STEM Resources for Little Builders

Are you trying to integrate more STEM into your classroom?  

Me, too!

I've gathered a collection of STEM resources for littles builders.  These are some of my favorite items for the classroom.

TECHNOLOGY FOR LITTLE BUILDERS 

Our students are digital natives. We know that they are using technology in and out of the home. Why not give them the best technology has to offer! These tools will challenge your students in new ways. 

Bloxels allows you to create your own video game by creating your own character using the Bloxel blocks and the Bloxel Builder app. This game combines both physical building and interactive online play. 

I am excited to use Learning Resources Code & Go Robot during Hour of the Code.  This little bot is a perfect way to introduce coding to my students.  

PlayOsmo has been a classroom staple for a few years. The games allow for collaboration and increases in difficulty. Tangrams and Words are classroom favorites.

ENGINEERING FOR LITTLE BUILDERS

STEM is all about constructing and creating. That is what I love about it.  These engineering tools have endless possibilities and uses.

Snap Circuits are an oldie but goodie. It is great for someone who likes to discover how things work. 

If you are working on force and motion, a Marble Run is a must have tool.  

Brain Flakes, Squigz, ETI Construction Toys, and MagnaFormers are perfect for open ended building. These toys are fantastic for the engineers in our classroom. 

Lastly, don't forget everyday items like cardboard boxes, paper, and other recyclable household materials. They are great for many STEM related projects that your students might work on throughout the school year.  

What I love the most about all of these STEM resources for little builders is that they help students become creators and thinkers.  We all know that this is what our students need the most; opportunities to shine.

Please note: This post contains affiliate links.  

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May the Force Be With You: Teaching Force and Motion

Happy May the Fourth Be With You Day!

I just wanted to quickly share how I used this Star Wars based day to teach force and motion to my class.  

We dedicated the entire morning to exploring force and it how it works via hands-on centers.

First, we talked about our science vocabulary:

force motion push pull

The objective at each center was to discover if and how you used force. They also explored what was the reaction based upon the force used. 

Our centers:

1. Launch Star Wars Angry Birds using various catapults
2. Build a domino maze and knock it down
3. Give stuffed animals a ride on a train
4. Bowling
5. Car races using different ramps and types of cars
6. Use Playdoh shapes to push and pull

We also went outside and pushed each other on the swings and tried to do a pull up on the monkey bars.  Had time permitted, we would have pretended to ride on a roller coaster using the fun GoNoodle video.

It was a great day of learning.  How do you teach force and motion to your kindergarten students?

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Simple Science Weather Experiments

Weather science is fun!

Here are a few simple science experiments that you can use in your classroom to teach about different aspects of weather.  

Each is easy to do but yields high student engagement and learning.

RAINBOW IN A JAR

Rainbows are always a hot topic in my classroom.  For some reason, kindergarteners LOVE rainbows.  They can not get enough of them. They write about them. Draw them and talk about them. 

My class could not believe when I told them that we were going to make a rainbow.  

You'll need some mason jars. 

Fill the jars with water.

Add food coloring.

Assemble in a sunny spot.

Watch your rainbow appear.

RAIN IN A JAR

This simple science weather experiment in always a hit.  (Just look at her mouth in amazement.)

The shaving cream acts as the cloud.

Water in a vase or jar represents the water in our atmosphere, lakes, oceans and other places.

Food coloring is the water vapor which becomes rain.

By creating a rain cloud, you can show how water vapor absorbs in a cloud. Once it is heavy enough, rain begins.

Afterwards, we used our new learning to create an interactive writing piece.  Working with groups of students, I could differentiate the content based on student need.

WIND CATCHER 

Who knew learning about wind could be so fun?! We did three simple science experiments based on wind but these wind catchers were their favorite.

We learned that wind is moving air.  Our wind catchers helped us see it. 

Simply tie a piece of yarn around the handles of a plastic bag to make your wind catcher.  If it is windy enough, you can even run and "fly" your wind catcher. 

There you have it! Simple weather science experiments that will have you and your students engaged!

Happy Learning!

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The Hat and Animals in the Winter

This was our first week back after Winter Break.

Fitting "everything in" has been somewhat of a challenge this school year as we are required to teach our reading series with fidelity.  Well, we had this week "off." As a result, I was able to spend more time on teaching other literature and incorporating a winter theme throughout the day.

Not wanting to have my students loose valuable learning time, I used Hello Two Peas in a Pod's  Phonological Awareness Curriculum for January.  We read The Hat and followed the lesson plan format.  My students were engaged and I loved how easy it was to teach! I could see instantly what my students need in Phonemic Awareness.

At the end of the week, we made Hedgie to go along with the story.

The one on the left is what I intended it to look like.  The one of the right was what we made.  The students painted snow onto a transparency.  While that dried, we created our Hedgie.  The original idea can be found here.  

Students enjoyed fun winter themed literacy centers.  They made sight words using this snowballs created by Little Minds at Work.  Ice fishing was a huge hit!  All you need is a box to go along with this Lakeshore game .  I simply wrote the words onto the fish with a Sharpie.  Lastly, we reviewed rhymes with this mitten hanging center.

Our favorite activity was learning which animals hibernate or migrate.

We learned about dens and made paper bag dens using a lunch bag, cotton and paper plate.  Simple but effective. We turned our buddy reading area into a den.  If you look closely, you can see a few book boxes that students could use during their reading time. 

Finally, we sorted our stuffed animal collection and discussed if it would hibernate or migrate.  This song went along perfectly.  

Overall, it was a productive first week back to school.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Pumpkin Life Cycle

Our class has had a wonderful time learning about pumpkins!  I love how the bulletin board display came altogether.  I could have easily spent another week on this topic.  Here are a few ideas that I used last year.

This year, we focused on the Pumpkin Life Cycle.  I created two projects which my class completed that I am sharing with you.  First, we made a Pumpkin Life wheel similar to the one seen on our bulletin board display.  For the student version, they had an orange cover which when all put together looked like a pumpkin.

I also made an emergent reader for my students to read independently during Daily 5.    

Here are a few books that we've read so far.

Grab your Pumpkin Life Cycle goodies here.  If you like them, leave a comment, follow my blog or Facebook page.

Happy Teaching!

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Fall Is Here

Fall is my favorite time of year.  Inspired by this, we painted the trees using wine corks instead of q-tips as our medium.  The kids did great! Better yet, not one child went home wearing paint.


Today, we made sight word trees.

Each year, I begin the unit singing Leaves are Falling; a remake of a popular song.

Click here for your copy.

Later, we make a class book.

Each child will write their name and draw a picture of themselves.  


Happy Fall!

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Exploring our 5 Senses

Science is so much fun in our classroom!  

We are exploring our 5 Senses through centers.

How It Works:
At each station, I set up five different objects to investigate each sense.

She is making a list of what she sees.

I number the tables and students rotate through each number until that station is finished.  

Tip: Write directly on the table with a Sharpie.
It wipes off clean.

They write a description of what they saw, heard, felt, smelled, or tasted using this journal which I adapted.

We complete the stations over a period of days.  

 I added different scents such as cinnamon oil into the rice.
I didn't want the students to use their sense of vision to tell what it was.

Afterwards, we share our thoughts about the objects.  Once finished, we will create a bubble map of sensory words.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Hodgepodge

Today was a busy day.

We started off the morning with a visit.  We had VIPs. Well, almost!  Maybe VIGPs.  






Then, we completed our bulletin board about whales.  I had intended to hang our whales like the ones from this kindergarten classroom but it turns out that our Fire Marshall wants nothing hanging overhead.  So, I  created this board instead.  It was inspired from here.

Finally, for those teachers who use HeidiSongs, my little one, a more reluctant writer, wrote this during writing time.

Just goes to show you that inspiration can come from anywhere.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Seahorse Art

I am always amazed how Eric Carle is able to tell a story as well as inform young readers.  Mister Seahorse is yet another example of this.  

After learning that many fish fathers take care of the eggs until they hatch, we created seahorses inspired by Eric Carle's artwork.





First, we used transparencies and a green permanent marker to draw our seaweed.  I told them to draw 4 to 5 "stems." Afterwards, I showed them how to draw the leaves. I asked them to try to overlap some leaves.
















Then, we used tissue paper to a cover our seahorse. Need a seahorse? Look here.















Finally, we placed the seahorse under the transparency to camouflage it just like it the book.










My kids are absolutely loving learning about sea animals. Perhaps, it has to do with the fact that we are also doing lots of art projects to go along with this unit.  :)

Happy Learning and Teaching,

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Shark Craft

Here is a little sneak peek of the craft I have planned for tomorrow.  I was inspired by this item.  

Go to PicMonkey to edit your photos for free.

What do you think?  

I think my kids will love the 3D teeth.  I know that I do.

Hope to have more to share soon.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Pumpkins and More

When I saw the brace map on Chalk Talk's blog last year, I knew I wanted to create it with my students. The kids were thrilled when they had a chance to paint with our volunteer mom.  We used their painted orange papers to make all the pumpkins displayed.  The brace maps and life cycles were created over a period of several days due to time.  I love how this bulletin board is visually pleasing but all "packed" with learning.


Today, in our attempt to have a little fun, we created this Pinterest project during math time. I must say, the kids were so highly focused on the project that there was almost no talking.  It always amazes me when silence arises because they are "into" their learning.

And, now, I can look forward to the hustle and bustle of November.   What are you looking forward to most about this month?   For me, it is Thanksgiving (and a week long break).  It is my favorite holiday; a celebration of food and family.  If you'd like to find out what I'm planning on reading or join my linky party, read the post below.

Happy Teaching and Learning!

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Science Experiment Linky Party

Join me in sharing your favorite science experiments and activities from your classroom or home.  I shared one recently here.

The next science lesson we conducted, tied into our mini unit but also served to support the needs of my students.  My class this year is primarily English Language Learners who have limited vocabulary.  I wanted this lesson to be interactive but also helped to build academic vocabulary.

This lesson was conducted over a period of days.  On the first day we used our senses to describe the outside of a coconut.  On the next day we opened up the coconut and repeated the same procedure.

Here is what our findings revealed.

Throughout the process, children were encouraged to think of better words than "circle" or " taste good." This was especially true when investigating the inside.  They easily could say it was white but it took many times of touching the coconut to get someone to say if felt wet and to explain why.  In the future, I plan to conduct a science experiment for each of the senses.  I found some very simple experiments to try.

Now, it's your turn to link up.   Link up, comment and connect with fellow educators about science.

<center><a href=" http://learningwithmrsparker.blogspot.com/2011/09/science-experiment-linky-party.html/"><img border="0" src="http://i836.photobucket.com/albums/zz281/Silvergu/Screenshot2011-09-28at104553PM.png"/></a></center>

Happy Learning and Teaching!

 

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