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From Classroom Teacher to STEAM Teacher with Kelly Hogan [ep.45]

From Classroom Teacher to STEAM Teacher with Kelly Hogan [ep.45]

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Episode Summary

In today’s episode, I chatted with Kelly Hogan from mathematically enthused.
 
Kelly shares her journey from classroom teacher to STEAM teacher and provides tips and tricks for strategies and activities she has incorporated into her classroom.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How Kelly became a STEAM teacher
  • Kelly’s favorite part about teaching STEAM
  • How Kelly structures projects with her students when she sees them once a week
  • How Kelly stores her students’ projects
  • What surprised Kelly about being a STEAM teacher

Meet Kelly Hogan:

Kelly Hogan is a former classroom teacher turned K-6 STEAM teacher on Long Island, NY. Kelly loves all things Math and is passionate about bringing practical, functional Math skills into STEAM lessons. Kelly is a Level 2 Google Certified Educator and loves helping other teachers simplify their day through the use of Google Technology. When she’s not teaching, Kelly loves working out and hanging out with family, friends, her husband, and Rowdy, her puggle.

Connect with Kelly:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

In today’s episode I am chatting with Kelly Hogan from mathematically and I have been chatting with Kelly a bunch on over on Instagram over the past few years when she had a different instagram name and throughout her different teaching positions. Kelly is a former classroom teacher turned K through six STEM teacher in Long Island, New York. She loves all things math and is passionate about bringing practical and functional math skills into her STEM or STEAM lessons. She is a level two Google certified educator and loves helping other teachers simplify their day through the use of Google technology. When she’s not teaching Kelly loves working out and hanging out with her family friends and her husband. And of course, her little Puggle rowdy, this episode was so much fun. And Kelly has such a great experience from being in the classroom and into the STEM space that I know you’re definitely going to connect with. And she even has some awesome tips and tricks of what she has done in her classroom that I definitely want to use and mine and I’m sure you definitely want to use in yours. I can’t wait for you to listen to this interview. 


Naomi Meredith  01:07

Well, Kelly, thank you so much for being here. today. We’re chatting a little bit before this. And you and I have talked over the years and we message each other all the time. And you’re so sweet when you tagged me in your stories. So I knew I had a hat? Well, I asked you a while back, I think when I was first launching, well, you’d be a guest. You’re like, yes, so they finally got it all together, I figured out how to invite guests, blah, blah, blah. And then I’m just so excited to chat with you and your position because I think your story and I don’t know all of it. But I think your story will really resonate with a lot of teachers, because most of us have been teachers who are in the classroom, and then we get thrown into this role. So tell us more about yourself and your background and just how you stepped into your STEAM are STEM will probably say both, but how you stepped into your role.


Kelly Hogan  02:29

So for those who don’t know me, I’m Kelly Hogan and mathematically enthuse on Instagram and Teachers Pay Teachers. And to tell you my full STEM STEAM story. I need to go back like way, way back. So before I was in college, I was looking to Yeah, I was looking to be a teacher from as long as I could remember. And I was preparing to go to school for music education. So I was focusing on being a music teacher and being heavily involved in music ensembles that were curricular and extracurricular. But when I got to college, I realized that that was not necessarily the best fit for me. I loved doing music and being part of ensembles. But I realized that as a teacher, I’d be kind of limited in what I was doing with students and impact was important to me. So I graduated from college in 2005, with my bachelor’s in elementary education, and in New York State Teachers are required to get a master’s degree. Oh, I didn’t know that. Yes, after a certain amount of years now. But the time when I graduated, there was no limitation on how many years you had. I think now, once you graduate, you have to have your masters within about three years. So choosing the Masters was hard for me because at the time in 2005, the big push was reading and literacy. And I knew definitively that I didn’t want my masters in reading and literacy. So I shopped around for a while. And at Hofstra University where I got my masters from at the time they had a program that was elementary maths, science and technology. Oh, basically. Yeah. So it was Elementary, MSP, and it was lots of integrated projects. One of the things I remember very distinctly about that program was that I had to make a scale model bed for a stuffed animal of my choosing. We had to make board games, we had to write papers about the process. I actually fell in love with math through that program, which is kind of interesting. But I had friends who after we graduated, were getting jobs as the science teacher in schools where science was a push in, or where they were just specializing departmentalized at the elementary level. STEAM and STEM wasn’t a thing. It wasn’t a job at the time. And I was just kind of using it to enhance my toolbox and my work in my classroom with my kids. I have taught every classroom grade except for second. It’s So at some point in time, I have taught everything from K through six. And I was happy in the classroom. And then I ended up teaching math as for about a year and learn that that was not my thing. love math, did not love math is. So I was kind of looking around and thinking about where my next career move would be, what would my shift be. And the district right next door to mine had an opening for an elementary scene teacher. And I read all the ballpoint bullet points on the job and was literally floored. Because I was like, that’s the job. That’s that’s the job I won. So they interviewed in April, I was offered the position a couple weeks later. And then I was appointed in May of 2021. And I have been in that STEAM mindset ever since I’ve never looked back. But the irony is that if I go back to my high school experience, I always did want to be especially right here. So it was kind of looping back to what I wanted to do without knowing exactly what I wanted to do. So I definitely am in the right space right now. I love my job. And even on my worst days, it’s so energizing. So it’s the right place for me to be


Naomi Meredith  06:17

Oh, yeah, well, I guess I think really, you’re it’s a very creative space. And I think your experiences definitely lead us into the STEM position. Because I thought about that, too. Like I had a class. In middle school. I wasn’t called STEM because like that term is so new. But it was called technology. But all this stuff was STEM based. So you had all these stations, there’s robotics, there was stop motion, there was like these laser cutter things and like, I’ve always loved science and the hands on stuff. So it just makes sense. Like, so probably stay with you like, oh, this makes sense why I’m in this role, and your masters pretty much is STEM.


Kelly Hogan  06:56

So yes, that that program has evolved. And it’s actually now called masters in elementary STEM education. So it’s it’s really interesting, but I was also always a very love science and technology. So it just, it was the right hat to put on. And it kind of found me at the time that I needed it to find me so I could not be any happier than I am right now.


Naomi Meredith  07:18

Oh, good. I’m so glad. I’m glad it was like a it’s a hard but fun transition.


Kelly Hogan  07:23

Yes. Yes, definitely hard. I would yes, definitely describe it as hard. It is.


Naomi Meredith  07:29

Yeah, it’s hard. I think being a classroom teacher though before I bet you see those two is super valuable. Because you know how to plan you’ve obviously taught all the grades. So I think having that experience instead of there’s nothing wrong with just jumping into sand. But I think having that background and education and classroom management and planning a lesson and figuring it out really, really helps in your role a ton. I see that a ton for myself.


Kelly Hogan  07:54

100% 100%. I can’t imagine coming out of a teacher education program into STEM without having a little bit of classroom time first, because it is amazing how much management it takes.


Naomi Meredith  08:08

Oh, yeah, I that’s like the biggest thing. I’m like, Oh my gosh, it’s like, wow. It’s like sometimes I’m the mean, and I’m not the nicest. Most mostly nice, but sometimes mean. What have been your favorite parts so far? Because I mean, I know you love it, but like, what are your favorite parts about it?


Kelly Hogan  08:31

I don’t want to be too cliche and say everything. But to some degree. Yes, it’s everything. But the most important things that I would stick with is that every day is exciting. My students love to come into the STEAM lab, I would say that out of the 360 students I serve. Maybe I have two students who aren’t engaged when they walk into the STEAM lab a week, which is outstanding, and the energy that they bring in really energizes me. So that is a huge part of it. The 40 minute periods are lovely. They’re I actually they’re a blessing and a curse, kind of like what you were saying about being me. And it’s great to have 40 minutes when it’s a tough day for a certain class and you’re just trying to muscle through it. And then you get to send them back to their teachers. Like you’re being the fun auntie, right. But I also only get to see my students for 40 minutes a week. And that’s the downside is that there’s so much I always want to do in STEAM that I’m always strapped for time. And then I think seeing every kid at school so I teach all the kids in my school K through six, which means I have a relationship with all the kids in the school I have relationships with their siblings, and so far I’ve only been there for this is my second year but I’m already really enjoying seeing kids grow from year to year and how they change. And it’s really just it’s amazing how I was concerned about the show worked periods not being able to build relationships with my students, and you have a different kind of relationship. But it’s so long term. And I love that.


Naomi Meredith  10:08

It’s so true. Like I was talking to my kids by fifth graders. And I think my first year with them for a second, I’m counting on my hands. Second, third, fourth it, so I knew them since first grade. And it was cool. Like, they’re like, We don’t remember the person before. I’m like, Well, that’s nice. But it’s just like, cool to see them over the years. And I have like pictures of them. And it’s just like, that is something you don’t get always get as a classroom teacher, unless you loop with them, which I don’t know why you want to do that. But yeah, it is so cool. I love that. And I didn’t know you only taught was that once a week. So how do you structure your projects? That’s a big, a lot of people do that. Like that’s hard.


Kelly Hogan  10:51

Yes. So to add on to that, I see them 40 minutes a week. And I have one minute between classes.


Naomi Meredith  10:58

What? Yes. Oh, yeah, I need to know what what do you do?


Kelly Hogan  11:02

Which normally means I actually have students waiting outside my room as I’m releasing them. Because as teachers, most of us are on time, if not early. So structure was really important for me. And I knew that in order to be really productive with all grade levels, my structure would have to vary a little bit only seeing them for 40 minutes a week. So my k one, two lessons, especially in the beginning of the year, they get an instant build when they come in, and I have short challenges up on the board where I give them some free build time I give them a material, I try to rotate materials, so they get a new material, usually every month. And they’ll have about three problems they need to solve by building something with their materials, then they get a quick brain break, because my little guys need movement. So if I can beam it with what we’re doing for the day, I theme it with what we’re doing for the day, then I usually have a short video or short read. And then we go back into a challenge. The second half of the year, I stretch out the lessons more to be like one week is our background and plan. And then the next week is our built, then with three through six is a little different. So obviously a lot faster pace because those kids are doing more in depth projects. So they kind of come into a do now and they do now sometimes it’s just as simple as get your materials from last week and chat with your group about what your next steps are. And then I do a mini lesson I know I was just listening to I’m not sure if it was your most recent episode, but your structure of your classes, I was doing like the same thing. I’m thinking about the pie piece, right. So you have the the large IPS is not really teacher time. So I do about five to 10 minutes, some weeks, it’s honestly just reviewing what we did last week and reviewing hot glue safety because that comes down again and again. And then they’ll have about depending on how much talking I do 2020 to 25 solid minutes of building, and then five minutes of cleaning like crazy. And I tried to get them in line early. So really, my time on teaching is about 35 minutes with the cleanup with everything else that’s going on. So the Do Now time is super valuable for me in my structure, because it gets them moving and doing something from the moment they walk in the door. And it helps me transition because I only had one minute on the clock between classes. So sometimes when I’m really desperate, I’m very behind with my littles all instead of reading them the book that we’re working on problem solving from, I’ll play it on YouTube, just to give myself time to set materials as much as I love to read to them. I do sometimes just need the time to swap over from my kids to my little kids, because sometimes my Thursdays especially today happens to be a Thursday when we’re talking to each other. And my Thursdays are I have fourth, second. Sixth, second, fifth. So it’s a lot of flipping materials all day. And then yeah, yes, yes. So if I could choose, I would love to have all of my fourth grades one day and my sixth grades and other day, but that really wouldn’t work in our school. So yeah, so it’s similar structure to what you’re doing. But my pacing, obviously a little bit different, very similar to your structure. However, our projects from whatever do you talk about on the podcast and seeing you share is that your projects last about a week where my projects my student, my fourth graders finished up their mini golf design project and it took them about probably eight weeks, but it was one session per week. Yeah. So I really have to I have to backwards plan a lot. I have to really think about what I want the end of the project to be where I want it to land. So my sixth graders right now are making playable winter winter carnival games for the week before our holiday break. And they have to Have you done without a doubt by Thursday, December 15? Because we’ll start on Friday, December 16. So I really had to count back. And I’m, I’m hoping we’ll make it because I gave them more time than last year. We had Veterans Day on a Friday, and we had our school fundraiser on a Friday that the kids were in all days a lot like Field Day. So when I lose a week with them, it’s it’s a big hit. It’s a big Yeah.


Naomi Meredith  15:22

Oh, yeah, it totally is. It is. But I’m glad I appreciate you like explaining that. Because I think, like I said, your situation is more common. Seeing the kids once a week. And I think some teachers, you might have experienced this struggle with like doing a longer project with the older kids just like how do you structure that. And of course, it’s not perfect all the time. And you just have to figure out how it will work out. And it’s okay, if it takes long. But I think if you have natural breaks in the project, it’s probably really doable, carrying it on every week. It’s not ideal. But you know, your older kids can handle it, too. So how do you store everything? I’m sure people are asking.


Kelly Hogan  16:04

Goodness gracious, I that is my biggest, I would say the biggest pit in the peach, right. So I have a classroom that prior to my arriving there was converted from what used to be our computer room and a very small science lab into one STEAM classroom. So I have a lot of space, I have about 1300 square feet, which in theory sounds like a lot of storage space. Yeah. However, I do have cabinets, and the cabinets are chock full of stuff from science kits and stuff from donations and storing is really hard. And what I learned last year in my first year was that if I’m having kids do cardboard projects, there needs to be one grade level doing a cardboard project at a time. I learned last year that one of the things that I can’t do is have multiple large builds going at the same time. So my fourth grade does a large build the first part of the year, when they’re done, my sixth grade right now is doing a large build than my fifth grade will do a large build next, because I have about three or four storage cabinets that I can use for student storage. And beyond that I don’t really have storage space. So we do a lot of what I call with the little guys deconstruction project. Yeah, put it up for a day, take it down, we’re using paper towel tubes, and we’re taking them back down and putting them away. So that really helps with the space management and the project storage. Last year, I made the mistake of doing a couple of cardboard projects at the same time and I was literally buried in cardboard in the lab and I was miserable.


Kelly Hogan  19:20

So I made that change because I just couldn’t live like that. I am not comfortable with clutter. And that’s been my biggest point of growth in this job is that it is cluttered all of the time. Yeah, my brain is healthy clutter. Yes, it’s healthy clutter, and I generally know where things are. But to the untrained eye, it looks like a hot mess.


Naomi Meredith  19:44

Oh yeah, minus two. It’s like what I’ll say make mistakes get messy and like my room crashed. Like I will say like I have like a big room but also like no storage. So there’s just stuff everywhere. Like I have my wife Lillian, you know you’re good. Getting a wagon soon. I have a wagon just chillin. I have like, all my stuff I have like I’m cutting. I have my Cricut machines out cutting sticker like that’s it’s trashed all the time. But it’s very, very organized. Is there anything else that surprised you? I mean, the storage your time, like what like coming out of the classroom getting into this, you’re like, Whoa.


Kelly Hogan  20:25

I touched on it a little bit earlier. But honestly, it was the amount of classroom management that I took. Because as a fairly established classroom teacher, when I left the classroom to go to AI s already had about 12 years under my belt. And then when I went into STEAM, so now I have 13 years, and I thought, Alright, I have systems, I know my systems pretty well, I feel very comfortable with them. So I thought I had it on lock. And I was just going to walk in and my systems were going to work, and some did, and some didn’t. So what I didn’t realize was how many more systems I needed last year. And this summer, I spent a lot of time just thinking about systems that would help class run smoother, and create a common experience with clear expectations for my students. So I have even more systems this year than I have probably ever had. And could I use a few more? Probably yes. But it actually it feels a lot better in my classroom this year with more systems. So I would say I have at least twice the amount of systems in place that I did when I was a classroom teacher and I didn’t expect it to be that much more.


Naomi Meredith  21:35

Yeah, yeah, I agree. Yeah, I felt the same way. Because I’m all about classroom management. Ever since I started teaching. I was like the biggest thing I had to work on. So I’m like, huge on that. And I had, there’s so many things I did so wrong. My first year like I’ve had, I think I talked about this, like the crayons, I had a big bucket of crayons, someone ate them and spits them out. Like a lot didn’t work. That’s not good. But yeah, I totally agree with you. And it just comes with time and how things are moving in your room? And it depends on the project. Sometimes I think I’ve noticed that for sure. Like, oh, or the grade some grades, do certain things. And some?


Kelly Hogan  22:16

Well, and I was just going to say that. And I think yes, some grades can can manage a lot of materials, some grades can’t manage as many materials. And also from year to year. Sometimes the grades are not the same personalities. They’re not the same kind of maturity. And I’ve had to adapt and change some things even from last year that I did, because they just didn’t fit with the incoming group. And not because they couldn’t meet the expectations. But because the constraints have had to be modified a little bit to require less materials to be used or to simplify some of the building that we were doing or be really specific about how to use scotch tape. Yeah, is something I never thought I would have to teach anyone had to use scotch tape because I I remember using scotch tape as a kid. I am shocked at how many young hands need explicit direct instruction about how to use a tape dispenser. I did not expect that last year, but this year I’m rockin and rollin.


Naomi Meredith  23:16

Yeah, it’s like dangling everywhere. Like no, no. Oh, my goodness. Oh, no,


Kelly Hogan  23:20

We were just making parade balloons today was second grade. So I was teaching them that. If we can’t rip the tape off, we can use our scissors and we can cut the tape off the dispenser. Because otherwise we’ll be there all day trying to take things


Naomi Meredith  23:34

Oh yeah, it’s so funny. You said that was one girl I interviewed as Jen, we were talking about tapes. It’s a real thing. I never thought seriously. I’m all about the tapes.


Kelly Hogan  23:46

I did last year too. That was one of my other big shockers was masking tape kids who couldn’t physically rip the masking tape without like closing it. Like it would just be a string of close tape. And that didn’t even dawn on me as a muscular skill until kids started doing it. And I was like, Oh my gosh, I need to teach them how to rip the tape.


Naomi Meredith  24:10

Yeah, we’re in the business of life skills right here. If any, they don’t learn anything from us, at least they know how to use tape.


Kelly Hogan  24:16

Oh, how do you see they’ll be able to wrap a present like you won’t believe Oh, yeah,


Naomi Meredith  24:20

Actually have a lesson. I’ve done that. And the kids got so mad at me. It was like, they had to find the area and perimeter of the wrapping paper that they were doing and how many pieces of tape. They did choose a method and the kids did not like that project like how to give most kids had it like oh, well this is good life skill. I haven’t done that in a while but it was interesting. Yeah. Oh, I’m


Kelly Hogan  24:47

sure it was.


Naomi Meredith  24:49

I’m so I know because you okay, you leave the nicest feedback on my TPT store. I always know it’s Yeah, and it’s just so kind of Yeah. I like oh, you remember Did you realize someone the other day, but I’m thinking other resources, I know you’ve used what have been some of your favorites of mine, that you’ve seen success in your classroom.


Kelly Hogan  25:10

I’ve used a lot of them. My my favorite, honestly, this year is the Makerspace menu. I know you also have an episode that where you talked about that. So I’m gonna plug you for you, people should go back and listen to that episode if they’re interested in this. So the Makerspace menu has been a huge time saver for me. When I took the same role. Last year, I always had STEAM budgeting on my mind, and my kiddos thinking differently about their tasks and having some strong constraints in place. And in my mind, I was going to create STEAM lab money thing out, and then I heard you talking about it. And I was like, why am I going to sit down and build this all out myself when I can just get the resource and give myself peace of mind. And it’s actually been really great because you have the front of the menu page where you have all of the items set already. So I go in and take out things that I know I either don’t have a lot of that I know it’s in the past have not used in a way that made sense for the material, or something that just doesn’t fit a certain project. And I just have it out. And right now in my classroom. Just this week, I set up like a $1 $2 and a $3 drawer that they pull out of a cart. So that’s cool. And what my kids shot like that. So that’s been huge for me. And like I said, I’ve used a lot last year I use the spider web.


Naomi Meredith  26:45

Oh, yeah, you sent me a video. I remember you tagged me the spider polies.


Kelly Hogan  26:49

Yes. So I did that with my Kindergarten last year Kindergarten this year is not quite ready for that. They’re very young. They’re Yes,


Naomi Meredith  26:56

same.


Kelly Hogan  26:59

Five and six. They’re not ready for that just yet. But when we did push pull, we did that last year that was super fun for them. And my students do a board game project and we use a lot of the materials from your seam survival camp board game unit, but what I do is we don’t use exterior outdoor materials because we do ours in the winter. Oh, perfect. And the thing I’ve been using a lot lately is your Google Classroom Google Suite posters and your hot glue gun holsters. So I use them when I’m teaching my students have glue safety because they don’t really know a lot about a part of the hot glue gun. And so I have them in Google Classroom for instruction but then I also have them actually framed and hanging up in my lap.


Naomi Meredith  27:42

Other frames.


Kelly Hogan  27:46

Listen, they’re printed on cardstock with color they need to stay nice


Naomi Meredith  27:54

Framing the poster that’s adorable. Get to so frame.


Kelly Hogan  27:57

Yes, I will frames and command strip frame hangers are like Velcro. Yeah.


Naomi Meredith  28:06

That makes me so happy like I’m so all these like things have helped to save time. I love them, then you tell like that i i was playing around with it for years. And then I was like, How can I make this makes sense for other people. And I just added an update. I don’t know if you’ve used it yet. I just added it like a few weeks ago. But it’s like a table. So they have to write down like the items how many and then the the total costs which your your math brain would love and I just added it and my kids are like, Oh, I like this update. I’m like perfect.


Kelly Hogan  28:40

I’m chuckling listening to you because I made one really quick because I want them to have a budget ledger. So my kids have been using a budget ledger with I’m gonna download. I’m gonna download the update because I didn’t know it was there.


Naomi Meredith  28:52

No, like they had like a few weeks ago. I’m like, I should probably have this in there. So that’s so funny like, well, you. I’m glad I made you proud with my mask.


Kelly Hogan  29:01

Yeah, I was like, oh, we need a budget ledger. Yes. Because it’s, it’s easier for them to kind of track what they’re spending. So that’s awesome. I’ll download that as I just been printing all of mine from a single project I made for the kids instead of actually adding it to my resources. Not so yeah, so I’ll download that. Yeah, I love the menu. And it’s great. I love what I love about it. And what I love about having budgeting as a constraint in STEM and STEAM is that having done it without the budget last year going to using the budget this year, the change in the conversations and gathering materials is so powerful and so impactful because they’re really evaluating what they actually need versus I’m just going to take it because it’s there. And I find that we’re creating much less waste because of that as well as as a human being but also as a STEAM teacher waste is really important to me and I’m trying to reduce reuse as much as I can. It’s inevitable because we do build out of recycled materials. But I like to think that before we recycle, those materials are kind of getting a second life before they actually become actual recycling or trash. But I do try to reduce waste as much as possible. And the budgeting has really changed that piece.


Naomi Meredith  30:18

Oh, I see that too. And you probably say this, you don’t have to restock as much. And it keeps them super independent. Like they have their little list and they’re very thoughtful. They’re like, Oh, I don’t have enough money for this. And like, while you’re gonna have to make a choice, like that’s how it is, if you’re remodeling a house, you don’t have unlimited money. That’s just, you have to be creative with what you got. I love it, too. I’m like, obsessed, and they don’t have the kids laughing like, I’m the banker, and I’m the cash register. I am all the roles, and they just start laughing.


Kelly Hogan  30:51

When I when I framed it for when I started budgeting with the kids was when you decide you grew up, and you might want to be an engineer. Engineers do have constraints like this when they’re working for companies to engineer video games. They have a finite budget for that video game, maybe? Yeah, they pitch their idea. And their idea, oh my gosh, it’s kind of like my mom. They pitch their idea. And their bosses love it. But then they say, okay, yeah, you can make a mock up for $3,000. And if you can’t do it for $3,000, then you can’t do it. Yeah. So I’m trying to drive home the message that for those who already know, they have an engineering mindset, and they want to be engineers, that it’s not all sunshine and roses, and just making what you want, you have to actually budget and plan. And just think about what you’re doing. And that is part of the Engineering Design Process. But and you you might like this, too. So part of my process for them is, after they budget, I also have them write up a plan, I have them write up from third through sixth, they write the first five steps of their plan. So as a group, they’ll write what they’re doing. And we talked about how we’re not writing, get the materials, but we’re writing attach cardboard, a cardboard. So after they write the first five steps and their budget, because I am working like one week at a time, they’ll submit it to me, I bought a stamp that says building permit approved from Zazzle. It read through their plans, I look at their diagrams and labels. And I look at their budget and just check that their math was right. And I stamp them for approval. And then the next time they come in, they get to shop and they can get whatever change they need and all that kind of good stuff. And it has been so much fun for me honestly, even with the stamp, but it’s really changed the way projects are flowing to have those, you know, and some kids for some kids, yes, they don’t want to work with a plan in front of them. They just kind of want to dive in and go. So that’s why I only said five steps because after those five steps, they are going to dive in and go. But I want them to have something to start with. Because often I found last year that when they didn’t have a place to start definitively. There was a lot of I don’t like this anymore. I want to start again. And I don’t see that as much this year,


Naomi Meredith  33:12

saying, but how does Yeah, cool. I’ve never thought of having it’s almost like writing a how to I never thought of that. That’s so smart. And especially carrying it on the weeks for them. They’re not Oh, I remember I was going to do this like, oh, that’s what I was working on. That is so that is a cool way to plan. That’s like that’s really good.


Kelly Hogan  33:33

I was in part from hearing the I heart STEAM podcast, she had some ideas that were similar to that and my own thinking about it and then the stamp I just kind of got the idea in my head so I it just really took off and that stamp was not cheap, but it was worth the money.


Naomi Meredith  33:53

Yeah. Well on YouTube everyone so you’ll use it a ton. Yes. Well, I appreciate you sharing all this stuff and I’m so excited for I’m no other teachers are gonna want to reach out to you. Because I’m sure that your story is so much like, they’re like mine. But do you Where can they find you and do you have anything you want to share with them? Just that they would love?


Kelly Hogan  34:20

Cool. I am mathematically enthuse, which is a really long handle, but I’m mathematically enthused on Instagram. I’m mathematically enthused on tick tock though I don’t post as much or interact as much on tick tock, but I consume a lot. And mathematically enthused at Gmail. I do have a blog that I am slowly building at mathematically enthused blog.net and I am super responsive on Instagram. So that’s really the best way to get me. But I’m happy to answer any questions that anybody has, especially if they’re considering making the change from classroom into STEAM as I’m sure you are and your role is As someone who’s also a STEAM coach, so I anyone has any questions anyone wants to figure out how to turn a math lesson into something STEM or STEAM just to put some energy into it. I will talk to anyone I also happen to be an extrovert. So there’s, there’s no wrong way to contact me. I’m good.


Naomi Meredith  35:21

Well, I love chatting with you. I appreciate you so much. And I’m just excited for this episode and just where your journey and STEM is going to be. So thank you again for being so excited today.


Kelly Hogan  35:35

Thank you for having me. This was a blast.


Naomi Meredith  35:37

Good. We’ll chat soon. 


Kelly Hogan  35:40

Yes, yes.

 

classroom-teacher-to-steam-teacher

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

robot-ideas-for-winter-time

5 Robot Ideas for Winter Time [ep.44]

5 Robot Ideas for Winter Time [ep.44]

robot-ideas-for-winter-time

Check out the full episode on 5 Robot Ideas for Winter Time:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Looking for some fun robot ideas for wintertime?

In this episode, I will be sharing with you five winter-themed robot lessons that you can teach in your classroom.

These are lessons that I have taught my students that they have absolutely loved, and I know that yours will too. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • 5 winter robot ideas
  • How to implement each of these ideas in your classroom
  • What the children learn during these activities

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

What are some fun robot ideas for wintertime? In this episode, I will be sharing with you five winter-themed robot lessons that you can teach in your classroom. These are lessons that I have taught my students that they have absolutely loved, and I know that yours will too. 


Naomi Meredith  00:48

Before we jump on in not a whole lot of announcements today, but I have one very exciting one. So in 2023, I’m going to be hosting live virtual workshops. I definitely don’t want you to miss out on all the fun. So it will be a great time to learn and connect with other STEM teachers about various topics. Again, I don’t want you to want to miss out on that. So you can join the waitlist here, and you’ll be the first to know when they are open. You can join the waitlist at Naomimeredith.com/workshopwaitlist. 


Naomi Meredith  01:26

For all of the lessons that I’m going to be talking about in this episode, I use various specific robots and a variety of robots in my classroom. However, don’t be so stuck on the robots that I’m going to be talking about for each of these lessons. You can definitely mix in whatever robots you have on hand. For example, if I’m talking about the Sphero robot for a specific lesson, you don’t necessarily have to use it. So it can definitely work with whatever robots you have. Also, I’m just sharing with you a snapshot of how I taught these lessons. For second through fifth grade, I went through the whole Engineering Design Process throughout the week, so this wasn’t a one-day challenge. You could, of course, modify it to be a one-day challenge, but we really went through all the stages of the Engineering Design Process for each of these lessons, besides the Kindergarten and the first one that I will be sharing at the end, the one for Kindergarten and first grade was for a STEM station. So it was one of many activities that we did throughout the week. So just keep that in mind when you’re hearing about these lessons. They’re way more involved than what I’m really talking about. I just wanted to give you an idea for winter theme robotics lessons that you can use Well, of course, during the wintertime, and help spark creativity with all of these fun, different themes. 


Naomi Meredith  02:48

The first robot idea for wintertime is Sphero sleds. As I said, don’t get too caught up in the type of robot that I used. For this lesson. I was inspired by the Iditarod, and I’m not quite sure why I got inspired by it. But I was inspired by the Iditarod, and I’m so glad I picked this topic for this lesson because where I’m at in Colorado, most kids actually don’t know what the Iditarod is. Now once I started talking more about it, they had a little bit of background based on maybe some movies that they had seen. But overall, most kids had no idea what the Iditarod was. In general, if you can pick very obscure topics, that’s going to really help with the engagement. So not only were the kids engaged in the topic of the Iditarod but they were also excited to code and integrate some engineering challenges as well. So a whole lot of things to be engaged in. So basically, the Iditarod is a dog sled race, a very famous one that takes place in Alaska in March. That’s a basic snapshot for you to look up, but the kids are super into it. Of course, if they love animals and dogs like me, like my little dog, Frederick, he could definitely not do a dog sled race, that would not be happening. He doesn’t even like going outside when it’s sprinkling water outside. He will avoid sprinklers when we go on a walk so he would not be an Iditarod dog. But the kids love seeing videos of this. There are a whole lot of great things out there. 


Naomi Meredith  04:24

The Iditarod website is awesome for research. They can research a musher and learn more about that and their sled race, all of that. So students will research and learn about the Iditarod, and then they will design a sled for the robot to pull through the race. So depending on the type of robot, this could definitely vary your materials. When I did this in my class was Sphero. I had red solo cups or similarly shaped cups that they could cut and manipulate plastic straws, paper, and tape, and that was actually it. Those were all the supplies that students had to work with, so they really had to be creative. This actually helped that the weight of the sled wasn’t too heavy so that the robot could pull it while it was being coded. Then students would have to code their robot through the Iditarod race. So I have a race track that has all of the checkpoints that are actually listed in the actual race. Students can learn about that pathway and how treacherous it is, and how there are so many different angles to go through. It’s really fun, too, because depending on their sled design, it really changes how the robot moves and how it affects the race track. This is a really fun challenge. The kids are super engaged and super excited. Then they get to learn about something that they may not have heard about before. 


Naomi Meredith  05:46

The second robot idea for wintertime is Sphero snowflakes. Again, use whatever robot you want. I did this lesson with the fourth grade. Students learn about different types of angles, lines, and symmetry. This is really well represented in snowflakes. There are some awesome videos out there when it comes to the math behind snowflakes and how they have all these different things. It really helps students build on that vocabulary when it comes to lines and angles and even how to measure angles. Depending on the type of robot that you have. You can even code the robot to go in certain angles, which is really helpful as well because we know this is a very hard math concept for students to grasp. So why not implement it within your STEM classroom? After students learn about the math behind snowflakes, they will create their own snowflakes that will be taped onto the floor. In my classroom, I have tiled floors, so I actually have pulled out the sidewalk chalk, and the students will sketch out and measure their snowflake designs on the floor. They were going absolutely nuts that I let them draw on the floor like it’s just chalk is totally fine. 


Naomi Meredith  06:57

So again, there’s some engagement, but students would draw their snowflake design on the floor, and then they would cover it up using masking tape. It’s so much fun too because it looks like Buddy the Elf decorated your classroom for Christmas or the holidays. So you have these fun snowflake designs for the week, and then students can pull them up when they are all finished. You could build your own snowflakes, but it’s way more fun to have the kids build the snowflakes, and they get so creative with their designs. Now, if you get really strict with a snowflake design, where it’s not just a free build, and you really have students measure using protractors and yardsticks, they can actually have a snowflake that is legit symmetrical. They can have parts of their code where they can actually loop the code because there are identical lines at angles. So this, again, is a great application of their math skills and putting it in a concrete way. So this was so much fun for the kids. It really differentiates itself based on its snowflake design and what they create. 


Naomi Meredith  08:41

The third robot idea for wintertime is Winter Games robot mapping. This is a lesson that I did with third grade, and we talked about the Winter Olympics and all the places that they have been located within a certain amount of time. We used Google Earth to explore all of these places and learn a little bit more about them and just some cool facts about the Winter Olympics in general. Students placed them on their maps. Likewise, we realized that the most current Winter Games are all located above the equator, and we talked about the reasoning behind that. So this was a cool integration to actually expose students to Google Earth. Noticing those tools and even practicing their mapping skills, and where things are located on a world map, from there students coded their Ozobots, their little tiny robots to travel to each of the places where the Winter Games were held in the order when they happened. When the robot landed on that location on the map, then it had to perform an action. So this also helped too, where they had to code in chronological order, and in some places, they had to go backward. So it really helped again, really notice the pattern of where things are located in the world. If you did this with larger robots, you could use the same map template that I used, and you could blow it up even bigger. If you Google ways to print a PDF on multiple pages, you could print the map and make it very ginormous. Then you could laminate it if you wanted to and then use larger robots. So don’t feel limited if you can’t use the Ozobots. I know at the time of this recording, those are actually hard to get your hands on. So you can use a variety of different things as well. So it was just a really cool connection to think about the Winter Games, what they are and where they’re located in the world. 


Naomi Meredith  11:37

The fourth robot idea for wintertime is winter animal migration robots. This one was for second grade, and we did mapping in a different way. We talked about different animals, the reasons why they might migrate, and how there are a bunch of animals that decide to migrate during the wintertime. Students are given articles about specific animals that migrate during the winter time that I pre-researched and wrote articles for them, shared the articles in Seesaw, and recorded my voice. So they had all of that information for them. They chose an animal out of that selection that they were most passionate about. Then they had to code their animal with the migration path that it takes during the wintertime on a specific map. So I had all this created for them, they had the specific maps, and they had an idea of the locations of where the animal migrated to. But then they actually had to create the path and where it stopped at different locations. Again, the robot had to perform an action. So this was super engaging for them. We even made the little Ozobots be the animal that was migrating. So I have little pictures that they could tape to the robot, and it was super fun for them to even record the robot in action on Seesaw, I didn’t mention this with the other ones. But I actually have students record a video of their robots in action with Seesaw, which you could do with Flipgrid or whatever you use. But this is a great way for students, I have air quotations, to take their work home because sometimes it’s hard for kids to really talk about what they did in STEM class because we use such obscure things. So I highly recommend taking photos and videos of their work. So then it feels like they are taking the work home, I say you’re taking the work home by taking a picture, it doesn’t always have to be a physical object. So it’s just super fun for this winter animal migration project and all the other projects for them to share the learning with their families. 


Naomi Meredith  13:38

The final robot idea for wintertime is build a snowman robot coding. This was part of a STEM station rotation out of all the different winter-themed STEM challenges that I did throughout the week with the younger students. So this was one of many where we didn’t go through the full Engineering Design Process. Students were given different images of fun snow people and characters that had different accessories on them, they had a full image of that character, and the cards that they were given had all the different parts that would make that specific snowman. From there, students had to code their robots. I use Beebots but again, definitely up to you what robots you would like to use. But students would code their robot to collect the pieces to build that snowman character in the order of how they thought it should be built. So this even included the round ball at the bottom of the snowman, the middle, if there was a middle, would you put the eyes on first before the glasses or would you not so it really helped them with that sequential order of how things are being built. So it’s almost like that reverse engineering where it actually is taken apart for them, and they have to think of what order would it be to build that snowman character. So it was super fun for them. They could definitely take turns, they can take the cards off the grid as soon as they collect them. You can even add in more snowman stories if you would like. But this was a really fun and engaging STEM station. It was quick, it was engaging, but there was plenty for the students to interact with. 


Naomi Meredith  15:16

As a recap, here are the five robot ideas for wintertime that you can implement in your STEM classroom. First, we had Sphero sleds. Next are the Sphero snowflakes. Third are the Winter Games mapping, which I used Ozobots. Fourth, the winter animal migration, again with Ozobots. And fifth, build a snowman coding. I hope you enjoyed all of these different fun winter-themed robotic lessons. Of course, mix in the robots that work best for you, what you have on hand and the age level of your students. If you’re interested in grabbing all these lessons and getting them in full detail, I have them all packaged together nicely in a bundle in my TPT shop. Or you can even purchase the lessons individually based on the students and the needs that you have. But that way, it will save you some time, and then you can see the engagement in your classroom that I saw and mine.

 

robot-ideas-for-winter-time

robot-ideas-for-winter-time

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

best robots for elementary students

Best Robots for Elementary Students [ep.43]

Best Robots for Elementary Students [ep.43]

best robots for elementary students

Check out the full episode on Best Robots for Elementary Students:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Have you been wondering what robots you should buy for your elementary STEM space? 

In this episode, I will be giving my recommendations for the best robots that you should invest in for your elementary classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Dash robot
  • Robots by Sphero
  • Robots for directional coding

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Have you been wondering what robots you should buy for your elementary STEM space? In this episode, I will be giving my recommendations for the best robots that you should invest in for your elementary classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:11

All right, before we jump in, I have a couple of announcements for you to get you going for your day. I am working on planning one of my last few episodes of 2022, and I actually wanted you to help me create it. It’s going to be an Ask Me Anything episode. So you can ask me anything STEM or personally related that you want to know about me, and I will answer it on the show. You can send me a DM on Instagram at Naomimeredith_  or a recorded voice message at Naomimeredith.com/voice. I will answer your questions on the podcast. Also, I have some upcoming virtual workshops that are going to be launching in 2023 that I would love for you to be a part of. It will be a good time to learn and connect with other STEM teachers and about topics that are important to us in the elementary STEM space. You can join the waitlist to be the first to know when they’re open, and you can do that at Naomimeredith.com/workshopwaitlist. All of this will be listed in the show notes, so you don’t have to stop your car or stop what you’re doing. You can go get those links when you’re ready. 


Naomi Meredith  01:56

When it comes to purchasing robots for the classroom, it doesn’t have to be super scary. You really don’t have to buy everything at once. All of the robots that I’m going to be talking about I’m not sponsored currently by any of these companies. But of course, if you’re listening to this and you work for those companies, let me know because I would love to chat. But these are robots that I have used in my elementary STEM space that has definitely been worth the investment and that I could use with hundreds of students for a variety of different lessons. All of these robots have different coding languages, and there are some similarities and differences that we will talk about. So again, these are things that I have used with kids and that have worked well over the years. So let’s jump in. 


Naomi Meredith  02:41

The first robot that I would recommend to use in your STEM space is the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. It is a teal robot that has a round head and then three round parts at the bottom with two wheels. There are different pieces to attach different accessories. This robot is recommended for K through five, which you can definitely use with all of your students, which is a great investment. If you don’t have a whole lot in your budget, you have a robot that you can use with all of your students. I talked a lot about Dash and Wonder Workshop in general with Bryan Miller, who works for the company. Make sure to check out the interview I did with Bryan Miller back in episode 32. At the time of this episode, they’re about $180 per robot, which is slightly pricey, but again, it can be used with all of your students, so it’s worth the investment. When you’re using this with the younger students, there are apps that really help the students understand how the robot works in a more simple coding language. When you move to the second through fifth graders, there is an app where you can use block-based coding to get more into higher-level coding. This robot is super durable and easy to get started with. You just unbox it, turn it on, push through any updates, and you are ready to go. 


Naomi Meredith  04:01

Dash has a rechargeable battery that you can use a power cord with. The battery lasts for a long time. So if you’re using this with multiple classes throughout the day, you might just have to charge Dash in the middle of the day, and you should be good to go the entire day. That’s really awesome, too, as you can code Dash with tablets and Chromebooks. So with the web browser, as long as the device has Bluetooth, you can code Dash, which is awesome because I know not all of us have tablets in our classrooms, so you don’t have to be limited to that option. As I mentioned that there are parts to Dash where you can attach various accessories that are available to purchase separately. There are also these really cool simple attachments that you can put on Dash that students can actually build with LEGO bricks to help them solve their solution. Not only that, Wonder Workshop has an annual competition that you can do as an after-school club and use this robot, and they have various challenges that you can have students problem-solve and collaborate together. The challenges and themes change every year to keep your students excited and engaged year after year. So I definitely recommend this as an after-school club opportunity. Again, this robot is so amazing, it rolls, it can make sounds, and it can perform different actions with those accessories. So again, if you only are able to purchase one type of robot, this guy, Dash, could be your go to.


Naomi Meredith  05:29

You may notice there are other robots that Wonder Workshop offers. They have Dot, which is a smaller robot that doesn’t move but can interact with Dash. Then they have Cue, the older sibling that we like to say. They can interact as well and can perform multiple coding actions that Dash can’t currently do. But you don’t need either one of these robots, Dash is just fine. If you get about 6 to 12 of these for your classroom, you will be set. When you’re first getting started with Dash, they have some coding cards that are excellent for learning the basics of Dash. There are many challenges that students can complete and work on with groups. I love using these when I first get Dash out with my students, and they have no prior background when using these robots. They are perfect challenges that students can progress through. It teaches them how to use the coding language and to see how Dash responds when different coding actions are performed. 


Naomi Meredith  06:30

The second robot that I would recommend for the elementary classroom is the Sphero robot. There are a lot of different variations of these offered by Sphero. There is a Sphero mini that is the size of a golf ball, Sphero bolt, and Sphero Spark Plus. There are a lot of different variations, and they all do about the same thing. So you can always try to purchase the newest version that they have at the time. This robot is shaped like a ball, and it rolls like a ball. They move very, very fast. So different than Dash. Dash has wheels on the bottom, and Sphero rolls around, but it has a very similar coding language. I will say a big difference between the coding of Sphero and Dash is that Sphero can perform more tight turns and angles. So when you have more obstacle courses or things that have corners and turns, Sphero might be the best robot for this. Dash has a bit more of a personality. It’s cuter, I would say. So students really connect with that, that it has a personality. But again, robots are things that perform and automate a task. So it’s really awesome that these companies have different robots, and they look different. Some look like they have a personality, and some don’t. But either way, that’s okay. The goal is to teach students that it’s performing an automated task that you code it to do. There are a lot of different apps that you can use for Sphero. The one that I like to use is the Sphero education app. The coding is a bit more complicated, so if you’re looking for a challenge for students, I would recommend using Sphero with your older students, like fourth, fifth, or even sixth grade, because the coding can be even more complicated. You can talk about the speed and rate of things, again, those lines and angles. So you can even have very specific degrees, which Dash can too. But the way that you can code Sphero can get even more complicated, which is great for students who want more of a challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  08:54

There are other offshoots of Sphero that also I would recommend looking into for your classroom. There is the Sphero rover. It’s not spelled rover, it’s RVR. But this is recommended for even the higher up grades, so sixth grade and beyond. So if you’re a teacher who teaches K through eight, this would be a great investment for you, because the students would be used to the black base coding, like with the Sphero, the ball Sphero. But there is just more of a challenge when it comes to the coding and the capabilities of that robot, and it looks like a little car. So that is pretty exciting as well. Likewise, there’s a younger student offshoot the Sphero Indi, which I talked about in that holiday episode, things to buy for your classroom. This one is really cool, too, because this robot reads the color codes on the cards. So you don’t necessarily need a device to code that robot. But it reads the cards, and then students can put the cards in a different formation on the ground. Then when that robot drives across those colors, it will perform the action. So there’s a whole line of variation. So if you have more room in your budget, I would mix this type of robot in, especially if you teach all the students in the school. It is pretty cool to have a variety of robots for students to experiment with because if you’re using the same one, year after year, they might master that type of coding, then you definitely want to mix up the lessons that you’re doing. So again, if you have more room in your budget, mix these robots in so you have more variety. Students can compare and contrast the type of coding and the different challenges that they’ll perform in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  11:52

The very best robots to use for students in the elementary classroom are robots that use directional coding. There are a lot of options for this type of coding. When I describe directional coding, that would be the code that uses the arrows. So this is definitely used for primary students or pre-readers, where there’s an arrow that shows the direction the robot is going to be moving. These robots definitely are cute, and they have a lot of personality. There are a lot of different options out there, and I’m going to describe the difference between those to help you with your purchasing decision. Because all of our coding languages are pretty much the same thing with the arrows. But here are the differences between those robots. The cheapest option is the code and go mouse. It’s about the size of your fist, and it doesn’t use a screen. It does use batteries that you have to replace. It’s not a rechargeable robot, and they are the cheapest. So if you are on a tight budget, this is the cheapest option. Now, I will say the coding is great. But if you’re using this for hundreds of students, they don’t really last a long time, and they come up with some weird little issues and kinks where it might go the opposite direction. The wheels don’t always work. So if you’re looking for longevity of a product, I wouldn’t really recommend the “mouse.” Love the coding since it’s super simple to use. You could just buy the robot, you don’t need the whole kit that has the squares that come with it. They are these green squares that students can build on, but you don’t really need those. The robot is awesome. If you’re on a tight budget, if you’re a classroom teacher, let’s say you only teach about 25 to 30 kids, definitely invest in this code and go mouse or if you are a parent, perfect for at home. But if you teach hundreds of kids, if you can swing it, I’m gonna give you a couple of different options for that. 


Naomi Meredith  13:49

A robot that does the same exact thing that is more durable, and you don’t have to replace the batteries are the Bee-Bots. Yes, they are pricier, but they are extremely durable and hardly ever have any issues. I’ve had the same ones for years, and I know that they were in my classroom even before I got this job. They were used for years before that. So they are definitely worth the investment if you can splurge a little bit more. This is the top one that I would recommend for primary students, and it is the Blue Bot. The Blue Bot, again, also has the arrows that you press on the robot, the directional coding, it’s see through so it looks just like the Bee-Bot but it’s see through with kind of a bluish tint so students can see inside of the robot and what all of its components are. But not only does it have the screen-free option, it does have the option of being able to be coded by using an iPad. I like having this option because this is a great progressive robot, meaning students could start off in Kindergarten or in first-grade coding by using the arrow keys on the back of the robot, and then at the end of first grade or beginning of second grade, they can code the robot using a tablet connected with Bluetooth. They can code using the arrows on the iPad, but you can also code using block-based coding that is even more simple than the Dash robot, which I love. If you have a variety of robots, then this type of coding with the Blue Bot will help them with the Dash robot. Let’s say you have the Sphero, then if they can master Dash, then they can go with Sphero. So like I said, I love having a variety of robots in my classroom to have that progression of learning. So when I’m teaching robotics, we’re all doing robots at the same time, and we are interacting with robots where there is that progression of learning. There are different challenges along the way that students can explore different coding languages and things that are exciting for them. So that’s why I like having that variety. 


Naomi Meredith  14:08

There’s also another robot that uses directional coding, and that is the Botley robot. There are two versions, there’s the Botley, and then there’s the 2.0, where there are just more capabilities with the Botley. The 2.0 basically does the same thing. Instead of having the arrows on the back of the robot, there is a little remote. Now again, it’s a really great robot, not as terrible as the Bee-Bot with a ton of hands. Just be careful that the remote doesn’t get lost. I haven’t used a bunch of these with a whole class. I’ve used this before, just one robot with a station. So I’m not sure when it comes to the remote if the remote can control all of the Botleys in the room or just the one that comes in the kit. As I said, try it out, and if you know, let me know. But this one is a cheaper option. It’s a little more expensive than the Code-and-Go-Mouse. But cheaper than the Blue Bot and Bee-Bot. It can do a little bit more than the Code-and-Go-Mouse. It has a few more functions. So there’s just a variety of price ranges when it comes to that directional coding. They all do the same thing, perfect for the same grade of students. But if I were to have to choose one, I would choose the Blue Bot robot. 


Naomi Meredith  17:16

As a recap, here are the best robots for elementary students that I would recommend for your classroom. First, we have the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. Next are the different robots that are offered by Sphero. We have the Bolt, and the mini, which are both shaped like a ball that can roll around, there is the Rover RVR, and there is the Indi. Finally, there are robots that use directional coding. So we talked about a variety of those. There’s the Bee-Bot, the Blue Bot, the Code-and-Go-Mouse, and the Botley. I hope that this helps with your decision-making when it comes to the robots to use in your classroom and what is available out there. We will talk more about specific lessons in future episodes. But I don’t want you to be overwhelmed with all the decisions out there. These are ones that I have used with students or ones that I know people have used and that have worked well. So hopefully, this can take out that decision fatigue and find a resource that will work best for your STEM space.

best robots for elementary students

best robots for elementary students

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

winter-stem-activities

5 Winter STEM Activities to Try [ep.42]

5 Winter STEM Activities to Try [ep.42]

winter-stem-activities

Check out the full episode on 5 Winter STEM Activities to Try:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Looking for some fun winter STEM activities?

These five winter-themed challenges are perfect for sub plans, one-day lessons, and even classroom parties.

My students have had a really fun time with these. So you can definitely implement these winter STEM activities in your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Area perimeter wrapping paper challenge
  • Snowman states of matter
  • Toothpicks and snowflakes activity
  • Gingerbread man STEM challenge
  • 10 on the sled book activity

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for some fun winter STEM activities? These five winter-themed challenges are perfect for sub plans, one-day lessons, and even classroom parties. Let’s jump into these five fun winter ideas.  


Naomi Meredith  00:22

I want to try something new with you guys and update you on all the things that are happening over here in my STEM world, so you don’t miss out on anything, especially if you listen to these podcasts live when they come out. So all the fun announcements, and I love a good organizational thing before we jump in. So, first of all, I am planning the last episode of 2022. The podcast is not going away, only planning the last episode for 2022. I actually want you to help me create it. I thought that would be super fun to have a fun episode for the last episode of 2022. So it’s an Ask Me Anything episode. You can ask me anything STEM related or even personal that you want to know about me, and I will answer it on the show. You can send me a DM on Instagram at Naomimeredith_ or you can record me a voice message at Naomimeredith.com/voice. That was so much fun when you guys recorded those voice messages for me. I loved hearing your voice. So either way, totally fine. I’ve already got some over on Instagram already. But let me know what you want to know. If it’s super detailed, I’ll keep it brief. But that will help me even for big episodes, but I think this would be super fun. Thinking about the new year, I am going to start hosting virtual live workshops, of course, they’ll be recorded. But I thought that this would be an awesome time to learn and connect with other STEM teachers because I know how it feels being all alone and also needing a space to collaborate and learn. I don’t want you to miss out on these virtual workshops, so join the waitlist to be the first to know when it’s open. You can join the list at Naomimeredith.com/workshopwaitlist. Of course, all of this is going to be linked in the show notes. So if you’re driving, don’t worry about it, just click on the show notes, and then all that info will be there. So super excited to collaborate even more and make this elementary STEM world smaller. 


Naomi Meredith  02:48

So let’s jump into these winter STEM challenges that I know you’re definitely going to love. My students have had a really fun time with these. So you can definitely take these on into your classroom. Of course, these are also linked in the show notes and will be in my TPT shop. So if you really need to save some time, it is all packaged together for you nicely. The first winter STEM activity to try is an area and perimeter wrapping paper challenge. I used to teach them only three days out of the week when I first got started. So I was always looking for quick activities. Oftentimes, these themed challenges would pop in and would be perfect for the week. All you need for this challenge is some cheap wrapping paper. You can even use butcher paper that is in your classroom that’s a little bit thicker. It’s a little bit harder to wrap with, but if you want to save some time, grab that from your school and some small boxes. If you can make sure all of the boxes are about the same size, this will make the challenge more even for all of the kids so that all of their numbers can be compared but definitely up to you if you don’t really care about that part. 


Naomi Meredith  03:57

So the goal for this challenge is for students will be presented with three different methods for wrapping a gift, so you can look up different videos on YouTube. I have created a few different methods and quick little videos for kids that are included in this resource but show them three different methods for wrapping a gift, and students will choose one of those methods or a method that they already know and then wrap the gift. From there, they’re actually going to unwrap the gift carefully. They’re going to measure the wrapping paper that they used and measure the area and the perimeter. You can have students measure in inches and in centimeters. They can measure in both and then see what are the similarities and differences if you want them to practice different types of measurement. If the kids have the same size box, you can actually record the data using a line plot. Or you can graph all of that data as well. Even further, you can even compare the wrapping method that students use and really talk about what methods are better or worse. 


Naomi Meredith  05:05

This challenge was inspired by a volunteer opportunity I did in high school, which was way long ago. But I did a volunteer opportunity with one of my friends in high school where we were at the mall, and people would bring in their gifts. We would wrap the gifts for free. I think any tips that were collected were for donations. We didn’t receive any money, but it was super fun. I learned how to wrap gifts in a very concise and precise way. So this is really a good challenge for students too because it’s not always a winter challenge wrapping gifts. But I was super shocked. So many kids didn’t know how to wrap gifts. A lot of them were actually getting really frustrated because they had never done this before. Some kids were telling me it was impossible, which, as I said, everything new is hard at first. So this was actually a really good life skill. But again, practicing that area and perimeter in a real-life way and learning which wrapping method might work best and using the least amount of paper. 


Naomi Meredith  07:42

The second winter STEM activity to try is snowman states of matter. One of my all-time favorite books is the snowy day. This is such a cute book. When you read this book it has the three states of matter when it comes to solids, liquids, and gases for water. So reread it with that frame of mind because it will definitely pop up at you. After reading this book with students, you can talk about the three states of matter. So there’s that S in science. Then students can build the different states of matter of a snowman-the solid, liquid, and gas using playdough or modeling clay. I prefer using the Crayola modeling clay that I’ve talked about this in past episodes. It doesn’t dry out, and it can be reused over and over again. It’s not as crumbly as playdough. I get really frustrated with playdough. Sometimes when it gets all crumbled up, the kids don’t put the cap on, I know there are ways that you can re-infuse it with water, blah, blah, blah, but not for me. I don’t have time for that. So the Crayola modeling clay works well for this activity. They can demonstrate their learning by sharing it with other students in the class. Or, if you want to take it even further, you can integrate technologies such as Seesaw, and Flipgrid, all of those things, where they can take a video and talk about how the three states of matter are represented in their snowman. 


Naomi Meredith  09:06

The third winter-themed STEM activity to try is toothpick snowflakes. We know in the older grades, it can get a little bit confusing to remember what the different lines and angles are and how to measure different angles. So why not do that type of lesson in a hands-on way? There is so much science and math behind snowflakes and how they’re naturally created. There are tons of videos that you can check out on YouTube that talk about the symmetry and the math behind a snowflake. After you discuss this and go over key vocabulary, students can create their own unique snowflakes using toothpicks. You can have them tape them together. They can even glue them on paper using liquid glue. After that, they can record the math that is represented, and they’re snowflakes, such as the lines of symmetry and the different types of angles, and they can even measure the angles that are in their design. To have students be really precise with their snowflakes, I would recommend having them measure using a ruler, and then really be thoughtful about their snowflake design. This will actually take longer than you think because students are really trying to be precise with their snowflake design. So this is a great challenge that you can really dive in deeper when talking about those lines and angles. 


Naomi Meredith  10:24

The fourth winter STEM activity to try is a gingerbread man STEM challenge. You can do this if you are reading different variations of the gingerbread man, which is so fun to read all of these different ones. I still have a collection of those books in my classroom, because you know me, I love a good theme, and I love holidays. I love this season and time of year. So after reading different versions of the gingerbread man, you can talk with the kids and say, “What if the gingerbread man had a streak of engineer creativity and decided to create a way to cross the river so that the fox wouldn’t be able to eat it?” This is a great lesson about sinking and floating and noticing what materials will obviously sink or float and why. You can talk even more about the why behind it. Students can engineer a way for the gingerbread man to stay safe and travel safely across the water. You can fill up different buckets of water, I recommend putting these on the floor and having plenty of towels available. Students can engineer their fun designs. When I want students to share their work, I take the videos with my phone quickly and upload them to the students’ journals in Seesaw. I don’t trust kids with technology and water in the same vicinity as each other. So that’s just definitely my recommendation. But this is a really cool way to think of an alternate ending to the original gingerbread man story. 


Naomi Meredith  11:54

The fifth winter STEM activity to try goes along with the story 10 on the sled, and students will be building a sled. After reading this cute counting story, students can create the 10 animals that are in the story. Or you can give them pictures of the 10 animals that are listed, and students can design a sled that can keep all 10 animals on the sled when it’s being tested. You can give students any type of materials that you would like. I like to use popsicle sticks, straws, pipe cleaners, and tape if I’m being nice. Sometimes I won’t use tape, but you can use some tape, and students can engineer their sled and even test it. If you have a giant piece of cardboard, they can test their sleds and see if all 10 animals can stay on top. Now a little trick with the animals is you can put them on unifix cubes, so they’re more chunky. Print little pictures on paper, put them on unifix cubes, and then they can maybe take the animals on or engineer a way to create seat belts or whatever. But this is a cool way to bring this simple counting story to life and make sure that all 10 animals stay on top. 


Naomi Meredith  13:00

As a recap, here are the five winter STEM activities that we talked about in this episode that you can try in your classroom. First, we have the area perimeter wrapping paper challenge. Next are the snowman states of matter. Third, are toothpicks and snowflakes. Fourth is the gingerbread man STEM challenge. Fifth is the 10 on the sled book activity. If you try any of these winter STEM challenges in your classroom, make sure to take pictures and videos of them in action and tag me on Instagram at Naomimeredith_. I would love to see how these go in your classroom. These can all be found in the show notes linked for today, where you can have it all packaged up nicely and have all the things that you’re looking for to have success in your classroom.

winter-stem-activities

winter-stem-activities

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

stem-coach-do

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

What Does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan [ep.40]

stem-coach-do

Check out the full episode on What does a STEM Coach Do? with Becca McMillan:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role?

Or, if you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, this episode is for you.

In today’s episode, I interview my longtime friend Becca McMillan. Becca gives us insight into what a STEM coach does, tips for co-teaching, and lesson plan ideas. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • What a STEM coach does
  • Co-teaching tips
  • STEM lesson ideas

Meet Becca McMillan:

Becca McMillan is a STEM Teacher and Coach at a Title 1 elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for 9 years in all different grade levels, she took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past 4 years, Becca has taught K-5 STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique, flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than being an isolated subject.  Becca believes that STEM education is more than just Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math, it is a mindset that provides engaging, real-world problem-solving experiences for students.

Connect with Becca McMillan:

Instagram: @beccaroniandcheese22

Email: becca.mcmillan22@gmail.com

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Do you teach STEM, but you are exclusively in a co-teaching or coaching role? Well, part of my role in the past included co-teaching along with teaching K through five STEM specials. My longtime friend Becca has more extensive experience when it comes to this role. Becca co-teaches, plans, and coaches exclusively in our building for K through five STEM. You are going to take a lot of valuable information away from this episode when it comes to her role and lesson plan ideas. If you are a classroom teacher and you are looking for ways you can co-teach and plan with an instructional coach in your building, she has some great takeaways for you as well. 


Naomi Meredith  00:40

Becca McMillan is the STEM teacher and coach at a title I elementary school in Colorado. After teaching in the classroom for nine years in all different grade levels. She took on this role as a new passion and challenge. For the past four years, Becca has taught K through five STEM and also coaches teachers to integrate STEM into their classroom curriculum. She is in a unique flexible role that allows her to meet the needs of her school community. Becca plans and co-teaches with teachers, which allows STEM to be applied in all content areas rather than just being an isolated subject. Becca believes that STEM education is more than just science, technology, engineering, and math. It is a mindset that provides engaging real-world problem-solving experiences for students. I’m excited for you to listen to this episode. I adore Becca with all my heart, and I am so glad that you get to hear from her and all of her amazing experiences. 


Naomi Meredith  01:37

Well, thank you, Becca, so much for being here. today. We are on take two, we actually recorded this podcast a while back, and then half of it, they record, so it’s gonna be even better the second time. I’m so excited about this. I’ve known Becca for a long time. I don’t know how long, maybe eight years. Sounds right. Yeah, we kind of knew about each other before we even met. So I worked with a girl at my first school who was getting her Master’s at the same time you were getting your Master’s and so you two connected. Then I ended up applying to the school you were working at to teach. I really wanted to teach Kindergarten, and I ended up getting the third grade. But I got the interview. Then my friend put two and two together. Then you had heard about me before, so then you talked to the principal at the time, and then I ended up getting a job. So I like I remember I made you a plan book. You know, we like emailed or something, and I made a plan book, and I gave you something else, but then we were friends ever since. 


Becca McMillan  03:10

The rest is history.


Naomi Meredith  03:11

The rest is history, in the classroom out of the classroom, and we’ve been taught together. So I am so excited to have you because you have such a unique role. Even though we teach in the same district. Your role is so unique and so cool. So I think other people really resonate with what you do because I know not everybody has their own STEM classroom, they do more of what you do. So if you wouldn’t mind telling us about yourself, your teaching background, and then how you stepped into your unique role in K through five STEM. 


Becca McMillan  03:43

Yeah, so this is my 13th year in education. I’ve taught first, second, third, and fifth in the classroom as an elementary teacher. I did that for nine years. Then this opportunity for this STEM position became available at the school that I moved to after I taught with Naomi at the school where I’m currently at. We had a technology class as part of our specials rotation, and that technology teacher was retiring, and my principal wanted to kind of add more of a STEM aspect to our school, so she transformed the technology position into a STEM position, but we also had lower enrollment, so we didn’t need for specials. So my principal’s goal was to have kind of a STEM teacher/coach role that could be flexible to make STEM more integrated into all of the content areas of the grade levels. So not in the specials rotation but more flexible so that I was available to create projects with teams and with teachers as it became wanted and needed, and based on what kids wanted to learn and do. So yeah, my position is awesome. I feel really lucky, like you said that it’s very unique in the district, which comes with its challenges, but it is also amazing. I love that at our school STEM isn’t necessarily an isolated subject, it’s integrated, and the kids get to do things with the content that they’re learning in real-life problem-solving in a hands-on way. So it’s really fun to get to work with all of the teachers and all of the kids in the school to kind of bring us together, I guess.


Naomi Meredith  05:43

And I love it, too. I know that from what you’ve told me, your principal is really supportive of STEM, which isn’t always the case with admin, so you have a really great admin because she really fights for your position. I know that you’re a valuable asset in this school, but it’s so cool too. We’ll talk about some of the lessons that you do with the kids. But like you said that they are integrated. I feel like the lessons you teach are more authentic because a lot of times, we’ll see lessons just even on social media that “Oh, we played with robots today, good job.” But really, what you’re doing is you’re really looking at the standards, you’re using that classroom experience. Then the lessons that you’re doing are real in your work in Title One, too. So you’ve gotten your kids to do some amazing things. We’ve talked about this with other guests on the podcast, like having them shine in really unique ways. So with your co-teaching and your role, how does that work out? When you’re implementing lessons with the teachers, do you have a set schedule? How do you set that all up with the teachers in your building? 


Becca McMillan  06:45

Yeah, so my schedule is hardly ever the same from day to day, which I love most of the time, because it keeps me on my toes. It’s all based on the needs and wants of the teachers and the kids. So sometimes it’s me knowing what content is coming up for teachers and suggesting trying something different, or sometimes it’s teachers coming to me and saying, “Hey, I have this unit coming up, and I’m wanting to make it more engaging for the students. What are some ideas you have for that?” Sometimes it’s let’s give some extra plan time to teachers who need it in a busy time of the year like parent-teacher conferences. So it’s nice to be able to be flexible based on what our school community needs and wants. So one of the things that have been helpful is if I’m doing a project with teachers, and they’re wanting to try something new, it’s helpful to have an extra adult in the classroom to make it feel less scary for the teacher and for the kids. I think it is important to create a safe space where kids and adults can take risks and try new things that maybe they wouldn’t have tried on their own. So sometimes, I’ll even help with a project. If there’s a new tool that we need to learn, a tool to review or say we are using the robots in a project, I’ll take the kids for an hour, give the teacher some time to breathe, and I’ll review the tool with them. Then the teacher and I will co-teach our content, which has been beneficial in many different ways for the teachers at my school and the kids. 


Naomi Meredith  08:37

That’s super smart, too, because since you don’t see them in a specialist rotation, they need a little bit of experience just using the tool just as a tool. So that’s really smart. Where you build that background, the expectation, so then the classroom teacher may not know those things. So then, when you come back, you’re like, “Hey, we are ready to jump right in. We’re ready to go.” I know you’ve done something too because you’re also the tech person like me where you manage the school-wide technology. You did something really cool at lunchtime with the boxlight touchscreen boards. What did you do to help teachers with that?


Becca McMillan  09:15

Yeah, we did a lunch and learn because, as we know, sometimes it is hard to find time for teachers to meet because there’s a lot happening. So we did this at the beginning of the school year during our teacher work week. We had an hour-long optional lunch and learn. We had just got the new box light interactive panels for all of our classroom teachers. This is something that they’re using every day, so I knew they would need some direct instruction with that. So Naomi and I actually took a training together, and then I took what I learned and did a little more research based on what I knew teachers would need and created just a lunch and learn experience with a note catcher. I’ve organized it so that it would be easy for teachers to look at the notes and remember what they needed to press or do to use the screen when I’m not there. So that was how we did that training. And yeah, teachers are doing awesome with those interactive panels. 


Naomi Meredith  10:23

Oh, and your slides are really good because I use them to help train my staff. They’re like, wait, go back to that slide. So it was just very simple. You took screenshots, had little arrows, and it was really helpful. You even help my building. Yeah, well, I know when I’m in professional development and I take notes, I oftentimes do not remember what I meant if I’m just writing down scribbled notes. So I wanted it to be notes that teachers could take away and use later when they had the time. Oh, definitely. So with that, back to the lessons that you teach, have you had any favorites that you’ve taught in this role? I’m sure it’s really hard to choose because you do a lot of cool stuff. But you mix it up to like, is there anything cool that you’ve done with your kids that you think other teachers would love hearing about? 


Becca McMillan  11:10

Yeah, definitely. Last year, my favorite project that I did with the fourth-grade team. Some of their new science standards are not necessarily new but new-ish. The Next Generation Science Standards talk about learning the internal and external structures of a living creature that helps it to survive. So we did a project where the students first learned about lots of living things and what their internal and external structures were. Then their kind of culminating project was to create an imaginary creature that had structures that helped it to survive. They went through the whole Engineering Design Process of imagining solutions and creating a plan. Next, we built, out of recyclable materials, their creature, and they also used our hummingbird robotics, which is really cool. They come in servos, or motors, and different things that kids can then code to make their recyclable creations come to life. Then we hosted a zoo for the school, so groups of kids could show off their creatures that they created and had their code ready to go so they could flap their wings or light up their eyeballs and explain how the creature protected itself and used its structures to survive.


Naomi Meredith  12:45

 I remember you showing me the videos there. It was cute. And now what I love is younger students ask like when are we going to do we get to do that in fourth grade, and we’re going to have our own Zoo. So that’s what I love. Was the coding part hard with that because I haven’t tried the hummingbird robotics? I think last time when we first recorded this, I was waiting to see if I got the grant, and I did. So I will get to try these out. Was that hard? Because we’re used to building stuff, but you took it to the next step where they’re actually building a robot. Was that a hard process for you?


Becca McMillan  14:18

It was. I remember taking a kit home of the robotics and when trying to build something and then doing my own code. I eventually figured it out. But it is hard to learn something new. So I was a little nervous going into the project, not knowing everything. But then what was so cool was I didn’t need to know everything, the kids, it’s kind of an innate thing. I think this generation figures it out. Before each day of creating, we would gather all the fourth graders in the library and have groups share what they learned about coding the hummingbird robotics, and then they would become the experts. So I remember one group figured out how to make their creature make noise. So then they were the experts to go help their kids if they wanted to do that with their creature.


Naomi Meredith  15:49

Oh, that’s so smart. You’re gonna have some teachers like, “Oh, you’re the one kid who knows all the tech stuff.” Like you had, it just very differentiated itself. Like, oh, you figure it out. Alright, go ask this kid like is more on the spot because you never know. Yeah, so that’s so good. I’m gonna have to steal some of those pictures and videos to put in the show notes for this because it’s hard to visualize what you’re talking about. But it’s super cool. Like, it’s really cool what they did with her. I know your little kids, they’re not there yet. What have you done with your little kids that’s been a cool project?


Becca McMillan  16:27

Yeah, something that is happening right now, which I am really excited about, is with one of our second-grade teachers. She was hoping to find more of an authentic audience for her kids with their writing, which one of our school-wide goals is to help kids grow in writing. Also, one of her personal goals is to use Seesaw in more authentic ways. So she reached out asking what my suggestions were. Something I had always wanted to try and never had was connect using the Seesaw blog with another classroom somewhere else outside of Colorado. It just so happened that the writing that they were doing at the time was descriptive essays about Colorado. So we were imagining that it would be really cool to connect with a class outside of Colorado. That’s an authentic audience of teaching them about where we live, and then hopefully, they would teach us about where they live. So I posted on the Seesaw ambassador Facebook group, just hoping to find someone that would want to connect, and the teacher that ended up reaching out was a teacher in Tanzania. So she is actually from Colorado, and moved out there and teaches third grade in Tanzania. So now the Seesaw blogs are connected, and they just happen to also be writing informational texts about Tanzania. It just worked out really cool. Kids read their descriptive essays in front of a green screen, and then they picked a Colorado background. So that was how they published their writing. Then we posted it on Seesaw for their pen pal to listen to, and they also did an introduction of themselves. So that’s been a fun way to integrate writing, technology, global citizenship, and building relationships. 


Naomi Meredith  18:32

Yeah, and that’s a real authentic audience because I talk about Seesaw all the time in this podcast. But we know on Seesaw, it’s usually their peers, their parents, and their teacher who can see it, which is really great. But it’s someone who’s their age across the world. I bet that would motivate kids who have a hard time staying motivated with writing and might not be their favorite, but they know that someone their age far, far away is going to hear it, and they have to produce something because they’re going to produce something for that. 


Becca McMillan  19:00

Exactly. They’re loving it. They’re learning about Tanzania, and now too, which I don’t think they ever would have before, and with kids their age that actually live there. 


Naomi Meredith  19:11

That is so cool. That is amazing. 


Becca McMillan  19:14

Making the world a smaller place. 


Naomi Meredith  19:16

Yeah, I love that. I know like you’re super connected in your school, too. I mean, it’s super cool that you’re in the classrooms all the time. I know your co-teacher, the PE teacher, and that you’ve even brought your whole school community altogether. Like even having that authentic audience. Tell me more about what you’ve been doing this school year. I talked you into it, but you’ve been loving it. 


Becca McMillan  19:40

So Naomi was my inspiration to start school-wide news broadcasts. Naomi is doing the same at her school. So we have a performing arts teacher this year instead of a music teacher, which has been really cool for our school as well, and she was on board with starting the news broadcast as well because that’s in her wheelhouse. So it was nice to go into it having a partner to do that with. We’ve become this team where she organizes the kids to record the news, and then I edit with some help from the kids. We’re slowly putting more responsibility on the kids to do all of the recording jobs and the editing jobs. What I love is that it is really bringing our school community together. We started out recording teachers to do the news, and then hilarious just seeing the younger kids now, the older kids, the teachers, and vice versa. We were having teachers do book recommendations, and I’ve seen multiple times kids who aren’t in that grade level go to that teacher and ask to borrow their book. So that’s been really heartwarming. We’ve come up with some quirky segments we just started, would you rather Wednesday, and two of our fifth-grade teachers are hilarious and give us all kinds of bloopers. But they did our first would you rather Wednesday, and it’s just an authentic way of also getting kids to talk about their opinions, kind of a little debate, which is only going to help their writing as well and bring their classes together to talk about those topics. Yeah, it’s been fun. Kids are begging to be on the news there. So it’s just been strengthening our school community even more. It’s been really fun to be on the other side of it and connect people in that way too. 


Naomi Meredith  21:46

Oh, totally, it’s one of the most favorite clubs I’ve ever done. I’ve done clubs my first year teaching, and it’s like one of those things. You’re building the airplane while it’s flying. I started last year. Like when I was telling you like, Well, we tried this, and then this, when you probably see the same thing. I have to do a whole podcast episode about how to set it up. But yeah, it’s pre-recorded, not live. You do pre-recorded also, which I highly recommend just thinking about your time. I feel like when you do things live, it’s just something’s bound to not work. But it’s so much fun. It’s such a cool thing too, and your role. It’s almost like having your own class again, have you felt that way?


Becca McMillan  22:27

Yeah, because now I have my editing kids, they come down at their lunch and recess time on certain days. Even if I have a class in the Makerspace or I’m doing a project, they still know where to find me. They can sit and do their editing work while I am doing what I need to do. So that’s been a nice way of building independence for them, too, in our little crew. They’re really proud to be on that editing crew and the same with the kids who report the news as well.


Naomi Meredith  22:59

Oh, yeah, it’s living their YouTube dreams. Even though it’s not on YouTube, they’re living it out. So I know that I mean, with any role, it’s not all perfect and beautiful. Everything has its challenges. Is there any advice that you would give to somebody who might be in a similar role to you? Anything that surprised you, since it can be a little bit scary working with teachers and then making connections with kids? What would you say to someone who’s doing something like you or wants to get started in that role? 


Becca McMillan  23:30

Yeah, I think with any big change, it’s important to just start small and grow from there when you’re doing anything new. I’ve leaned on Naomi a ton and other people that are in similar positions. I think that’s super important. Reach out to people who have similar mindsets that you can learn from and grow from, and then put your own twist on things and be inspired by other professionals. I would say that in a role like mine, it was really important to capitalize on teachers and students who were already ready to try new things and get on the STEM bandwagon and share the strengths and the successes that we’ve had to inspire other people to take those risks and try new things as well. That’s how it’s spread at my school. That would be my advice in a similar position. But with anything, it’s a big change or something new. I think that it’s important to start with the positive, and then it will spread like wildfire.


Naomi Meredith  24:37

Oh, I think so. I mean, you’re doing a great job. As I said, your principal wants to keep you and does everything she can to keep you around. So I know that you’re doing a great job, and as I said, I love seeing the pictures and videos you send me or text me. We always text all sorts of that stuff, but I love the STEM stuff especially because it’s just so exciting to see what you’re doing. You have a really cool role. So I think your advice is really good for people because it can be like, I don’t know, some teachers might not like to be told what to do, but you’re not someone who tells people what to do. You’re very good at collaborating and meeting them where they’re at. So I think you’re the perfect person for the role with your growth mindset and willingness to try new things all the time. So yeah, great advice. So if teachers wanted to connect with you, what would be the best way they could reach out if they have any questions? 


Becca McMillan  24:42

They can reach out to me on Instagram at beccaroniandcheese22. I’m happy to get any emails. You are welcome to email me. Yeah, I’m happy to connect.


Naomi Meredith  25:44

Perfect. Well, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from some people. I know they got a lot of good ideas from the lessons you talked about. I’ll grab some pictures from you, too, especially those hummingbirds. Those are super cool. Yeah. But thank you so much again for take two. It all worked out. I would have never known this is a second time. But I appreciate your time. I’ll have to have you come back and talk about some other things. I know there’s something else I want to ask you about in another episode.


Becca McMillan  26:10

That’d be great!


Naomi Meredith  26:13

Yes, please. Perfect. Well, thanks again, Becca.


Becca McMillan  26:16

Thank you for having me!

stem-coach-do

STEM coach do

STEM coach do

STEM coach do

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

best STEM toys 2022

Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom [ep.39]

Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom [ep.39]

best STEM toys 2022

Check out the full episode on Best STEM Toys 2022 for Your Classroom:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

 

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

The holidays are creeping in, and it’s a great time to look for deals to purchase new items for your STEM space or even start creating your wish list of must-have items.

In this episode, I share five of the best STEM toys in 2022 for your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Sphero Indi
  • Items to improve video and audio production
  • Osmo Genius Kit
  • Lego Education Spike Essential Kit
  • 3D Printer

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

The holidays are creeping in, and it’s a great time to look for deals to purchase new items for your STEM space, or even start creating your wish list of must-have items. In this episode, I’ll be sharing with you five of the best STEM toys in 2022 for your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:49

Before we jump into all of these goodies, I have put together an extensive holiday shopping guide for 2022 that you can download for free and created some special Black Friday deals for you to check out and up your game and your STEM classroom. You can grab all of this at Naomimeredith.com/black-friday-22. Now the products that I am going to be sharing with you in this episode, I am not currently sponsored by any of these companies. But if you would like to, you can definitely hit me up. My contact information is below. But these are just some things that I have definitely seen success with students in my classroom or in other classrooms that you definitely want to get your hands on. So let’s jump right in. 


Naomi Meredith  01:35

In no particular order, the first STEM toy to check out is the Sphero Indi. Now, most of us are familiar with the Sphero robot that is shaped like a ball, rolls around like a ball, and is coded. Well, Sphero has come out with a product that is fairly recent that is better suited for K through three. It is chunky and durable, which we love as STEM teachers because we know when we see a lot of kids, we want things that are going to withstand a lot of hands. This one is really cool. Think about it like the Ozobots, which are those really tiny robots that read colors to create actions. It’s similar in the sense that this robot looks like a little car. There are colored cards that, when the Sphero Indi drives on top of the colors, will perform the action, the colors can go in next to each other, or they can be spaced out. Then students can problem-solve to see where the Sphero Indi is going to go based on the color that it read. Now it seems simple, but as I said, it does take a lot of problem-solving. Even your third graders might have a hard time with this at first. The cool thing about it is that it is geared towards the primary. So this is another great robot that you can add to your collection. They have different options for you to purchase these robots. They have class sets that you can buy individually. My recommendation always for robots is to start with four to six, you do not need a class set, the whole goal is to have students collaborate, and we all know that we’re on a tight budget. So if you can even have a station rotation that students can go to test out the Sphero and that would be an excellent start. 


Naomi Meredith  03:20

The next best STEM toys for 2022 are a collection of items that I love to use with students to improve their video and audio production. When I first got started with video production with my students, I only used iPads in my classroom, which is an excellent start. But if you keep doing some videoing with your students, they’re going to want to up their game, and you are, too, as a teacher. So these are some tools that I love to use in my classroom. Again, they’re very versatile from K through five, so you will get a lot of use of them. And these tools that I’m going to mention aren’t very expensive in terms of STEM tools. First are portable green screens. There are a lot of different options for these, the ones that I have really loved kind of look like a tripod where they pop up, and they have a long bar at the top, and then it comes with a big thick piece of fabric that is green on one side blue on the other, and you can clip on the side that you would like students to use. It is the perfect color green and the perfect colored blue. And it is so nice to set these up wherever you want students to record. We know it’s a little bit hard to find a quiet space so it’s nice you could spread kids out in the hallways or other areas in the building, but then you can clean them up and easily store them when not in use. Likewise, I like to use pop-up tripods in my classroom. Again, these are portable, easy to set up, and broken down if needed. I actually keep mine up all the time on the tripods because I do a weekly school-wide news that is pre-recorded. It really helps the improvement of students’ video production because the camera is steady and not shaking around and making you feel like you’re on a roller coaster. When you watch, I highly recommend if you have any tablets in your classroom and you’re hoping to do video production, having tripods are an absolute game changer. Now we also know the sound quality can be a little bit iffy. And I realized the other day that, again, finding a quiet spot to record is very difficult to do in a school. When I moved kids around with the tripods and the green screens, I wanted to have the option of their sound to be even better. So I tested out these tiny microphones. And I mean tiny, they’re about the size of your thumb. And you would think, Oh, that’s just gimmicky. They don’t work. No, they’re actually really, really good. And the cord is really long, which is helpful because when you have the tripod a bit of ways, then the student can still hold the microphone. And the sound quality is superb. I was super impressed. And I was so excited because I could hear their sweet little voices. And I just know that our videos are going to improve immensely. I’m also going to be using these when I’m doing podcasting with my fifth graders again, it will improve the sound quality a lot. This is a side bonus when it comes to video and audio production. If you have any of those fabric cubes on hand, those big giant ones from Ikea that pop up, I like to lay those on their side. And when students are recording their voices for a video when it’s not showing on their screen, I have them put their heads in the box with the script. And then they have the microphone, and it creates a little sound booth for them where their voice is echoing out. And it’s really soaking in that sound inside of the box. It looks a little bit awkward, but it helps a ton. So that’s just a little side tip, go ahead and invest in a few. But really investing in these video and audio tools, they definitely can be reused so much and really improve the quality of these things that you’re creating with your students. 


Naomi Meredith  07:11

The third STEM toy of 2022 to try in your classroom are Osmo Genius Kit. I am so impressed by Osmo. And this is a tool I recommend to families all the time who have primary students, they are such a cool tool. And it creates this Augmented Reality experience where it is a self-checking app where students are using real-life objects and the Osmo. This little attachment, it’s like a mirror that is reading what is being done with these little hands-on tools. And when they’re in the app, it will self-correct and then read what they are doing with their hands. It is so amazing. And the kids aren’t really staring at the screen, they’re really focused on the materials in front of them. There are a ton of different Osmo kits to choose from. Just make sure that when you are purchasing, if you have Kindles, you can buy the Kindle Osmo. And when you have iPads, there’s an iPad Osmo. They are different, they’re not interchangeable. Pretty sure they have the same kits for both, you just have to make sure you buy the right one for your device. The kit that I have is the genius kit, which includes a number of tiles that students can add using the actual numeric form or the Dot version, there is a tangrams game. And then there’s also a spelling game, which I still do in STEM, I think it’s super important to have literacy within your STEM instruction. I have those three options. I use this as a STEM station, I have about five or six Osmos. And I love to use this with my primary students. It’s super engaging, it differentiates itself. And again, it’s self-checking, again worth your investment. The little tiles and pieces are super user-friendly. They’re fairly durable, and they come in some nice containers as well. When you’re done using them, you can keep it all organized, I highly recommend checking out the cosmos, I know that there’s a kit that has some hands-on coding. So if you need some more coding elements, that would be a great addition to your space. 


Naomi Meredith  09:13

The fourth best STEM toy in 2022 to try in your classroom is the LEGO education spike essential kit. There are a couple of different versions of the spike. So there’s spike prime and their spike essential I have this spike essential K I have a few of these kids, and I am utterly impressed and obsessed. If you love LEGO, we do point out you’re gonna love the LEGO spike essentials even more. They’re even more versatile than the LEGO we do to point out I’m not getting rid of those kids. I just like having a variety for all grade levels, so I try to build up my LEGO education kits every year. That’s usually what I spend most of my budget on, to be honest. So these kits are really cool. There are so many challenges for Are first through fifth grade, they’re completely different that use the same kit. That is pretty amazing. There are not a whole lot of tools out there like that. And so I highly recommend getting your hands on some of these because you’re going to be super impressed. Like LEGO, we do point out there are coding elements, there is the option of picture-based block coding for the younger students like LEGO we do to point out, but for the older students, they have something like Blockly or Scratch where they have the words and more complicated coding for their level. So it’s super cool. And the little hubs that are connected don’t use batteries, they are rechargeable, like a cell phone. So I know that it can be really frustrating when you buy STEM toys when the tools aren’t rechargeable. These are, and it’s amazing. I am so excited to keep trying these with my students because they have so much potential. And the parts are a bit different. They’re usually LEGO parts that kids don’t often see in their own LEGO kits. This is a really great addition to your classroom if you’re looking to buy more LEGO kits for your room. 


Naomi Meredith  11:07

And finally, the fifth best STEM tool to try and 2022, if you can swing it, is to invest in this pair of 3D printers. There’s so much talk about 3D printers and what to buy, there are so many complicated options. I’ve seen teachers on Instagram who have received 3D printers, and they have to build the 3D printer. Girl, I don’t have time for that I can figure it out. But I’m all about like, let’s open the box and be ready to go. I researched and found this pair of printers, I actually received them a week before the shutdown in the spring of 2020. So I was able to take the 3d printers home and play around with them. And I was actually printing some projects that kids were completing with me online. But I love these printers that I got. The brand is MakerBot, which you may or may not have an opinion about that. But I love this. It’s the MakerBot sketch classroom. And I am not kidding you. You get two printers for under $2,000. But on top of the two printers that are plugging go, you get six ginormous spools of filament that will last you forever, I have so much filament left, I haven’t really had to buy any since then you get six giant rolls you’ve also got a teacher training, which is so helpful because we don’t always get that when it comes to STEM tools. And there’s student training. So if you’re thinking about having an after-school club, they can go through this as an after-school club and learn with you. So that would be a really cool club to do. What I love love love about these printers is they are cloud-based, you do not have to set up a device and have it chillin by your printer while it reads the prints. You don’t even have to plug in a USB drive, you can have the option to send it all through the cloud-based system. So I can literally sit at home and log into Tinkercad. So Tinkercad is what students would create their 3d prints in, I download the prints at home if I wanted to. And then put it into the MakerBot platform, the cloud-based printing, and I get all of my prints queued up and ready to go. And then, when I log into my work computer, everything is there, and I can print and feed everything throughout the day. I have print 1000s and 1000s of prints for my students. And I have not had one single jam are any issues whatsoever. I am very picky about the filament I am still using their MakerBot brand filament. I haven’t bought any other off brands off Amazon. I’m really iffy about that. But I’m telling you, I print things for K through five every single student creates a project, and I have been absolutely impressed. They aren’t anything fancy. So I’m not doing overly complicated projects before in elementary space. They are wonderful. They are quiet. They’re these cute little clear boxes like you can see everything that’s happening. And so, coming from someone who had zero experience when it comes to 3d printing, I am super impressed. They should literally sponsor me for this because if you’re not going to buy the 3d printers after listening to this, I don’t know what you’re gonna do. But I recommend these to everybody who’s looking to upgrade the 3d printers. They are so so so so easy. Perfect for elementary, I’m telling you, so good. 


Naomi Meredith  14:35

As a recap, here are my recommendations for the best STEM toys of 2022 that you should definitely get for your classroom or just put on your wish list. We have the Sphero indie robot Osmose all the awesome video recording tools, LEGO education spike Essentials Kit, and the MakerBot sketch classroom 3d printer combo When it comes to shopping for items, I am all about how I can use things for multiple grades for multiple years and things that will age out super quickly. I am very, very picky when it comes to the things that I buy from a classroom, and I’m all about durability. You can even go back and listen to a past episode, I have a whole episode about purchasing things for your classroom. But I have seen great success with these tools. And I know you well, too. Now don’t forget I have that free holiday shopping guide I put together for you like a beautiful magazine side. Now I always wanted to work for a magazine company when I grew up, aside from being a teacher. So when I’m creating things for you guys, that’s just like the magazine editor and me, the creator, that I just love doing this. So make sure you go and check out that free guide and all of the special Black Friday deals that have going on for you. They’ve been going on, and they’ve been open up and early, but you definitely want to check those out, so you don’t miss out. So make sure to grab that free guide and all of the awesome deals at Naomi meredith.com/black-Friday-2022

 

best STEM toys 2022

best STEM toys 2022

best STEM toys 2022

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

hour of code ideas

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM [ep.38]

hour of code ideas

Check out the full episode on Hour of Code Ideas for Elementary STEM:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Are you looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM?

There is an abundance of free resources available, but it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom.

In today’s episode, I break down how to navigate Hour of Code resources for K through five, review devices you can use and options for unplugged coding, and provide instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to navigate the Hour of Code resource
  • Examples of device-based coding and unplugged coding and how to implement each
  • Tips for structuring your time with station rotations, whole group exploration, or a mixture of both
  • How to utilize extra resources on the Hour of Code

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for Hour of Code ideas for elementary STEM? While there is an abundance of free resources out there, it can be overwhelming navigating them all and finding what will work best for your classroom. In this episode, I will break down how to navigate the resources for K through five, what devices you can use or not use, and instructions on how you can set up the Hour of Code in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  00:55

Before we jump right into this episode, I have created a freebie for you to help capture all the learning that you’re going to have throughout this episode, and all of the resources and how to get that all organized for K through five STEM. So you can download that free resource at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode. This will also be linked in the show notes, so you don’t have to memorize this. I love the Hour of Code. This is an excellent unit to implement into your K through five STEM classroom. Or, if you are a classroom teacher who’s interested in STEM, you can definitely jump right in because most of the resources I’m going to be talking about are absolutely free. To get me in the mood for this episode, I am wearing my create with code shirt that I got from Target a little while back. So it’s super fun. You all know by now I love a good theme. So, of course, I have a coding shirt or two in my closet that I pulled out during this time. I will say that the Hour of Code is one of the few units that I actually don’t write or create everything from scratch. This is because there are so many great resources out there that I personally know I don’t have as much experience as the people who are creating them. And it’s always changing. I want to make sure that my students are exposed to these materials. That is why I have that free guide for you that helps you sift through all that information. But again, these are things that I’m not always creating from scratch because there are so many coding languages out there, even for kids. I want to make sure, again, that kids have access to those. 


Naomi Meredith  02:32

Now, if you have never heard of the Hour of Code, that is okay. I am so glad that you are here! The Hour of Code started in 2013, and it was a way to get kids exposed to the world of coding at a young age. It was initially to be an hour in your school and to get kids pumped up and excited about computer science. It is also hosted in conjunction with computer science week, which they have its own website as well. The official Computer Science Week for 2022 is from December 5 through the 11th. and the Hour of Code is usually hosted around this time. But you can do coding at any time of the year. So don’t feel like you have to do it this week. The first time that I was exposed to the Hour of Code was in 2013, my first year teaching third grade as a classroom teacher. I remember it was just so amazing seeing my students code the Angry Birds to get the little piggies. I had never seen anything like this, and this was my first real exposure as a teacher to seeing children coding. In hindsight, this could have been one of the many sparks that I had to get me into K through five STEM now. But at the time, I thought it was so amazing, and I still think that it’s amazing to see kids being able to write a language using blocks to control what is happening on the screen. This was way more problem-solving than just clicking arrows and playing a video game passively. The students were collaborating and problem-solving. I loved the excitement that they had when they completed each of these challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  04:13

If you haven’t done the Hour of Code, either, you’re gonna see the same excitement in your students. It is just so much fun. Because there are so many different options out there where students can explore again, a lot of different coding languages that work best for their grade level. At the time, my students, they had the Hour of Code as an actual hour where we went into our computer lab, and they got to play around with the different coding languages that were available at the time. So you could still do this as a school-wide promotion. You could do this as a week-long STEM unit. You could start it in your STEM classroom and then keep promoting it within the classrooms or at home. There are so many different possibilities. So don’t feel like you have to limit yourself to one hour or one unit. There are just so many different ways that you can do coding and the Hour of Code throughout the year. 


Naomi Meredith  05:03

So first, let’s talk about navigating the Hour of Code website. This is going to be your hub for finding the different coding activities that will work best for your classroom. As I said, this can be overwhelming at first, and over the years, they have been making the navigation of the website so much easier. The first thing you’re going to want to do is to sign up to host your Hour of Code event. This is absolutely free. I feel like this is a way for them to keep track of how many kids are participating. They will also send you some free resources or things to get you excited leading up to the official Hour of Code week. So make sure you sign up, put in a little bit of information, and then you are on your way to navigating the Hour of Code website. You’re going to see that there are different types of coding activities that are organized by grade level, which are the main types of navigation. Over on this side, you can get even more specific with the types of coding activities you would like to have your students exposed to. Some of these categories that are listed are the types of devices that you have. There’s even an option if you have slow internet. You could filter out the activities that would work best for that on the devices. If you’re an iPad-only school or vice versa, a laptop-only school, you can click on that filter, and then you can search through the activities that way. If you don’t have access to devices at all, which we’re going to talk about this in a bit, or you would like to have a station that is screen-free or unplugged coding, you can search for those options. 


Naomi Meredith  06:41

But it gets even better with these filters. You can filter by the length of the lesson if you do want it to last an hour or if you do want it to last for over a week. You can search through the different accessibility options. Play around with those filters. As I said, it can be overwhelming at first. I actually don’t have students jump right into the Hour of Code website because they can get lost pretty easily. As a teacher, you want to pick through and play around with the things you think will work best developmentally. Then you can make a simple one-page choice board. I like to make mine in Google slides that are view only. Then there are clickable links for the students. Or you could just send the links along to students in whatever LMS system you like to use or even create QR codes that the kids can scan. Definitely try to play around with the devices that you have, and see what is going to work and not work. Then you can go from there. I like to share the website, the Hour of Code website, with students after we completed the unit, so they can play around and explore at home. But I always want them to jump right in and get to the task at hand. So that’s why creating those very specific links for students is helpful. This helps prevent decision fatigue. Then you know that those specific links are going to use on the devices or, if you’re not doing devices, the materials that you have students to use. 


Naomi Meredith  08:08

At the very top of the Hour of Code website, there’s also a promote tab, so play around with that. There are some posters that you can print that have some diverse and even some famous people on there. My fiance’s favorite is the Shakira poster. He loves Shakira. So he likes that Hour of Code posters on there. But there are some really cool posters and handouts that you can print and send home with families or teachers. There are some email templates, there’s even a sticker template that you can print out, and students can proudly wear a sticker saying that they participated in the Hour of Code. There are also some really awesome videos that you can show your students where they are talking about the Hour of Code and the importance of coding. Again, some famous faces are in a lot of these videos. These are really awesome resources to check out and really dive in to get kids excited about computer science and coding. I mentioned this a little bit ago, but you have the option when you’re doing any type of coding with kids, you can have device-based coding, which is what most of us are accustomed to when students are coding on the computer. Or you can do coding unplugged. Both have a lot of value. Even if your students have experience with computer coding, having the ability to code unplugged and being able to problem solve in that way can be very valuable. In fact, you are really working on computational thinking and having students be able to really think through those problems. They might not always have that instant gratification from what is on the screen, but it’s going to help them slow down and really think through if the information that they are moving or writing down is correct. You can even pair unplugged coding with device-based coding and have students write down some of the things that they’re hoping to do in the program, and then they can apply it to their learning. 


Naomi Meredith  10:08

Here are some of my favorite coding unplugged activities that can work for a variety of grade levels. One really fun one is to do binary beads. I’m pretty sure Hour of Code has a lesson related to this. You teach students about binary code, the language that computers use to talk with the zeros and the ones. Then there is a binary code alphabet. Students can have little pony beads, different colored beads to represent the different codes and the binary code chart, and then spell their name or a word that resonates with them. This is a really great one. Then students have a physical takeaway from the actual project.


Naomi Meredith  12:24

Another fun one that I did when I was teaching third grade for computer science training is we did cup coding. With this activity, there are different pictures of combinations of cups that are stacked in a lot of different combinations. The goal of this is you have a programmer, and then you have the robot. So the goal of the programmer is to write the code out using the language of this cup coding program. So up means to hold up the cup one cup length to a turn would be flipping the cup over at 90 degrees. A down would be putting the cup down at a cup length and so on. There’s a cup coding language for this activity. As the programmer, you are writing the code that will match the picture of what the robot needs to complete, then the robot has to read your code with the arrows and the turns. And hopefully, they are able to complete the picture without seeing the picture and only reading the code. Again, this is a great computational thinking lesson and a great problem solving challenge. 


Naomi Meredith  13:36

Another one that is very similar and really popular with younger students is to do human-robot coding. You can have different cards that have arrows that have different meanings, forwards and backward. You can add in a jump, or a spin, whatever you would like. I have this all created for you in my TPT shop. Again, you have a programmer and a robot, and the programmer writes the code using the cards, and then the human-robot actually has to perform the action. This is so much fun, and the kids like to have control of each other. But it really does get their body moving. It helps those younger students with directional coding and understanding left and right, and forwards and backward, which they can apply to a lot of the computer-based programs or even when you do robotic coding. 


Naomi Meredith  14:24

Another coding unplugged option that I like to do is having a paper grid or even a digital grid. There are different markers in the grid that students need to collect using a code. They can write down the code again using arrows, or you can have your own coding language written out, like block-based coding. Block-based coding is when you see the blocks with the words written inside, and then you drag the blocks over. Usually, read it from the top to the bottom, and the robot or the program will read it from top to bottom with those different blocks. So this is like the in-between of more complicated typing programs. Anyway, with this coding unplugged option, students can write the code using arrows, or they can write using their own language of block-based coding to collect the different tasks on the paper. Again, I have a lesson created for this already, it’s all about donuts. There is a lot of fun and different challenges within this that are all completely device free. You can have students complete it together. There’s even a fun one where students have to complete it like battleship. So that is a goodie, but an oldie, and it’s fun. It’s all donut themed. 


Naomi Meredith  15:33

When thinking about adding other devices to your Hour of Code time, a fun tool that you might have in your classroom, or you can invest in Makey Makey. These are really cool because they connect to the very popular program, scratch, and students can explore conductive and not conductive materials. Basically, how the Makey Makey works is you have different clamps with wired connections that go into this hub, and the hub is connected to the computer. On the computer, you have the coding program, Scratch, open, and then you play around with the Makey Makey options. Then you can connect the clamps that are connected to that hub to different things that are conductive. When those conductive things are touched, then it will trigger the code that is written for that actual connection. It sounds like a lot, but very simple when you see it in real life. Trust me, I saw something very similar in real life, and the STEM teacher in me got really excited. One year I went to Meow Wolf in New Mexico, and they have a part of the exhibit where it’s this big mammoth with ribs showing. When you touch the ribs, it makes a sound. Well, in my mind, I knew exactly what was happening when it came to the coding and the connections because of the Makey Makey. It’s like the raw version of it. So Hour of Code is a great time to implement those physical materials as well. 


Naomi Meredith  17:05

Another thing that is really fun to teach students during the Hour of Code is the difference between hardware and software, especially for those younger students, but older students will benefit too. Younger students really like to understand the difference between the two because there is a difference. With my younger students, I have created a paper tablet where they get to color and add in the different apps, the software. Then when they open up the tablet, there are different pieces of hardware, which is a very basic version. I knew that they would love it. They were literally obsessed with having their own paper tablet and just wanted to play with them. Definitely recommend a lesson like that talking about computer hardware and software because that’s also valuable when it comes to coding and understanding how our computers work in our world. 


Naomi Meredith  17:51

When it comes to structuring your time, I mentioned some different options of how you can get your school involved or even classroom teachers, or you might even be the classroom teacher who’s getting involved. When I first did our code, I had students three days a week. So I did station rotations and had a lot of different options when it came to coding unplugged and different websites that were appropriate for their grade level that I navigated from the Hour of Code website. Now I have students for five days. So again, I still like to implement those coding unplugged choices. But I also have the option where students are exploring different coding languages. They can try those out. I like to give them a variety, whether it is block-based coding or it is coding by typing or coding with arrows. I like to give them that choice and see what languages that they’re really connecting with. I also like to start off my lessons, whether it’s the station rotations or it is with whole group instruction, with different videos that are related to coding, which I’m going to talk about in a second because it’s good for students to hear the explanation where I’m at. I’m not the ultimate expert when it comes to coding. I am a great facilitator when it comes to elementary STEM coding, but by no means am I an expert on this. I realize that not all students are going to be computer programmers, but you never know who’s going to be. So I always want to expose kids to a lot of different things in general when it comes to my STEM class. So this is a really great time to do that. 


Naomi Meredith  19:23

Me personally, I do robotics as a whole separate unit. I don’t really do a whole lot of robotics during my Hour of Code unit because I want to dive deeper when it comes to robotics. So for me, I like to start with Hour of Code. I do typically teach this around December or January. Then my unit immediately after is my separate robotics unit. That way, students have a background when it comes to different coding languages. Then they can really play around with those languages when it comes to the robots that we’re using and see the output of what the robot’s task is going to be. That is a personal preference. But what has worked well in my STEM classroom, it’s definitely up to you. I know people also like to implement robots in their Hour of Code. So do what works best for you and the time that you have with the kids. As I said, in this Hour of Code unit, I don’t create a whole lot for it because there are so many great things out there. This even includes a ton of video resources that I love to show my students when it comes to computer science and coding, BrainPOP and BrainPOP Jr have a lot of great videos. They have added a lot more over the years. When it comes to learning about computational thinking, different ways to code, such as looping, or even parts of a computer and coding in general, definitely check those out. 


Naomi Meredith  20:44

In the free guide, I even break up which videos I like to use with each grade level so you’re not always repeating the same ones. You also know that I am a huge fan of SciShow Kids, which I talked about back in episode 17, where it’s all of those different resources I like to use for imagining. SciShow Kids also has some great videos when it comes to teaching about robots and the parts of a computer. If you want to dive in even deeper when it comes to coding, some of you might even be a technology teacher and not necessarily STEM. Code.org, separate from Hour of Code, has more extensive materials, actual units, and a progression of learning when it comes to coding in your classroom. This is also great to look into if you’re thinking about a different after-school opportunity. You don’t need to go and create anything because there are so many things on there that you can just plug and play, especially for those kids who really are getting obsessed with coding. Again, another great after-school activity with very minimal prep. One of my favorites for after-school activities is the Google CS first curriculum. There is a whole theme and a different challenge that they have to create. They’re always improving this curriculum and really making it self-guided, and kids can access the information at home. So definitely recommend checking out that resource. 


Naomi Meredith  22:03

As a recap, there is so much to do for Hour of code, but it is such a fun unit to implement. It should be your least stressful unit out of your entire year because most of it’s already done for you. You just have to go in, explore and check out the free guide that I have for you because that’s going to help you really wrap your head around all the different things that you can do during this time. We first talked about navigating that Hour of Code resource. So definitely play around with those filters that can help you with your experience. Then we talked about how you can have a mixture of device-based coding and coding unplugged or unplugged coding. Then also think about structuring your time if you want to do station rotations, a whole group exploring, or a mixture of both. Then really utilize those extra resources out there, especially when it comes to videos, where you can see coding that is relevant in their real lives. Again, make sure to check out the Hour of Code freebie that I have created for you to help you organize your time with your students. This will be linked in the show notes, and you can also grab it at Naomimeredith.com/tpthourofcode.

 

hour of code ideas

hour of code ideas

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

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Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

November-stem-activities

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

4 November STEM Activities to Try [ep.37]

November-stem-activities

Check out the full episode on 4 November STEM Activities to Try:  


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Episode Summary

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try?

In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration.

These fun ideas will help you harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • STEM & Stories: Great Turkey Race Activity
  • LEGO Corn Mazes
  • Engineer Inspiration Boards
  • People in STEM with a green screen twist

Resources Mentioned:

Some items are linked to my Amazon Affiliate account. When you purchase through my link, there is no added cost to you, but I receive a small commission in return.

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Looking for easy November STEM activities to try? In this episode, I will be sharing with you four ideas that you can implement in your classroom right away.  


Naomi Meredith  00:40

There is a lot to celebrate during the month of November, so these STEM challenges that I’m going to be sharing with you aren’t tied to a specific holiday or celebration. I tried to mix it up for you so that you could do this all month long or really any fall month. As I said, they’re not Thanksgiving specific or any holidays specific. So let’s jump into these fun ideas where you can harness the crazy energy during this month and put it into productive use with these STEM challenges. 


Naomi Meredith  01:15

The first STEM Challenge is STEM and Stories, which is one of my favorite things to do in the STEM classroom. It relates to the story, The Great Turkey Race. As a class, listen to the story or read the story out loud. You know that I love pre-recording read-alouds for my students. So if I know I’m going to be doing this book, a lot of times, I can have the video recording of me reading it, and then this gives me a little bit of extra time to set up any materials that I need for the lesson. Either way, you’re going to be using The Great Turkey Race, and spoiler alert, there are some turkeys who are going to get eaten, and they want to escape the farm. Your STEM challenge is going to be related to this story, and there are a couple of different things that you can build for this challenge. You can have students build both things that I’m going to mention or one or the other depending on the time you have and the age of your students. 


Naomi Meredith  02:14

First, you’ll have students create a simple catapult that will be used to launch the turkeys over the fence, which we’ll talk about the fence in a second. There are a lot of different ways that students can build catapults. One of my favorites that I will link in the show notes is a simple video that I created. There are popsicle sticks, rubber bands, and a plastic spoon. The way that we will create the catapult is students will wrap a rubber band around the popsicle sticks. I like to use the big fat ones since they give you more leverage within this challenge. They will wrap the rubber bands around the popsicle stick to hold the plastic spoon, and they will create basically the letter V. So, think about you have a popsicle stick with a spoon on one popsicle stick. Then there’s a bottom popsicle stick, and at the tip of the V, you’re going to wrap one more rubber band to connect the two, and this will create the letter V, which you will put a stack of popsicle sticks in between that are also secured with rubber bands that will be the fulcrum. This will allow the spoon to be able to be pushed down and eventually launch the turkeys over the fence. 


Naomi Meredith  03:25

What I like to use for turkeys are pom poms. You can even glue pictures of turkeys to bring the story to life. Of course, we have the fence that the turkeys are trying to get over, and students can build their fence using a lot of different materials. My favorite for this challenge is to use raw spaghetti and Crayola modeling clay, which doesn’t dry out. It’s super inexpensive, and students will use those two materials to design a fence that the catapult will launch the turkeys over. If you’re doing this challenge with younger students, the catapult might be a bit tricky. So you can have catapults pre-made before doing this challenge. The younger students may not be able to create the fences. One hack to this so that you’re not the one building all of the catapults. If you do this challenge the day before with older students, they could be the ones in charge of the catapults and then save them for the younger students. I don’t usually let the students keep the catapults after this challenge because I don’t want to be responsible for other objects that will be flying in the classroom. So if you aren’t going to save the catapults, I have students cut the rubber bands or untwist the rubber bands, and then we put all of the materials away. They are a little bit sad, but I tell them these are very simple materials to get at home. You can make it the same way or a different way, but we’re going to reuse the materials as much as possible. So this is definitely a fun STEM challenge that you can do within the month of November. 


Naomi Meredith  04:57

The second November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is LEGO corn mazes. I don’t know about you, but have you been in a corn maze, especially a haunted corn maze? I have! This was maybe six or seven years ago, and I distinctly remember it was a haunted one, and I was there with some of my friends. My one girlfriend and I were holding tight to each other, and I was so scared. I said, “Becca, I was like, Becca, we’re gonna be okay, I’m so scared,” or something like that. In the haunted part, all the employees were saying, “Becca, Becca.” So we’re a little bit traumatized. After that experience. I haven’t been in a corn maze ever since. Luckily, for this challenge, it’s not as scary. Again, this only uses a few materials that you might already have in your classroom. 


Naomi Meredith  06:32

All you need are some big LEGO base plates and LEGO bricks and marbles or any small balls that are similar in size. There are some really great LEGO-like base plates on Amazon that work just as well as the original version. Definitely recommend taking a peek at those, and I’ll link those in the show notes for you. I don’t recommend using non-LEGO brand Legos since those don’t have the same effect. They just don’t hit the same way. So students will create their own LEGO corn maze. You can even print out different things that the marble can roll to, like a scarecrow, pumpkins, just different little images that they can attach to their designs. This is fine because this won’t take very long in the classroom, and students can test one another’s designs. You can even add that last piece where they can count how many dead ends they have, and how long it takes to get from the start to the finish, they could find the average time where they have multiple trials. So you can really extend this project if you would like or if you need a simple one-day challenge. You can do that as well. 


Naomi Meredith  08:35

The third November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create a one-page engineer inspiration board. I love creating these boards, and I have them created for all of the months of the year and all of the major holidays throughout the year. Some of the things that you can celebrate in the month of November are Dia de Los Muertos, which is November 1, Thanksgiving, and you can even have a board that represents Veterans Day or even just the month of November in general. With this one-page board, you can have real images or icon images of things that represent that holiday or that month. This gives students inspiration to build it however they want. This works great for a soft star if you were starting off your day with STEM station rotation or if you need something for a substitute. These engineer inspiration boards are great for that because students can build with whatever materials they have on hand, whether it’s Makerspace items, blocks, playdough, or a combination of all those things. Then they can even share their designs by taking a picture or video of their work on the platform that you choose. 


Naomi Meredith  09:47

Finally, the fourth November STEM activity that you can try in your classroom is to create green screen videos that go along with people in STEM that you are thankful for. This is a great literacy and STEM connection because students will do some research about people in STEM who have made an impact. They might already know about some people, or there are so many different things to look up in Epic Books, which is my favorite research tool for students. If you want to hear more about other research tools that I love to use with my students, make sure to go back and check out episode 17. And, of course, I list Epic Books. But there are some other favorites that I love to use in this STEM space as well. Students can research their favorite inventor that they know about or another person instead and find out information about them and how they have made an impact in the world of STEM. You can, of course, have students create a bulletin board of their findings. But I also recommend making this even more interactive. Remember those talking heads that we used to have students do where they colored a picture of the person that they researched? They might even cut out a big hole where they could put their head within that poster board. Or sometimes we have them dress up as that person. Then you have something like a wax museum. Well, take that idea, and let’s bump it up a notch. You can have students create a script or a presentation about that person. They can pretend to be that person but use a green screen. If you have students wear a green shirt that matches the green background that you’re using or a blue shirt that matches the blue background. My personal favorite, I will say kids with super, super blonde hair, when you do green screen, there’s sometimes a tint of green in their hair, just the way the color of their hair is they have more yellow in it, and sometimes their hair will disappear. So I do like using blue because, with blue, I have had fewer issues when it comes to editing. But again, definitely your preference. Have students wear a colored shirt that matches the background, and then they can read their script and pretend to be that person. When you’re in the editing app, you can overlay a picture of the real person, but instead of their face, it’ll be the student’s face. One thing I have done, I don’t think it always matters, but you could use a green circle to cover up the person’s face that they’re talking about to make sure that it’s not showing, but I don’t think you’d necessarily always have to do that. But play around with it and see what you can do. I have a video example of this linked in the show notes. I remember doing this with my students, and I gave them no prior background. I just pressed play. When I recorded the video, I accidentally didn’t press stop right in time. So my head kind of floated off the screen, and the kids started screaming. So make sure to watch my video example. It’s pretty fun. But it’s a cool way to get kids excited about people in our world that have made a difference in the STEM community or just in our world in general and people that we should definitely be thankful for. 


Naomi Meredith  13:05

As a recap, here are the four November STEM activities that you can try in your classroom. First is the STEM in stories challenge that goes along with the great Turkey race. Next, our LEGO corn mazes. Third, our engineer inspiration boards, and fourth, people in STEM that we’re thankful for with a green screen twist. I hope you enjoy these fun, themed challenges. You know, I like a good theme. But I also love lessons that are rooted in standards and have a purpose in mind. It’s definitely good to mix these all up because there is a lot of STEM to teach. Thank you so much for joining me today, and I’ll see you in the next episode.

November-stem-activities

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

how to teach a STEM lesson

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

How to Teach a STEM Lesson [ep.35]

how to teach a STEM lesson

Check out the full episode on How to Teach a STEM LEsson:  

 

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Watch the video version on YouTube here:

Episode Summary

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons?

In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you how to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons.

This method has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • How to teach a STEM lesson using the workshop model
  • What the workshop model is
  • Each stage of the workshop model

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Struggling to find a structure and a flow when teaching your STEM lessons? In today’s episode, I’ll be sharing with you the exact format that I use to teach all of my K through five STEM lessons. 


Naomi Meredith  00:11

This method has been a game changer for me during the past five years as a STEM teacher, and it has allowed me to get through the content. Students are able to have enough work time, and it even saves a little room for cleanup at the end. Let’s jump right in. 


Naomi Meredith  00:59

I originally taught in the classroom for six years before I landed my role in K through five STEM. I was in a brand new district with a brand new remodeled classroom, limited tools and zero curriculum. It was super overwhelming at first. But I knew that my time spent as a classroom teacher for six years before this role was definitely an asset. I even talked about this in episode 11 of the podcast, why classroom teachers make great STEM teachers. So go back and take a listen if this is a role that you have tumbled into, and you just don’t know where to begin. Overall, this is why I created this podcast. This is something that I wish I had, so I am giving back to you. We know that time goes by super fast as a teacher, especially as a specialist teacher. I’m going to be sharing with you the exact model that I use to teach all of my lessons in my classroom. This is a structure that I didn’t invent. You might be a little bit surprised by what I’m going to be sharing with you, and I’m ready to spill all the secrets. Do you want to hear what the model I use is? It’s the workshop model, not new, but I use this structure in my K through five STEM space for all of my lessons. I’m going to break down for you exactly how I use the workshop model. 


Naomi Meredith  02:22

In my classroom, I use the workshop model when integrating the Engineering Design Process with my projects and with STEM stations. I know that you can too. It will definitely give you the structure that you are looking for, and you don’t have to change it up every day. If you keep it the same every single day, students will know what to expect when they come into your classroom, and it will ease the stress of your teaching. It will definitely help you with time management with all of the things going on. Real quick, here’s an overview of the workshop model. If you haven’t used this method of teaching, think of the workshop model as a circle of a pie chart. So literally, your time is in a circle, you are going to break it up into a few different sections. I have my classes for 45 minutes, K through five. So depending on the time that you have with kids, you will adjust accordingly. I’m also not including the transition time that I have in between classes because that is separate from this workshop model. So keep that in mind as well. Within the workshop model, you have it broken up into three parts, but not three equal parts. You have a medium slice, a big slice of the pie, which is most of it and a tiny slice at the end. First, our medium slice is the mini lesson. For me my mini lessons are between five to eight minutes. After that you have the practice time. This is when students are collaborating, they’re working independently, or maybe they’re in station rotations. For me, my practice time is between 25 to 35 minutes. Finally, the tiniest slice of the pie that is between two to five minutes is your share, reflect and clean up. I structure all of my classes this way, and it just brings a ton of consistency. 


Naomi Meredith  04:12

But let’s really talk about what each of those timeframes look like, depending on the lesson that I’m teaching. Throughout the year, my second grade students come into my classroom often with their classroom computers. I don’t have a classroom set of computers in my room. So I have set this up from day one, that for 90% of the lessons that I’m going to teach students will carry their classroom computer with them to my classroom, we may or may not use it, but it’s just great that they have it. I also like to connect the lessons to what they’re doing within their class, even just by the simple fact of logging into their student computer. This gives them that extra practice. Yes, it might take longer sometimes, especially with the younger students, but I just want to set up the expectation that we will sometimes use tech now as a tool, not as a toy to help us with the lessons that we’re teaching. When students come in with their computer, their role is computer on the table, sit on the floor. When they sit on the floor, they are in my group meeting area and they’re ready to go for the lesson. If they don’t have their computer or if they’re younger students, they’re only one step direction is sit on the floor. One hundred percent of the time, I’ve talked about this in past episodes, I don’t have students sitting at the tables when I teach. My room is ginormous, and I don’t talk very loud. I know the kids aren’t listening to me when they are spread out along the room. Yes, K through five, my big kids do this as well. I don’t feel bad because in PE and music, they don’t have chairs either. They have to sit on the floor. So don’t feel bad at all. They are okay. They’re sitting on the floor in front of our group meeting area. That’s where I have my TV and all the materials ready to go to teach the lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  05:55

Another great way to maximize your time is on the screen, have a warm up question related to the project that you’re going to be working on. Or even have the slides that you will be teaching from ready to go have student examples, something related to the lesson that will pique their interest and get their mindset ready to go. I am very big on using every moment wisely. So even just the act of having something on the screen for students to look at and talk about with the people next to them is extremely valuable when I am teaching with the Engineering Design Process. All of my Engineering Design Process notebooks are digital. I actually don’t create separate slides to teach from. I teach from the student slides that I assigned to them. I will typically assign them in Seesaw, sometimes in Google Classroom, but I will be physically logged in as a teacher opening up the slides within that class I am teaching from so they can see me interact with the slides just as if they were as well. It’s great to connect the two together and the kids know they have access to everything that I am showing them. So nothing I am showing them is a surprise. If you are curious to hear more about the Engineering Design Process. I talked about this and a lot of my episodes, but more specifically in Episodes 15 and 17 through 21. So go back and take a listen. I break down each stage of the Engineering Design Process and how you can use this within your space. 


Naomi Meredith  07:28

When I am teaching the mini lesson, it is very short. It is a mini lesson and I am able to include everything I need to within the short amount of time. If you forget anything, you can pause the class during their practice and work time and remind them of the next steps. There is nothing wrong with that. The goal of this is when students are sitting down ready to learn, they are getting the bulk of the information from you. You are the teacher, you can keep teaching throughout the class time. When I’m teaching with the Engineering Design Process, the mini lesson is when I am introducing each step very specifically. Day one is when I would do the ask, imagine, and have students to start planning their designs. Day two is when students will be finishing up their designs and begin to create what they are hoping to design. Day three and four is all about more creation, experimenting, and improving. I might even introduce a modification checklist so the can see how to make their design better. All of my mini lessons are going to be really focused in on each of these stages. The final day is more experimenting, improving, and how students are going to share their work. 


Naomi Meredith  08:41

When I was a classroom teacher, I always taught with a workshop model anyway, and I am always teaching the next step. Some kids might not be ready for my lesson, but they know where they’re going. They can look back in their digital Engineering Design Process notebook from the week and see what they missed and what they need to keep working on to get to where I am teaching for the day. Again, I’m always teaching the next step and I tell my students that it’s okay if they’re not there yet. I’m teaching them where they are headed so they can be successful and know what to work on. This is also a time where I will build a background and the science behind what we are doing. This can be day one, but I will also do this during the week as well because students can always modify and change their design. So there’s nothing wrong with doing background information a little bit each day. This might be a related video that I found, a website, or an article. Again, these are all linked in their Engineering Design Process notebooks. I often have to show the class the videos at the same time because they are linked to YouTube and my district blocks YouTube. So that’s the only way that we can watch them. The kids know that they even want to watch it at home. They have access to these links as well for more specific lessons during this mini lesson. 


Naomi Meredith  09:53

If I’m doing a Makerspace project, this is where I would talk about the Makerspace menu and money system. If I am doing a technology project, this is also when I would talk about very specific things on how to get connected to the technology. For example, if I am teaching robotics with a Sphero, or a Dash robot, this is where I will physically show them how to connect to that robot. I also have visual directions that I will post after my mini lesson. I will refer to them when I am teaching. So I will model how to get to that specific technology. But then that digital anchor chart will also be posted with visuals to remind students how to do the steps that I just talked about. I highly recommend making these anchor charts digital and not cluttering your walls with all of them. Unless you’re using the same tool K through five, I don’t have a whole lot of wall space. I’m very specific about the things that I hang up. I want everything to be purposeful in my classroom for all classes. That’s why I will make a lot of these anchor charts digital, of course, they’re linked to my TPT shop. But that way, I can pull up what I need. It’s very specific for that class, and I don’t have to print a million things. I don’t have the time for that either.


Naomi Meredith  11:07

If I’m doing a station rotation, the mini lesson is also the time where I will build the background knowledge and have a related video about the topic. I will also show students how to complete each of the stations. I will do the same process for both days of stations. I do for station rotations, when I do stations with my younger students, I will have a station for each letter of STEM. They will complete two stations a day. Same process. I don’t assume that they remember how to do the stations. Some will and some won’t. Some kids are absent, some kids were new for the day. So I always will review those expectations for my classes who have a hard time with behavior. I will also, during this mini lesson, go over the specific ways of how they can earn their class incentive and refer to each of those expectations as well. This mini lesson is when I am the star of the show. Going over those very specific things I need them to do during their work time. I am not up there for very long. So I really have to get the most bang for my buck during this time. Because the majority of class time they are going to be working on their projects, whatever it is that we are doing for the week. I do realize that it can be tricky when you are using technology as one of your main sources of tools. Then you want to show them how to use the technology. Then you want to show them how it’s going to connect to everything. When this happens, this is usually for me when we are doing a coding platform and Engineering Design Process notebook. 


Naomi Meredith  14:14

If that is digital or even logging into 3D printing, I will break up the mini lesson and the practice time that’s student work time. Often I will get their excitement, build a little bit of background, then I will show students how to connect to the tool or how to log in how to get that all set up. So I tell them we’re getting our materials ready first, and then I’m going to show you how to use that. I will show them those steps have the visual directions backup for them. They will go get their materials ready, leave them ready to go and then come back to the floor for students who need a lot more support. There’s only one of you and a lot of them. I will show them all the steps and let’s say it’s a Engineering Design Process notebook I want them to get to, I will have the visual steps on one side and then the page I want them in their engineering notebook ready to go. I will tell them when everybody at your table has their screen matching mine, you will come to the floor, nothing in your hands. So that means that all the kids have to help each other at their table. They can’t do it for them, they have to be the YouTube tutorial and show them how to do it by pointing. Then when everybody is ready to go, then they can come to the floor. This has really helped where students are being more independent and helpful when it comes to technology, and not always relying on me for every single troubleshooting issue. This also frees me up for the students who really are having problems that none of the kids can solve. I’m not running around fixing everything. There are usually at least a couple of kids at each table who can be successful and who are happy to help. 


Naomi Meredith  15:47

From there, I will finish off the mini lesson where the kids are on the floor, the materials are ready to go. I’ll show them how to use it, how it relates to the lesson. Then we will move on to that practice time because everything is set up and ready to go. So this is a great way to break it up where the kids aren’t sitting for 20 minutes. You’re kind of merging that mini lesson and that work time together. Now we are officially moving on to that practice time when it comes to the workshop model. And of course, I have all the helpful tools posted up on my screen ready for kids to access. My favorite that I have mentioned before is classroomscreen.com, where you can upload images. There’s timer widgets, there’s a text box where you can type things, you can have everything displayed all nicely in one place. You don’t have to minimize your tabs and make them fit perfectly. Everything is all there for you and I highly recommend checking that out if you haven’t used classroomscreen.com already. I will almost always have a timer up on my screen during the student work time. So students are aware of how much time they have to work in my class. During station rotations, I actually don’t only because I do stations with Kindergarten and first grade. I kind of have to gauge what is going on in the classroom. I will typically set a timer on my watch, and I will use that as a guide noticing if groups are a little bit squirrely. Or if they need a little bit more time, they sometimes will ask me how much time they have left, I will always tell them. 


Naomi Meredith  17:21

But this actually worked well for station rotations just based on the class and their experience with station rotations and how they’re feeling that day with the materials at hand. When students are working, they usually want to work with others when it’s on station rotations. I allow them to work in groups of one, two or three. Our projects are usually really small. I’m really big about having small projects because they’re easier to store. I tell them if you want to be a group of four, just do two and two, that way, you have more of a chance to work on everything. This has worked really well. I used to do bigger groups in the past, but I realized not all kids had a chance to participate, there wasn’t enough for them to do. So keeping groups smaller really helps with the collaboration they had can have a voice during their work time and feel like that they are involved in the project. During this time, I will be roaming the room assisting as needed. I’m really big about ask three before me, especially when it comes to troubleshooting or what questions they have. Again, I am the guide on the side, I am not the star of the show during this work time. I am during the mini lesson, trust me, you should see me in action. But during this work time, it’s all about them getting all the work done that they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  18:36

Finally, the last part of the workshop model that is the smallest and that is the share, reflect and I added in that clean up. For me this is about two to five minutes, it is quick, and I am able to get my classes to clean up very fast here and there. I will have a class who are very, very slow cleaning up, they might need more time. I keep that in mind and balance it all out. But for the most part, most classes can clean up in about five minutes. When it comes to station rotations, they will clean up before they rotate. So again, I’ll have that mini lesson we have the video building background, I show them how to do the stations, they will work in their stations, then they will clean up and stand at their clean station. They’re not allowed to go anywhere. They don’t know where they’re going. They have to be cleaned up before they’re able to rotate. After all the stations are cleaned up, I will have them stand there I will go to that station, I will stay in there with them and show them how to point to their next station. When everybody’s pointing to their next station, they will walk to the next one and work on what they have at hand. 


Naomi Meredith  19:39

Again, when the time is up, they will clean up they’ll stand up their clean station and then they’ll come and join me on the floor and we will learn and then we will reflect on the learning for the day. For an Engineering Design Process project we will clean up and then they will either sit at their tables or they’ll all join me on the floor depending on where we’re at with that cleanup. I like to use the same reflection questions that are in their  Engineering Design Process notebooks at the very end, what went well? What was the challenge for them? If they were to do this project again, what would they work on? I might even ask them what went well, what would you recommend? So for kids who are going to be on that next stage tomorrow, what advice would they give them. So questions like this are really helpful to talk about as a class, and to really close up everything that happened for the day, you can also make a digital check in a lot like what Jill mentioned in her guest interview and a past episode, but you could do a digital check in as to where they’re at in the Engineering Design Process, or how they are feeling and that part of the process. You could create this in a Google slide or a Google jam board, and there is a little circle that has the kids classroom number, and they can move that little circle as to where they are feeling. A lot of different ways to reflect, you don’t have to go overboard with this. But it’s good to have some sort of closure, where it’s not just clean up, run out the door. When we’re all done for the day, I will let the class know if they earn their classic incentive, and then they will go line up in my green hallway so they are ready to go for the teacher. Again, I don’t have them lineup in my classroom because if the teacher is late or if another class is early, then they are all in the hallway, and they’re ready for that teacher. Then I can clean up any last things prepare any last materials before my next class comes for the day. 


Naomi Meredith  21:22

As a recap, here is how to teach a STEM lesson when using the workshop model. First, we talked about what the workshop model is, then you move on to the mini lesson to start it all off. The bulk of your work time is that practice time, then you piece it all together with the share, reflect and clean up time by creating a predictable structure for all of your lessons K through five, not only will this be helpful for you as a teacher, it’ll create that consistency for the students. So when they step into your space, they will always know what is going on with the actual content, but the structure is always going to be the same. This is going to help with your classroom management, behavior management, and even help you get through all of the content, no matter how much time you have with kids, and how often that you see them.

how to teach a STEM lesson

how to teach a STEM lesson

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

Connect with Naomi Meredith:

 

More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!

project based learning lessons

Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock [ep. 34]

Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock [ep. 34]

project based learning lessons

Check out the full episode on Project Based Learning Lessons with Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Have a STEM question? Leave a voice message for the podcast!

Episode Summary

Have you ever felt stuck or overwhelmed when it comes to lesson planning, specifically project-based learning?

It takes a lot of time and careful planning to create these meaningful experiences for students.

Today, I had the pleasure of talking to Jeff Imrich, the co-founder of Rock by Rock. We had a meaningful conversation on what learning can look like in STEM and engagement in the classroom using project based learning lessons.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Who Jeff is, his teaching background, and all about Rock by Rock
  • An overview of Rock by Rock’s projects
  • Examples of Rock by Rock project-based learning lessons
  • Jeff’s favorite projects

Meet Jeff Imrich from Rock by Rock:

Hi, I’m Jeff Imrich, a co-founder of Rock by Rock. I’m a former teacher (I taught grades 1-7), and I’ve spent my career teaching kids, partnering with teachers and parents to help rethink how we design schools and supporting teacher professional development around the country. I believe deeply that teachers are the key to students’ success, that their jobs are huge and that they need better support to make the job easier and more enjoyable. 

I’ve visited hundreds of classrooms, and you can always tell when the magic of learning is happening inside. You get that tingly feeling because the air is actually electric. Usually, that happens when kids are on fire in their learning. They are doing a project or having a debate, or working in teams. I know I loved teaching this way, but I also know how hard it was to plan really engaging interdisciplinary projects. 

We created Rock by Rock to empower teachers with the tools they need to do real-world projects without starting from scratch. Our platform provides fully planned projects with a real-world mission, diverse virtual experts, rich information texts, videos, games, and a culminating project that empowers kids to make a change in the world. Projects support STEM, SEL, and ELA and build skills kids need to thrive in our creator economy. 

Our program isn’t scripted. It’s flexible. We give you the tools, but we know that you know your kids better than we do, and we know you’ll adapt our tools to your setting. You decide how long to spend on a topic, if you want to add a lesson, if you want to do a debate or teach the whole class at once or do small group centers

We’re also here to help! Teaching is still the hardest thing I’ve ever done, and we’re looking to grow a community of teachers who started teaching because they know in their gut that authentic learning experiences are the best way to teach. We are built by teachers for teachers, and we want to learn and grow with you.

Connect with Rock by Rock:

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

Naomi Meredith  00:00

Have you ever felt stuck or overwhelmed when it comes to lesson planning, specifically project based learning? It’s a lot of work, and I know this based on my experience as a classroom teacher and K through five STEM teacher and coach. It takes a lot of time and careful planning to create these meaningful experiences for students. I had a great conversation with Jeff Imrich, the co-founder of Rock by Rock. We were definitely on the same wavelength and had a meaningful conversation as to what learning can look like in STEM and engagement in the classroom and beyond. Jeff is a former teacher and has spent his career teaching kids and partnering with teachers and parents to rethink how we design schools and support teacher professional development around the country. He believes deeply that teachers are the key to student success, their jobs are huge, and they need better support to make their job easier and more enjoyable. Jeff and his co-founder created Rock by Rock to empower teachers with the tools they need to do real-world projects without starting from scratch. Their platform provides fully planned projects with a real-world mission, diverse virtual experts, rich information texts, videos, games, and a culminating project that empowers kids to help make a change in the world. There are a lot of key points in this interview that I am sure you’re going to resonate with, and the mission of Rock by Rock is one that definitely aligns with my STEM philosophy in the classroom. I can’t wait for you to listen. 


Naomi Meredith  01:56

Thank you, Jeff, so much for being here. Today. We were chatting a bit before, and I could already tell this is gonna be a very fun interview. You have a lot of great stuff that our audience is going to be excited about. We have mainly STEM teachers who listen, but I know we have a lot of classroom teachers who are here or ones who might be interested in teaching STEM or just teachers who want to learn more about it. So I’m just really excited to have you today. So if you wouldn’t mind, tell us about yourself, your teaching background, and also about Rock by Rock and its mission. So it’s a whole thing you’re telling us about.


Jeff Imrich  02:30

All right, awesome. Well, first, Naomi, I’m super excited to be here to talk with you today. Thank you so much for having me on your podcast, just the experience I’m getting today has been amazing. So I’m excited for our conversation. I started out as a teacher. I’ve taught first through seventh grade and sort of in various settings. For the last six or seven years, I’ve been working with teachers, parents, kids, and schools to try and think about how we could redesign schools to help more kids get to and through college and have access to career pathways. What would we do a building like on all of the lessons we’ve learned? One of the biggest takeaways and this is not going to be surprising for you, is that when kids are doing real-world authentic projects, and they realize their learning has a purpose, it’s like the air is electric. It’s like this magical feeling. You walk into a classroom, and you’re like, Yes, right? This is what learning should be like. In the schools and programs that we, my co-founder and I, were working on, we heard a lot from our teachers about how our kids loved learning this way. We love teaching this way. It’s just really hard planning this type of project, like a deeper learning, project-based learning, a project with speakers, a Take Action Project, and all of these different resources. It’s like really hard to plan from scratch. We thought, gosh, like, there’s gotta be a way to make this easier for folks. Like, can we provide a toolkit that gives teachers a leg up? We empower them with a set of resources that they can use to do real-world, project based learning in their classroom, that like, just makes it easier so that any kid and any teacher can do this type of learning, and that’s why we started Rock by Rock. I can tell you a little bit more about what it is and what we offer. But that’s kind of the story behind it.


Naomi Meredith  02:31

I’m really excited about that because I think you’re absolutely right. The questions that I get asked the most, even before I started this podcast, all have to do with lesson planning. I’m really big on having more meaningful projects so let’s just play with robots today and do some random building. I think it can be more purposeful and still be really fun. So I’m excited to hear more about it and just give teachers another option because we’re so busy. It doesn’t matter what you teach, and you know, you taught everything, and you don’t have time to do all of that, or you might not even have the resources or even know the right people. Like if you’re lucky, you know someone who does this, or maybe they’re not even good at presenting, like that can happen too, so I’m really excited you have it all packaged up and all ready to go, which teachers really love.


Jeff Imrich  05:09

Yeah, and I mean that resonates 100% with my own experience. It’s like 10 o’clock, and you’re like, What am I doing tomorrow for this hour of the day, and you’re like googling to try and find something, you’re like, oh, Does this meet the good enough bar? I think so, like, I’m gonna give it a shot. Then you go into class, and you’re just crossing your fingers, this is gonna work. So our projects are all anchored around empowering kids to solve real-world problems. They’re aligned with national science standards. So kids are learning science content, and they’re practicing reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills through the project. Each project also has a social-emotional anchor. So empathy, curiosity, creativity, courage, kinship, impact awareness, and the way the projects are set up is that there’s standard PBL, right? Because we didn’t invent project based learning, we’re just trying to make it easier. There’s a driving question. So how can we help prevent traumatic brain injury from bicycle accidents? How can we help improve rainforest conservation? What are the pros and cons of video gaming? How can we raise awareness about that? So each project gives kids a challenge. They grapple with content, both online and offline. So we have online learning and hands-on and the online component includes video, interactive video, and interactive games, and every project has an anchor text. So there’s an informational text that kids are reading to learn more about the topic, and then they go offline, and they do experiments, make mini projects and sort of either explore phenomena or process what they’re learning, and that’s to understand, like the mission and the core content. Then when they’re done with that, they do something to take action, and that might be a graphic design campaign, a letter to Congress, a podcast, a public service, a video, or a mural. So each project comes with all those resources, and the last thing I’d say is that our third through fifth-grade projects, projects also feature virtual experts. So when kids are learning about the brain, they’re learning from neuroscientist Dr. Jones. When kids are learning how to make a graphic design, they’re learning from graphic designer Maurice Jerry. You’re getting sort of the experience of having the expert come to your classroom without having to find that expert. Now, if you’ve got another expert in your community, by all means, bring them in. But it’s a starting point. So that’s sort of how our projects are set up. It’s also a library because we want teachers to pick the content they need, so what are your standards? What are your students’ needs? What are your student interests? Which project is going to be right for you at what time of the year? We really want this to be giving you a lift, and we’re trying to set it up in a way that you, as the teacher, are in the driver’s seat about making choices about when, where, and how to use it.


Naomi Meredith  07:44

I love how you have the questions written too. You have them as how can we, so it’s not like, can you solve this, like, I feel like you have it more open-ended because you’re not eliminating it to one solution. I can tell you want kids to think of multiple solutions to solve the problem. That’s really project based learning. Like there’s not one answer to this. They might not ever find the answer. It might not even work, but they’re thinking about it. These sound like questions kids would actually care about because you want them to be really, in a way, you do want it to be obscure to pique their interest. They might not even have any background knowledge, which is even better sometimes because they’re more engaged in finding out the answers. So I like how you have all the use of like multimedia, text, videos, and hands-on digital because that’s how we as adults learn. We learn using all of this stuff. So you’re doing stuff that kids need to know how to do.


Jeff Imrich  08:37

Yeah, I’m so glad you zeroed in on that because that’s exactly it. When you look at it, take you and your podcast, right? You are a creator, you are a teacher, you are a content creator, you have a podcast, and you run a business, that’s what life is like today, right? Projects give kids the chance to build those skills in an authentic way. You’re 100%, right? Like, we really want kids to grapple with the nuance. There are a lot of gray areas in life, and there are pros and cons and reasons to do something and reasons not to do something. We want you to grapple with that, and maybe you have the answer, and maybe you don’t. But the process of like going through that process of trying to understand, seeking to learn, and asking questions, that’s where the real learning happens.


Naomi Meredith  09:21

Yeah, it’s so funny because I just had a guest a little bit ago, and she was talking about SEL and STEM, and she mentioned the same things that you’re talking about, which is good. That means this is what we need to be doing, working on those soft skills. You have this project, and it is an avenue into those life skills. That’s so nice for teachers too. They can pick and choose what works for them. So maybe they’re a STEM teacher, and they know in the classroom with their homeroom teacher, they’re going to be working on a specific topic like animal habitats, and then they could do the rainforest one in STEM, so they’re not exactly repeating what’s done in the regular classroom, but they’re extending it in a different project based learning way, which it is like you said, it’s hard to. I’ve done training like being trained on project based learning, and that was just when I was a third-grade teacher, and it takes a long time to make it good. And it does, it’s not always good like yours was done.


Jeff Imrich  10:15

It’s true, you’re singing our song, like, I love the way you’re thinking about this because what you’re describing is exactly what we want teachers to be able to do, right? Like, oh, we’re working in a team, I’m going to work on this, you’re going to work on that. Now, all of a sudden, there’s coherence across different sections of our day. We even have teachers who have a morning meeting. So we have some teachers who say, oh, this project has a focus on empathy. Empathy is also going to be the hook for our community circle for the next three weeks. That way, as you’re going through, you know, when you revisit parts of it, and ELA or parts of it, and STEM, you can also make connections back to the discussions you had in morning meetings. So there are lots of ways that you can actually make this come alive if you’ve got a springboard instead of, you know, trying to plan everything out.


Naomi Meredith  11:01

Yeah, and it shouldn’t be isolated. That’s like one thing, if I were to go back to the general education classroom, is just having more of those experiences because there’s definitely a place for it and helps with behavior too. Even your hardest kids, they can get so into it, and they can really shine. You’re just like triggering talents that you might not know they had or interests you didn’t know they had. So it’s just really good to do this. You don’t have to do it for every single subject, but you can. It’s just good to be doing this, and you want to be engaging with the kids. So you need those engaging materials. With those lessons, do you have an example lesson? So you’ve kind of mentioned specific topics, but like zoning in on examples of lessons that teachers could try using Rock by Rock?


Jeff Imrich  11:45

Yeah, that’s a great question. I want to just respond to something you just said, I’m gonna answer your question. Yes. I feel like we’re having this, like cross-country mind meld in the way you’re describing things. Because when we talk to our teachers, that’s what we hear, right? Like, if my kids are on fire and motivated, I’m seeing stronger evidence in their writing because they care about what they’re writing about. But also, I’m making fewer phone calls home because the kids are like really engaged in what we’re doing. We’ve also heard exactly what you said from some teachers who say, Oh, you know, I have a heterogeneous group of kids who are seeing different strengths that they don’t normally have a chance to bring to the table. It’s like they’re developing this new mutual appreciation for each other. Because it’s like, oh, I didn’t know you were so good at that. The other students were like, well, you know, I also haven’t had a chance to shine in that way. So it really is impacting motivation and classroom culture on lots of levels. So I’m really glad that you mentioned that. Okay, to answer your question, though, resources, yes. So we have a free trial on our site, and you can sign up for the free trial. That gives you access to the entire library. In the library, there are two ways to access the content. So there are the full projects, right? So you could say like, oh, I want to try part of the full project out, so I want to look at it. You might do the whole thing, or you might try a couple of the lessons in that you can sort of decide. We also have what we call our mix-and-match library. So as I was describing the projects, I was mentioning components, like there’s a text, and we call it the zine. There’s the virtual field component with the expert. There’s the Take Action Project, like the podcast or the mural, which is broken into chunks in our library. So if you said, you know, I already have a project, like we do a food deserts project every year, and I love it. But I would like a way for my kids to have higher quality output from that project. So I’m going to use your podcasting module, which I should, you know, get tips from you someday. Or I’m going to use your module. So you can sort of pick and choose, or you might say, Hey, we’re already doing a unit on forces in motion. But I’d like a way to make it more relevant. So I’m going to integrate, I’m going to use the Save Our Brains text as a piece of reading in my class, we might not go full on and do the Save the Brains project yet. But that’s like an entry point. So those are sort of the two different ways you can try things out.


Naomi Meredith  14:13

Oh, that’s so cool and very helpful. I feel like teachers have different strengths when it comes to planning. My favorite part is finding the resources, which I know are not other people’s favorites, but I like them. But sometimes, it’s hard to think of what the output will be, what type of project, and just get that inspiration. So that’s really nice that you can mix and match. You’re like, oh, I never thought about teaching podcasting this way. Like maybe you have done it in the past. But then, like using a different resource, you see it through a different lens. Oh, I never thought about it that way. Because oftentimes, I mean, I’m an island, I teach by myself, I don’t necessarily have a team, and sometimes it can happen with classroom teachers. Maybe you’re one who really wants to try something exciting, and you’re looking for resources, and your team’s not really on board. So that’s really nice that you have that option. Teachers can go full-on out or just pick and choose what they want. That’s so teacher centered, for sure. That is so great.


Jeff Imrich  15:13

Yeah. Well, I would like to say, like, I’m glad this is resonating. I’ve been on the receiving end and involved in scripted curricula where you get something, and it’s like, you need to be on this at this minute, this at that minute, or you have 30 minutes to teach, but a 50-page lesson plan, and you’re just like, what, right? So we really thought about how we put teachers in the driver’s seat. We develop this with teachers to figure out how they are using it. How can this be more helpful, there’s a lot of curriculum that gives you lift, but there’s also a lot of curriculum that bogs you down, and we don’t want to be something to bog you down. 


Naomi Meredith  15:46

Yeah, I was thinking of the science curriculums I’ve had in the past. What’s sad, too, is when I was teaching third grade, we had a certain curriculum, and they wouldn’t even buy us the updated version. So we had all this stuff, and we had to teach the new standards with the old curriculum. It was boring, and we had to find things anyway. Then some teachers don’t like teaching science because, like, it’s boring. Well, it’s actually not boring. But it’s just nice just to have it all together, it’s updated, and you have worked with teachers, which not a lot of curriculums are like that, either. They don’t see the feedback. So that’s really good to hear. I’m sure you guys update things based on the feedback that you get, just knowing how things are working out. Or you might have more examples. So that’s really good that you’re thinking about us teachers.


Jeff Imrich  16:35

Yeah, that’s 100%. Right? Like, we want feedback from folks, right? We want to know what’s working, we want to know how you’re using it. We want to hear your success stories, we want to be able to broadcast them to other people, and we want to know what we can do to make it better, but we’re also planning on growing the library over time. One of our lists, Save Our Brains projects I described, we develop because one of our teachers’ portraits in Alabama was like, I’m having a really hard time teaching this. And we’re like, Okay, well, let’s talk about this, what would this look like? That sort of came out of that conversation about something that was hard in the classroom. We see ourselves on a learning journey, right, like, we want as many people as possible to be on that journey with us, so this is a helpful tool.


Naomi Meredith  17:15

Oh, it sounds like it. I’m very excited about it, and I can’t wait to check out all the resources and just not have to feel stuck. Knowing that it’s there at your fingertips and to see what will work best, I mean, some units are way more fun than others. So it’s just great to have that option. Is there a favorite project you have in mind when you’re thinking about primary or secondary? Or are there ones that have been super popular with teachers that they’ve absolutely loved? You mentioned a few, but more specific.


Jeff Imrich  17:45

Yeah, it’s a really good question. All the projects have been a labor of love, so it feels a little bit hard to like and pick a favorite. But I will say that a couple of the ones that are being used right now in the fall, like there were teachers are using, and I don’t know if this is the time of year how things align with the scope and sequence. This is the thing kids are most interested in, these are things we’re trying to learn more about. We have an invasive species project, which aligns with a bunch of ecosystem standards. The debate question for that is, is it justified to kill one species to save another?


Naomi Meredith  18:17

Ooh, that’s a great question. 


Jeff Imrich  18:20

Thanks. So we’ve gotten some good feedback about the type of discussion kids have been having with that question. So we sort of take the lens of invasive pythons in Florida. Also, kids are just fast. Who’s not fascinated by a video of a Python wrestling an alligator in the Everglades? So that’s one that we’ve got a bunch of feedback on, link that in the show notes. Yeah, exactly. Yes, exactly. We’ll link that one in the show notes. Our save the rainforest project also has been pretty popular because I think kids really like learning about the rainforest. It’s just a fascinating ecosystem. That’s been something folks have been really interested in, and the Save Our brains project. I think for k-two, we’ve heard a lot from folks about the Save the frogs project. I think frogs are a common species to study. So we’ve heard a lot about, we’ve got some photos back of the habitats that kids have designed for their frog habitats and things like that. So that’s been pretty popular. The last one, I’ll say, as we have a cashew project called ugly foods and hungry people, which looks at the standards related to the lifecycle of plants, how we grow food, and sustainability. But it also looks at how much food we waste as a country and ways that we could kind of think differently about how we approach food, especially given how many folks are hungry. We just heard recently from a school where all of the kids in K-2 are doing the ugly food-hungry project. Then they’re doing a shared table in the cafeteria where all the kids are designing a shared table where any food they’re not going to eat from lunch they can put on the table, and any student can go get from the table. So there’s no stigma about, like, I’m going to get like extra food or anything. It’s just a communal space for sharing. That was just really cool to hear because all of the teachers came together, and they said this is something we want to do in partnership as a community. And we’re like, Yes, right? This is what we want to enable right now, where our program is to say you should do a shared table. But they were like, this is what’s right for our community. And we’re like, I love it. It’s great. 


Naomi Meredith  20:08

That’s real project based learning. That’s what is relevant to a real audience. Because sometimes, with projects, kids are like, Well, why are we doing this, but that’s real. Like they’re, it’s beyond the curriculum. It’s something they’re remembering that lesson, the reason and the why. That is like what we always hope for when we don’t always know how to get there. What’s awesome about your guys’ stuff is that it’s just like a jumping off point for even more lifelong learning and just applying all those skills to their little worlds, and kids love animals. I will say anytime I do anything with animals, they’re literally obsessed. You can’t go wrong with animals. I love animals. So that’s probably why I like it too.


Jeff Imrich  20:44

What’s your favorite animal? 


Naomi Meredith  20:45

Oh, my dog, for sure. But besides my dog, and I’m obsessed with my dog, I love sea lions because they’re wet puppies of the ocean.


Jeff Imrich  20:55

Oh, I love that. I haven’t heard them described like that before. But that makes perfect sense. I think that’s great.


Naomi Meredith  21:01

Yeah, at SeaWorld, they like to do all the tricks. All the rejected ones really still try to do tricks, the ones who are in the show. So you can like throw them little treats and like clap their fins and flippers, or they’re so cute.


Jeff Imrich  21:13

I love it. That’s awesome. 


Naomi Meredith  21:15

Well, I appreciate all of the information. You told us about the free trial. Are there any other resources or things you want teachers to know about created by Rock by Rock? And then how can they find you guys?


Jeff Imrich  21:26

Yeah, so a couple of other things that we want folks to know is project based learning can be materials intensive. So we try and make sure that the materials are as off the shelf as they can be easily accessible or affordable. So that it’s not a huge lift, working with a whole bunch of STEM teachers who are on carts. And that can also be tricky. So in some of our teachers’ guides, we try to provide tips like, hey, if you’re pushing in for STEM, here are some things you might think about or some things you might try. I know STEM teachers on carts are some of the most innovative people because you just have to figure out how to manage stuff and space really well to do that job. So we also try and keep in mind who are the different users and how we can make sure this is going to work for them. We do try and make sure that the materials are accessible. We also want to have a diverse set of experts. So we really try and prioritize finding a balance of gender, race, age, and geography because we want to make sure that kids see themselves in the curriculum. So those are two other things I would highlight. You can find us at Rockbyrock.com. We’re also on Facebook and Instagram. On our website, there’s a support email address, support@rockbyrock.com. And we’re, you know, game to answer any questions that you got. So you sign up for a free trial, and if you’ve got questions, email us. You’re thinking about a free trial, but if you have questions, email us. You do the project with your class, and you’d love to do it with your school, email us, right? Don’t be a stranger, hearing from teachers is one of our favorite things.


Naomi Meredith  22:56

That’s so great. I know people are going to be reaching out for sure. All of that will be linked in the show notes. So if you’re driving in the car, you don’t have to write that all down. It’ll be accessible for you along with the Python wrestling the alligator, we will link that too. I appreciate your time so much. I feel like we’ve like met before. We’re just like totally on the same page, which is so reassuring, too, that I’m not going crazy when I’m talking into a microphone by myself. It’s so nice to have guests. I could talk about this all day. But I appreciate your time so much. I’m sure you will be hearing from some of our audience. Thank you.


Jeff Imrich  23:33

Thank you, and it was great talking. It’s so nice to connect with folks when you’re like, Ah, we’re on the same wavelength about what we want to be true for children and for teachers. So thank you, and this was great.

project based learning lessons

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More About your host, Naomi Meredith

Naomi Meredith is a former classroom teacher turned current K-5 STEM teacher and coach. Her role not only includes teaching over 500 students in her school, but also leading professional development and co-teaching with teachers to help them integrate STEM & Technology.

With over a decade of experience along with a M.Ed. in STEM Leadership and STEM certificate, she helps teachers navigate the best practices, strategies and tools out there.

She truly believes that any teacher out there can learn how to use STEM & Technology in their classrooms effectively. She can’t wait to connect with you and be your guide!

More About The Elementary STEM Coach Podcast

Are you tired of scrolling online for your next great STEM lesson? Do you feel like there is no time to plan, research and test meaningful STEM lessons, so you throw together a hands-on activity and hope that it works? What systems and routines should you set in place to help students be creative, critically think, and collaborate? 

The Elementary STEM Coach is a podcast for K-5 STEM teachers, classroom teachers, GT specialists, and homeschool parents looking for actionable STEM solutions. Each week, Naomi Meredith will share tools, resources and lesson ideas that are actionable in your classroom and create highly engaging experiences with your students. You’ll learn systems and routines that will create control in the chaos and that will keep you organized all year long. 

Your mindless scrolling days are over! Your new STEM-best friend is now here in your ear buds!