Where the Wild Things Are...

Everyone knows the classic Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. Kindergarteners love it when I read to them and a building challenge to follow. While reading sometimes I like to make it a bit interactive. Watch this...

It was interesting to watch them learn new vocabulary like gnash their terrible teeth and rolling their terrible eyes. 

After reading the book and talking about the beginning, middle, and end I presented the challenge of building a boat out of toothpicks and cut-up pool noodles.  We talked about safety of toothpicks and I made them promise with their right hand up they would stick themselves or their friends. You can never be too careful. We then talked about how could you build with these materials and I take ideas until someone says you can stick the toothpicks in the pool noodles to connect pieces. I then demonstrate how to take the boat over to the water, test the boat, and how to not get water all over the place. Their faces when they find out they get to test it out in water are priceless!

The kinders had fun with this one and it was a great introduction to STEM challenges with a literacy start. Thank you Teach Outside the Box for the lesson.

Hour of Code

Each year we participate in Hour of Code. It looks different across the grade levels and we are building our program each year. I love reading about other classrooms through blogs and my Twitter feed.  We are constantly learning how STEM fits in to our daily lives and Hour of Code is a perfect fit. Coding with kindergarteners included coming up with a dance routine. We learned some moves and they chose the sequence-with help from random students and off we went. Check out these moves.

In first and second grade we worked with Botlogic to get our robot home. It was so easy to Air Drop this website to students on our iPads. We talked about various ways to get the robot home by creating different paths using arrows. As we progressed the moves became limited by number and obstacles to overcome. It was a great way for children to sequence their moves and perseverance as it got tougher to move through the levels.

The first video above I was pointing to the movements and actually cueing the students on the sequence of moves. First grade made the leap to watching me point and knowing the appropriate moves. It is exciting to see the progression with students K-2 and coding.

Shelter Building

Hurricane Season is a very real thing here in Florida! My parents lost their house to Hurricane Andrew while my brother and I were at Florida State University. It was devastating to see what a hurricane can do to a home, a family, and a community.  There are so many things that are different for Floridians after Hurricane Andrew. I am sure STEM careers has something to do with that right?
Our study started with learning about hurricanes and the different levels. Next came the challenge to build a shelter to keep your family dry with limited materials with some choice. I introduced the materials with a $ amount attached to each. We formed groups to then brainstorm ideas of shelters but wait there was a budget of only $10. Collaboration in groups was an experience for the students. It is sometimes difficult to show your diagram to others, share thoughts behind the design, and then decide which pieces of each you will use for building. This is a process and teaching the students to go through this process takes time. Each grouping is different so there lies another opportunity to learn from another and grow as STEM student. I love watching the students grow throughout the years. Building seems to be the most fun time for students. They are eager to put their plans into action! Materials are flying off the carts and out of the boxes. Teaching students how to use tape is something I learned early on in teaching STEM. I cannot tell  you the number of times A student has used a 4 inch piece of tape to then apply in vertically rather than horizontal and waste tape. Some projects I limit the tape but this build I did not. Students could opt for wax paper, aluminum foil and color paper but those priced were for individual sheets. 

Well maybe the testing is the BEST part...To meet the challenge was to keep the family dry. Things to think about were yes you needed a roof but a floor for your shelter? way in and out? what materials to use? They knew I would use a watering can to create a "hurricane". I know the wind was missing but we talked about how that would look as well.  I do have some videos of the moments when we soaked the shelters. The reflection piece is what I should have filmed so you could see and hear their learning and maybe just maybe one of them will create something to help families during hurricane season.

4th grade Mystery Science Rock Study

The study of rocks in 4th grade includes erosion and weathering. Often there is confusion on the concepts and hands on activities prove to make experiences stick out in a child's mind. In comes Mystery Science! The start of the unit is "Could a Volcano Pop Up in Your Backyard?" I love to see their faces when the question is posed and the video launches in to the story of Paricutin. We take a poll and they are pretty sure it could never happen but soon doubt creeps in and then you have them! Partners are  picked and they must graph volcanos around the world and put the maps together.

This is a great activity and the discussion that comes from their observations is the best part. The lesson is so well organized and fits the time frame perfect.  The next lesson deals with volcano classification and we experiment with thin vs thick lava.

Here they are in action.

They are so engaged and working with one another to test out the samples.  Again the conversation that happens is my favorite part of the lesson.  If you haven't tried out Mystery Science you can give it a free trial and then see for yourself how well likes the lessons are for all age groups.  

The third lesson leads students to wonder will a mountain last forever? Just watch...

Needless to say we had fun finding out!

2019 Annual Fishing Tournament

We are spoiled by our Coaches! Each year our school meets under the Dunlawton Bridge for some fishing, hot dog lunch and some fellowship outside school.  The Coaches use funds to purchase raffle prizes to include trophies, sporting equipment and hot dogs for everyone! The kids look forward to it every year and we grow numbers depending on the local sporting events.  Moms, dads, and even grandparents are baiting hooks and chatting away with one another along the dock. It is a fun time for everyone and the smiles are the best part.  The fish are caught and released right back into the river so no harm came to the fish caught.   Check out the smiles in this video of students, teacher and parents.

CTE-PLC

What is CTE? Career and Technical Education is a broad branch to cover all the technology courses and certifications in a district. Students in elementary are exposed to an introduction of technology to include basic operation functions, Microsoft Suite-in our district, and fundamentals of web browsers. I was blessed to find our elementary CTE-PLC group my second year into teaching STEM as a special area. What an amazing group of educators! I live for the meetings where we share curriculum ideas, websites, and ideas to implement to further our students in technology. Not every school has an introduction to technology course so we are a group of about 15 that regularly meet or even chat in Teams troubleshooting and sharing. Our leader is the famous Debra Dumas and she is a gem! We try to meet in one of our classrooms and that is amazing for photos and ideas. Yet with drive time we are sometimes on a short schedule so she found a neutral spot for us to meet-Dave & Buster's!!

YES you read that correctly. Did you know they have wifi and a small conference room where we are able to have a webinar with Animation-ish from Fable Vision? It was a perfect setting for a technology group.

The sound was great, food was available, and we were from all over the district in one room. If you need to have technology PD why not at Dave & Buster's.

Debra even had door prizes for us after our meeting.

Penny STEM

Reading Molly Lou Melon is one of my favorite books to share at the beginning of school. She is spunky, loves her grandma, and uses her strength to her advantage. How many drops of water can you drip drop on the top of a penny? How high can you stack pennies? Have you ever made a penny spinner? All in learning our STEM room procedures for following directions, clean up, and even assigning jobs. It is a great get to know you activity and class building exercise.