice, and many other teachers’ as well, to make this resource more relevant and adaptable to your classroom. We acknowledge there is more we can do to make STEMterprise even more useful for educators. Stay tuned!

We would love to hear your STEMterprise classroom stories! Please consider sharing what is going on in your classroom in this open form survey.

So, bring it on and tell us the good, the bad, and the yummy! If you can, please send us some pictures that we can include in future updates (email it to: web@gfo.ca).  

For your effort, we’ll draw one lucky name and email the $250 Amazon gift card on June 30, 2025.  Tell your colleagues!