Keep this beat light and short. Do not begin the walk yet.

Invite three or four quick calls: a door, a window, a coat hook, a bin. Revoice each answer as noticing: You noticed the window. What does a window do?

STEM eyes posture: this whole year we notice science, technology and engineering in the places children already know: classroom, yard, play area and home.

Course note (for you, not the board): this course is branded STE (Science, Technology and Engineering). The child-facing habit is still called STEM eyes because it is a memorable looking habit. Maths is not taught as a letter or strand in this course; counting, shape and measure appear later only as tools inside investigations. You do not need to teach the four letters or explain the M today.

Lead with the live model. Name STEM eyes on the board as the main idea. Weave notice and wonder as things we do in the model, not as a three-word glossary dump before any doing.

Modelled noticing cycle (do this live before the walk)

Stand by one ordinary object, for example the classroom radiator or the wall clock. Think aloud in full sentences, in this order so children can copy it on the walk:

• I notice: I notice it is under the window. It feels a bit warm. It does not move.
• I wonder: I wonder how the warm gets inside it.
• I think: I think it helps keep us warm when the weather is cold outside.
• I still wonder: I wonder who turns it on and off.

After the model, say once in plain talk: When we say what we find, we notice. When we ask a question, we wonder. Do not leave a three-term vocabulary block on the board for children to read alone.

Write one short wonder from the class on a sticky note and pin it to the existing noticeboard or wall space that will become the class I wonder wall. Do not prepare a special sheet: the pinned notes are the wall.

Misconception to head off: children may think STEM only means tablets or robots. Gently widen it: a spoon, a zip, a slide and a growing plant all count when we notice what they do. If a colleague asks about the M in STEM, Maths is not a separate strand in this STE course; it appears later only inside counting, shape and measure.

Differentiation: invite quieter pupils to point first, then offer the stem I notice… for them to finish aloud.

No clipboards outdoors. Children remember one favourite find; all formal recording happens on the Investigation Journal page back in class. Agree the route and the stop signals before you leave.

One clear mode at every stop (use this only)

Each stop is the same short pattern so it fits four stops in 14 minutes with 1st Class transitions:

1. Quick partner whisper (about 20–30 seconds): children turn to the person beside them (the child already next to them in the line or cluster; do not re-pair). Stem: I notice… It does…
2. Whole-class sample: take two or three pupil voices, then move on. Fold the wider group in with Do you agree? What else do you notice?

Do not run long open partner talk or free roaming. Watching and listening is real participation.

Suggested route and stops (about 14 minutes, including outdoor transitions and return-and-settle)

Minimum viable route (use this if time is tight): classroom + yard only. Skip a third zone so you still return in time for drawing.

• Classroom (4–5 min): two stops, e.g. the door hinge and the tap or sink. Ask: What do you notice? What does it do? Invite sound or feel once if it fits: Does the hinge squeak? Does the tap feel cold?
• Yard or short corridor-to-yard (about 5–6 min outdoors, including line-up and doors): two stops, e.g. a drain cover, a painted line, a wall, a bin. Revoice STEM words gently: material, move, hold, keep dry. Ask: What does this help us do? What do you wonder? Invite sound or feel once if it fits: Can you hear leaves or wind? Does the wall feel rough or smooth?

End-of-walk recall (still inside these 14 minutes, before you leave the yard or as you pause at the door)

Whole-class call: What will you draw when we get back? Go round quickly so each child names or points to one find while it is fresh. Keep it brisk: a word or short phrase is enough.

Fallback if someone goes blank: offer two real options from today’s stops (the hinge or the drain cover?), or let their partner whisper a reminder. Do not invent a new object they never saw.

Return-and-settle is real time

Line-up, doors, coats and a quick hand wash after outdoor surfaces come out of this 14-minute walk block, not out of the drawing step. Aim to be seated with pages ready so the next step can start on time.

What good noticing sounds like: “The slide is smooth so we go fast,” “The bin lid flips up,” “The leaves wiggle in the wind.” Praise the careful look more than a long answer.

Safety: stay inside agreed boundaries; walking feet; no picking or tasting plants or found objects; count the class in and out.

Weather fallback: if outdoor time is not possible, run a rich indoor noticing trail (cloakroom, corridor window, PE equipment store door) with the same stop pattern, the same end-of-walk recall, and the same two-zone limit.

Homework (optional, oral): tonight notice one thing at home that helps someone do a job, and be ready to tell us what it does.

Start this step only once the class is seated after return-and-settle (that cost sits in the walk timing). Hand out the Investigation Journal page now and name it aloud as you do: This is your drawing page for today. This is the paper recording beat. Ask only for a drawing of one noticed thing and a short label. Do not invent extra columns or boxes on that page.

Protect the drawing: the journal page is the load-bearing record for this lesson. If the walk and settle ran long, keep this full 8 minutes and shorten the next share-and-wall step (cut whole-class shares to two voices and pin fewer sticky notes) rather than cutting the drawing.

If a child still cannot name a find, use the same fallback as the yard recall: two options from today’s stops, or a partner reminder, then draw that.

Support: offer oral stems while you circulate: I noticed… It does… Scribes may write a two- or three-word label for emerging writers. Some pupils may only draw; that is enough at this stage if they can point and tell you.

Look-fors:

• the drawing matches something from the real walk
• the child can say what the thing does when asked
• at least some pupils voice a wonder question

Keep sticky notes ready for the next step so strong wonder questions can move to the wall (you or a scribe will write most of them).

Format: think-pair-share with the person beside them, then three or four whole-class voices (or only two if you are protecting time after a long settle).

Point to the noticeboard or wall space (or a corner of the IWB list if wall space is tight) as you introduce it, so every child can see where the wall is.

Revoice answers so STEM language sticks: notice, does, wonder, help, move, hold.

I wonder wall (teacher/scribe by default): children do not write or pin the notes themselves. You write most sticky notes from children’s spoken wonders, e.g. I wonder how the slide stays up. Confident writers may help if they wish, but do not stall the share waiting for every child to write. Pin the notes on the existing board. Do not prepare a giant pre-made wall sheet; the collection of notes is the wall.

Key idea to land: STEM eyes means we keep noticing ordinary science, technology and engineering at school and asking what things do. This wall will grow across the year.

Misconception: if a child only names a favourite toy with no “what it does,” prompt once: What job does it help with?

Keep the close short and hopeful. Invite two quick ideas for noticing at home (a tap, a zip, a kettle clicking, a bike wheel).

Success look-fors for this lesson:

• pointed to or named something real from the walk
• said what it does, with support if needed
• drew one noticed thing on the Investigation Journal page
• joined the share or offered a wonder for the wall

Leave the I wonder wall visible for the next living-things lessons.

Pack away and wash hands if pupils handled outdoor surfaces.