Naomi Meredith [00:00:00]:

The end of the school year can be crazy and overwhelming in any type of classroom. What are some STEM and science activities that you can do to keep kids engaged and still learning? I'm sharing with you lessons that are easy to prep and that your students will definitely enjoy. And if you are already done with school and you have kids of your own or you are gonna be teaching some summer camp opportunities, these also work well for summer learning. Okay. So, on to the activities. What are some fun things that you can still do at this crazy time of year? I know, like, I've been on both sides. So I was a classroom teacher for 6 years, and then k through 5 STEM. So, I understand the different ways that kids can respond in different spaces.

Naomi Meredith [00:00:54]:

But even as a classroom teacher, doing those hands on things actually are really, really good for kids, and they absolutely love it. And it's a great way to harness their energy and do something really productive. So, what are some kinds of things that you can plan for? First of all, think about some Makerspace challenges. And if you're in the classroom, like, nope. No Makerspace. I can't do it. Think really small. You can use things that you already have in your classroom.

Naomi Meredith [00:01:23]:

You can ask your kids for donations and maybe collect some things at home. You would be surprised how quickly things add up in your own home when it comes to cardboard or different cardboard tubes. They add up really, really fast. Another way I really liked collecting materials that added up very quickly as I put a box in our teacher's lounge, especially when you have no time to cook, you have no energy. There are so many things happening in school and also out of school at this time that freezer meals are a great staple. And so I would put a box in the teacher's lounge, and I wrote a little sign, like, put your empty boxes in here. I'll collect them. And those freezer meal boxes are perfect for building with, because kids can use their regular scissors to cut.

Naomi Meredith [00:02:13]:

And they are small, manageable size, and you didn't really have to do much, send another letter home or anything. This is also a really good way for kids to use up their school supplies before taking them home. So, when you are planning a Makerspace challenge, you can keep it very simple. They don't have to be overly complicated. One way to do this is to look at the standards that you have and the standards that lend themselves perfectly for building. So look for keywords that say create a model, demonstrate, and show the process. And it's okay if this is our review time of science concepts, or maybe there's something you did teach, but it wasn't very hands-on. There is so much to learn about science and look at it in a different way.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:03]:

I still taught with all of the standards in my STEM classroom, even though I knew the kids were learning it in their classroom, but they knew they weren't doing it in STEM ways. So don't feel like, oh, we already did it. No. There's so much to learn about science. Who knows if kids grasped it the first time? Do it again in a new way. You can also do this on the flip side, so we have that nonfiction way. Think about STEM and stories. This is a really great way where kids to build and solve a problem in the story or create an alternate ending.

Naomi Meredith [00:03:35]:

They can create a new solution. One way I know this isn't summer, but this is one that came off the top of my head. But think about the story of the gingerbread man. A traditional story where the gingerbread man goes in the water, and the wolf is like, oh, I'll, or the fox will help you. I'll help you. And, sadly, the gingerbread man didn't exist. So what if the gingerbread man was a little bit smart, had some engineering skills, and students could build a boat to help the gingerbread man get across? So, just a quick example there, pretty, pretty fun. Another way that you can do this Makerspace is I actually did this at the end of the year.

Naomi Meredith [00:04:16]:

I purposely tried it out brand new at the end of the year because I wanted to do Makerspace, and it was a great success. I did a whole STEMUSEMENT PARK theme, so every grade level was exploring force and motion, and had a different Makerspace challenge of a different area of the park, and they were building to solve that problem. It was amazing. Kids were engaged. It was a great way to clean out my supplies and get it all restocked and cleaned out and ready to go for the next year. So, I'm telling you, Makerspace is so much fun at the end of the year. Another way that you can keep kids engaged during this busy time is to take them outside. Yes, to play.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:00]:

We know that. We want to enjoy the air, fresh air. Here in Colorado, our weather is so crazy in the spring, it's hit or miss. But there is so much science outside. Maybe you do something, they have a nature journal where they're making observations, and you go out at the same time every day and see if there are things that they notice. And it could even be tracking the weather. I recently just got a bird feeder at my house and, that could be something, too. You could build a bird feeder in Makerspace.

Naomi Meredith [00:05:30]:

Bonus lesson for you. I just got a bird feeder at my house, and I actually had to move the bird feeder because in the first location, all the squirrels thought it was their own buffet, and they were fighting over the food. So I had to move it where the squirrels can't get it. And I got so excited when I've got my first two birds in my little feeder, and I could even I'm really trying to figure out what kind of birds they are. I need that look a little bit closer. So you could do the same thing with your kids. Also, along with that, if you're making observations, you can explore shadows and bring some chalk out there. Again, go out at different times of day and have kids trace each other, or maybe you have an object that they have to find the shadow and notice where how the shadow changes at different types of day, kinda like a sundial.

Naomi Meredith [00:06:20]:

You could notice bugs safely. Maybe, depending on where you live, you might know where to look for. Something that I've done I do this actually at the beginning of the year, but it would work very well at the end of the year. It's having a whole STEM survival camp theme where part of their building challenges, they actually have to go outside and find their materials. So you can even think about combining that Makerspace idea. Is there a way can they get materials from the outdoors to build their projects? And lastly, another way to keep students engaged, but you also would like a calm transition activity that is still learning. I did this all the time when I taught 3rd grade. Is and this is also really good too.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:03]:

If you come back from a field trip, it's not as stimulating as a show. But podcasts for kids are really, really great and a good use of having them practice their listening comprehension. You probably are doing read alouds in your classroom already, and podcasts are very similar, but even they can have more audio elements where it's kinda like watching a show, but you're listening and really comprehending what is happening. A great way to get started with a podcast is to have students draw what they visualize. They can do this on paper. I actually like to do this on Seesaw. It's free to get started. This is not an ad.

Naomi Meredith [00:07:45]:

I just love using it. But I would link in Seesaw 3 different episodes that were related to weather. That's what we were studying. Students got to choose their episode and then draw what they were visualizing. They could turn in multiple pages as they listened, but it was really, really cool and helped them think about the weather in a different way. You can also have guided comprehension questions that are related to the episode. So maybe you already pre listened to it. You can come up with some questions you guys are answering along the way.

Naomi Meredith [00:08:16]:

And then if it's your first time too with podcast, it is something to help students learn how to listen. And so you can even break up the podcast into chunks if it's their first time, so you could listen to a little bit each day. My favorite ones to use with kids are science-based, is brains on, super fun, tumble science, similar, similar vibes, different people. And then, I'm very biased, but my podcast for kids the STEM Career Quest podcast, where I interview people in STEM careers. So as a recap, the 3 ways that we talked about ways to keep kids engaged is trying out Makerspace challenges, taking your kids outside by making it a learning experience, and trying out podcasts. If you really want something low prep and you were really interested in that podcast idea, for my STEM Career Quest podcast, I've been really focusing on it from the beginning to make it very educational. And so, for every single episode, there are listening comprehension guides that are specific to that episode. So there are career quests where kids actually have to listen for the answer, and then I reveal the answers at the end.

Naomi Meredith [00:09:32]:

There are some fun facts about the topic. There are there is a video and audio version, so you can choose your own adventure. There are, slides of the video version that where it is broken up into those chunks, so you don't have to keep track of where you are. You can listen to or watch that segment to really go through that process throughout the week. Also, these are all inside my STEM Career Quest club. You also get a paired comprehension guide or paired stem activities. Yes, you get comprehension guides, but paired stem activities that go along with each episode so you can make those connections. A new feature that we just added is on demand virtual field trips.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:14]:

So it's an hour-long experience where you get to have me in your classroom watch at any time. There are guided activities that are differentiated and leveled that you can print out, and it's a visual interactive experience where they're not sitting, but there's an activity to go along with it. If this sounds perfect for you, you can find out more about the club at my website, naomimeridith.com. Click on the little tab that says clubs and then STEM Career Quest Club. It is all laid out for you, and it's always linked in the episode show notes for every single episode. Thank you so much for joining me. I hope this gives you some inspiration and some fun ideas to make the end of the year not so overwhelming. You can always send me a DM on Instagram.

Naomi Meredith [00:10:58]:

You can find me at Naomi Meredith_. Mention my website, Naomi Meredith.com, and you can find all the links to the things. But I would love to hear from you if you have any questions, and enjoy the rest of your school year.