Home » stem classroom » Page 3

Tag: stem classroom

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

What are Creative Ways to Present a Project? [EDP Series: Share, Ep. 21]

What are Creative Ways to Present a Project? [EDP Series: Share, Ep. 21]

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

Check out the full episode on What are Creative Ways to Present a Project?:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Once students have completed a long-term STEM project, it’s important for them to share their work with an authentic audience. 

How can they share their work besides standing in front of their class and sharing one after the other?

In today’s episode, I will be sharing four creative ways students can present a project and have their voices heard. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn four creative ways students can present a STEM project:

  • Digitally
  • Answering reflection questions
  • Peer-to-peer sharing
  • Creating a museum-style type of sharing

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

After students have completed a long-term STEM project, it's important to share their work with an authentic audience. How do you do this besides having kids stand in front of the class and share one after the other? In this episode, I will be sharing with you creative ways that you can have students present their projects and have all of their voices heard. 


00:52

This is the last episode of our mini-series all about the Engineering Design Process. I've had a lot of fun recording these episodes and diving deeper into each stage of the Engineering Design Process. All of these ideas can be modified for any grade level that you teach, which makes the EDP such a great way to plan for the STEM space. If you haven't grabbed it already, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP, and I'll also link it in the show notes. 


01:31

You know, when kids get super excited and want to show you what they have created in STEM? I'm really talking about Kindergarten here because they physically want to show you. You can't look across the room and say, “Oh, wow, you've worked so hard on that.” No, you physically have to go see it. If you are talking to a kindergartner, this is a great way for kids to share. However, there are even more creative ways that students can share their long-term STEM projects. This is an important step not to skip when you are teaching using the Engineering Design Process. So let's dive into these four creative ways that you can have students share their work.


02:14

The first way you can have students share their work is to go digital. This is one of my top favorite ways, and this is something that I do with K through five in my classroom. If I'm using the Engineering Design Process or other teaching methods, I love using Seesaw in my classroom. You can also use Flipgrid as an alternative. I provide the Seesaw code for the class regardless of what stage they are in the Engineering Design Process, but especially during that final share stage. I will do this a few ways with my kids. Oftentimes, I will have them take a video or create an audio recording of their final project. This might be a scripted experience, or it might be off the cuff, and they record an action. Both are valuable, and they can have different purposes. 


03:11

One way that I've used a scripted model is with my first graders when they were sharing their final 3D printed designs when we talked about animal families and their traits. Throughout the week, students researched their favorite animals and learned all about the babies and their adults, what they have on their bodies, and how they might be the same or how they might be different. One thing to keep in mind with 3D printing, I usually don't get the prints done by the end of the week. This share piece was the next month once I saw the kids, they got their 3D prints back. They colored their designs with Sharpies to make them look like real animals. When they were ready to share their work, I had a very specific script that was written and first-grade friendly language that we practiced together as a whole class. We made it a fun game, and the kids really liked how when they got to their specific part, they were supposed to share. It was super crazy but really fun. So we practice this script as a whole class repeatedly, and then students were sent off with their iPad. They were to take a picture of their final 3D printed design, draw the habitat using the seesaw Drawing Tools, and then record audio of their script. 


04:35

This script was very specific, and it helped them share the differences and similarities between the baby animal and their adults. The first graders were able to be successful and independent in this task because they understood what the script was saying. It was shown on this screen, and it was also printed on paper if they wanted to use that version. I also had on the script some visual markers, so little picture icons, to help them remember what the script said. It was so great having the kids in first grade be independent with this task because there were a few kids that needed more support from me. I was able to do that since I'm the only teacher in the classroom. 


05:16

Another way that I've had students share it digitally when it's off the cuff is really showing their work in action. I've talked about this in the other Engineering Design Process episodes of this podcast, including how students have been able to take videos during the experiment and improve stage. This can also be part of the sharing stage. For Kindergarten, I have them create a wall maze using recycled materials to show how the different things on the wall can change the path of the ball moving down the wall. Students again use Seesaw as the platform where they can take a video of their work in action and feel like they are taking the project home. In STEM, we use a lot of different materials. Students aren't always able to take all of that work home. Even if it's recycled materials, it just doesn't always make sense for them to take it home, such as the cardboard wall maze. So having them take a video of their work in action is a great way for them to share their designs with me, each other, and their families at home. Now, this can get a little overwhelming to manage, and it does take a lot of work and practice to teach kids how to use technology appropriately in this stage. Sometimes I will go around with my phone, I have Seesaw loaded on my phone, and I will take a video of their work in action. This is also another great option. If you don't have iPads or tablets in your classroom, you could use your phone as an alternative. But that's definitely up to you. 


06:50

The second way that I like students to share their work at the end of this process is to have reflection questions. I use the same three questions for all of my Engineering Design Process challenges year-round and for all of my grade levels. I like having the same three questions because the responses definitely change based on the types of experiences that we do for each unit. It also helps build that consistency where kids are mentally keeping track of how they are growing throughout these processes and working to try their best. The three questions that I like to give students are, I am proud of; if I were to try this challenge again, …; I would change blank, or blank was challenging for me. These are some great questions for students to type their responses to. So you can mix in that digital sharing, record audio or even video of their response. There's a lot of differentiation within these questions. Some students might even want to draw a picture or take a photo to respond to these questions as well. You can even mix these questions and have them as a class discussion throughout the week. Or, if you are pressed for time, this could just be the last day of your share. You have students share as a small group and then as a whole class. 


08:15

The third way that you can have students creatively share their projects is peer-to-peer sharing, especially in the older grades. They love to hear what their other friends in the class think about their projects. Yes, they want me as a teacher to notice their work, but as they get older, they're so focused on what their peers think. So give them that opportunity and teach them constructive ways to respond to one another. One way that I have done this is with the fourth grade, and they created videos that were all about space junk. So throughout the week, they were researching what space junk is, what the problems are, and what are some possible solutions and even thinking of their own solution. They created a short video in Adobe Spark with a voiceover to share their findings in a concise and clear way. 


09:06

From there, students pasted the link of their video in Seesaw. You guys know I love Seesaw by now. They pasted it in Seesaw, and we talked about ways that are constructive to comment on one another's work. Students commented on the videos, and they wrote at least one thing the students did well in their video and one thing that they needed to work on. The great thing is that these comments come to me first, so I was able to review those before they were approved so that the other students in the class could see. During the same unit for second grade, second graders researched different natural disasters that happen in our world, and they created a scripted video that utilized a green screen to teach us about these natural disasters. Again, students have that video posted in Seesaw, and instead of giving feedback through typing, students were given a paper feedback checklist, where they could circle what went well in the video and things that they needed to work on. 


10:10

This could definitely work for the older grades as well using a peer feedback checklist, especially when it comes to video and audio productions of their work. This same checklist was also used for the students when they were modifying their videos and before they were posting them. So all of the qualifications that their peers were marking them on weren't a surprise because these were things that they needed to add to their video anyway. Having a mix of digital and paper was a great way to have students reflect on their work and hear their peers' viewpoints on what their STEM project was. 


10:47

The fourth way that you can have students share their designs is by creating a museum experience. This is one where you will need space within your classroom or somewhere else in the building where other classes can move about and check out the students' work. Maybe consider if there are any display cases in your building that you could use for a month or so, or maybe somewhere in the library on top of the bookshelves, get creative. And This is a really fun, interactive way where again, students have an authentic audience to view their work. I did this when I was teaching third grade. So before I became a STEM teacher, I taught second grade for two years and third grade for four years. My third graders were really obsessed with rocks and minerals. That was one of the standards that we were teaching in science at the time. This isn't, per se, a STEM project. But this is more so to help you get an idea of how to do a museum-style sharing in your classroom. 


11:50

Students were given a specific rock or mineral that they wanted to learn more about. I actually had the real rocks and minerals for them to explore. They researched their rock or mineral using a variety of resources. Then they created an interactive poster for other kids, other third graders, and their book buddies to explore. Students created little short videos and audio recordings that were created in Seesaw. There is a share button that could create a QR code that could then be posted on the poster. When we were at recess, lunch, or specials. The different classes had the opportunity to sign up for those times when my room was empty. They could borrow the iPads and check out our interactive displays and all the different rocks and minerals that we had in our classroom. So this was not only a great way for my third-grade students to have an authentic audience throughout the day. But the other classes had an in-house field trip that they could come and explore as well, and the classroom teachers appreciate it because there are no permission slips or bus forms required. 


13:01

Another way that I have done this museum-style is for a semester when I first started teaching STEM. I taught gifted and talented science on Mondays for the kids who had been identified in giftedness within science. We would work on projects for the whole semester, and then students had the opportunity to share their projects with their peers through a museum style. I did provide a peer feedback checklist a lot like the one that I just talked about and that the other third, fourth or fifth graders were given so they could give feedback to their peers on their project. After this museum experience, students collected those peer feedback forms, and actually created a graph based on the responses that they were given, and then reflected on how they could improve their work for a different type of presentation for next time. Again, those authentic audiences can definitely be those peers. Use the kids who are in your school, use your teachers, and you can really be creative with the time and the space to make this museum type of experience come to life. 


14:12

As a recap, here are the four different ways that you can have students creatively share their STEM projects at the end of the Engineering Design Process. First, they can share digitally. Second, have reflection questions. Third, peer-to-peer sharing, and fourth, create a museum-style type of sharing. This is the final episode of this mini-series about the Engineering Design Process. But we will definitely be talking about the EDP again, and a lot, but I wanted to make sure to go in-depth about each stage, so this can help with your overall planning. Also, don't forget to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that is linked in the show notes to help you organize and streamline those lesson plans and to dive deeper into the EDP. You can grab that using this direct link Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. 

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

what-are-creative-ways-to-present-a-project

Check out these creative ways students have shared their designs in some of the projects discussed in this podcast episode: 

3D Print Project: 1st Grade Animal Family Traits

2nd Grade: Earth’s Exciting Events, Green Screen Video

4th Grade: Space Junk Short Video

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!

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

Helping Students Improve STEM Projects [EDP Series: Experiment & Improve, Ep. 20]

Helping Students Improve STEM Projects [EDP Series: Experiment & Improve, Ep. 20]

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

Check out the full episode on Helping Students Improve STEM Projects:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

As students are building their STEM projects, are you unsure of ways they can improve their designs?

The experiment and improve stage of the Engineering Design Process is so important to teach kids that things might not be perfect the first time, and there are always ways to make them better. 

In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies that you can use with your students to help them improve and modify their designs. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn strategies to help students improve their STEM projects:

  • Using a modification checklist
  • Create a rubric for each STEM project
  • Give students opportunities to show what happened in their project

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

As students are building their STEM projects, are you unsure of ways they can improve their designs? When students come up to you, and they say, “I'm done,” do you say, “Oh, now go and just add more details.” In this episode, I will be sharing with you strategies that you can use with your students to help them improve and modify their designs. 


00:53

I can't believe we have already made it to Episode 20. It has been so much fun recording these podcasts and creating episodes that you can immediately apply to your classroom. I am excited about how far this podcast has come and what is in store for the future. Trust me, I have a ton of ideas brewing. So lots more fun to be had in the future. If you haven't grabbed it already, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. I'll also link it in the show notes. 


01:36

I know I've talked about this before, but I like comparing the Engineering Design Process to the writing process because there are a lot of similarities between those two processes. Being a former classroom teacher, that is just something that has stuck in my brain after teaching it for so many years before becoming a STEM teacher. The experiment and improve stage of the Engineering Design Process is similar to the editing stage within the writing process. It is the process for both of these things. A growth mindset that I like to teach my students in my classroom is that practice makes better, not perfect. Everything can be improved, even when you think you're done. This step in the Engineering Design Process is so important to teach kids that things might not be perfect the first time, and there are always ways to make them better. 


02:30

Here are some strategies that I like to use in this stage to make it more impactful and meaningful for students. These strategies keep me from rushing and running out of ideas for kids to make things better, or, after they build something, I don't just send them off to go do a fun activity. This stage in the Engineering Design Process can be very beneficial with some careful planning. 


02:54

The first way that you can enhance the experiment and improve stage is to use a modification checklist. Now, in my first year teaching STEM, I was completely lost on this. I was feeling probably like you are like I have no idea where to even begin with a checklist. I don't even know how the projects are going to turn out. Trust me, I was in your shoes, and I'm in those shoes whenever I'm starting new projects. So here's a little tip that has worked for me. When starting a new project, I will create an anchor chart of ways students can improve their designs as students are working. So with observations and how their projects are going, I will add to this anchor chart and list. I even get feedback from students as to what they would like to add to this list to help the future classes that I'm going to teach. Using the student feedback has been a game changer because I might think the project is going to go one way, but the way students are interacting with the lesson and the supplies are going in a completely different direction. I will always take their feedback when it comes to these checklists. 


04:03

In fact, when I was teaching STEM survival camp for fifth grade, the checklists for the build a shelter design was actually fully developed by my fifth graders. They had the checklist I'd given them, and they were writing all over it and adding in their own categories since I didn't design it in a way that worked best for them. So I recreated that checklist based on their feedback. My fifth graders really liked the layout because kids like them helped me create it. Now, years later, being in this position of K through five STEM, I have created my full year-long plan when it comes to engineering design challenges. Each challenge has different checklists included already, so you don't have to think about them. They are all done for you. There are even checklists for the little kids. 


04:54

For example, with my first graders for a unit, we were talking about Earthlight and light living things. What is that fancy word? Bioluminescent. The kids love learning this word and the meaning behind it. They sounded so fancy when they were sharing this with their teacher when they picked them up for the day. Students were to create their own living thing, either one that already exists or a living thing that would be enhanced if it did give off its own light and the reason behind that light. They were given a checklist the second day of creating, and there were just three lines in this checklist with a thumbs up, and a thumbs down that they could circle on the piece of paper or within Seesaw when I sent it to them digitally. These things weren't required for them, but I did say they had to do at least one of these three things when they were thinking about improving their design. On this checklist, those three things were does your living thing live in water? Does your living thing fly? And does your living thing eat other animals? So this was interesting for them to really think about who their animal was and even the purpose behind the light that they gave them. My example was that I would love it if my little dog Frederick's ears glowed. They had that bioluminescence, so when we're going on walks, he can see more clearly where we're going, and I can also see when I have to pick up his poop. Sorry, super gross TMI right there. 


06:30

Also, when I give checklists to my older kids, I give them those things on the checklist that they may or may not have to do. It depends on the project and the purpose behind the project. There's a space on the side where they can actually explain how the modifications made their design even better. When it comes to my 3D printing lessons, there are specific things they have to do within their project so that it will print correctly. Most of the things on the modification checklist have to be yes before they turn it in. However, there are other projects that we do where only a couple have to be a yes, and the rest are just ways that they can make their design even better. 


07:13

In addition to the checklist, another way that you can enhance your experiment and improve stage with the Engineering Design Process is the use of rubrics. You can use this instead of checklists or in addition to. If I were to use both, especially if I were to give grades within the STEM space, I would have students use the checklist when they are creating and experimenting, and improving. Then, when we are finished with the building stage, and this might even happen on the last day right before we share,  students are given that rubric, and they can reflect on the work that they did within this project. So they might even be done experimenting and improving, and they're thinking about how they really attacked those things. You can use a lot of the same things, even from the checklist, especially if you are planning with standards, which you should be anyway. But you can add some of those elements within your rubric. 


08:14

If I were to create a rubric for my STEM classroom, I would have it on a four-point scale, the one would be categorized as I am missing some things. This is if students really struggled in completing the project. Hopefully, they're not in that one category. Or maybe they were absent, so I would actually leave this part of the rubric blank so students could write in their responses, or I could add my responses. The two category would be I can do it with support. So those would be those qualifications that students were below grade level and had most of those things, but they have some holes. The three would be I can complete the project. So those would be all those qualifiers that are at grade level. They can demonstrate an understanding of the standard and the project. The four would be I can extend my learning. I also like to leave this blank. Or, if I know some ways students can extend their learning, I might write those in as well. So having that four-point scale would be really helpful, and have it written in student-friendly language, so it's not a surprise for them as to how they did on their project. This could be a great addition to the stage of the Engineering Design Process. 


09:34

Another thing too, when you're creating this rubric, I would think about the process first, then the product. I would have both within your rubric. So part of those qualifiers on your rubric you could talk about is did they demonstrate certain processes within the project. So learning a new skill when they are working on the project. The product could actually be how they demonstrate the state standard when attacking this challenge. Having a combination of both, which is really important in STEM. Are they understanding the standards? How are they learning new skills within STEM? Whether it's 3D printing or Makerspace coding, how are they demonstrating mastery within those? If you're interested in more things about grading, we could talk about that in the future. I will say I don't actually give grades in my STEM space. But this is the process I would use if I had to do that. So definitely something to consider and talk about when you're thinking about rubrics. 


10:38

Finally, the third way to enhance your experiment and improve stage is to give students the opportunity to show what happens. My two favorite platforms to use within the classroom, and especially in STEM classrooms, are Seesaw and Flipgrid. Both are very similar, but they also have differences. Having these platforms in your classroom is super beneficial for families to see what takes place within your classroom. We know that kids can't always take home the awesome supplies that they're using in STEM. Of course, they really want to, especially LEGO minifigs that go missing. Those never come back. But kids always want to share all the cool things that we did. These platforms are a great way for students to bring those experiences home through video, photos, and audio. Also, when you use these platforms, this is also a great way to keep kids accountable for the work and make sure that they are staying on task and completing the project. 


11:40

One of my first favorite ways is for students to use video during this improve and experiment stage. A big way that I used it with my fifth graders is when they were creating Rube Goldberg Ecosystems. Every time they were testing their design, I wanted them to take a video of inaction, whether it worked or not. It was great for them to have video evidence of their actual experiment. This was also helpful because they could go back and watch what happened the day before and set it up the same way or differently, depending on the results within their Seesaw journal. They had an abundance of videos to go back and reflect on, and this actually helped them when they came into the share stage when we talked about the project throughout the week. 


12:27

Another way that I've used video within an engineering design project was in second grade. They were working on animal migration Ozobots. Ozobots are those tiny little robots that read color codes when you color them with markers or use the stickers provided. Beforehand, students researched the migration patterns of different animals and understood why they were migrating and how that affected them. Students created the path of the migration within the maps that were provided. I wanted students to film the process of their code and action. It's so cute to see them filming this because you can see them experiment within the video when the code doesn't work. They'll pick up the robot and put it where it needs to go. Again, I wanted them to take more than one video so that if their code doesn't work, they could create a new coding sheet on a new map and then record it. So these are just two great examples of experimenting and improving within your STEM lessons. 


13:31

Sometimes video might not be the best fit to share. This is when photos are a great opportunity. Of course, you can have students take pictures of their work but if their invention is supposed to do something, consider having students take before and after photos. Again, in another second-grade lesson, I had students create an invention to help control the effects of water erosion. We actually tested this using dirt that we found outside, so there was a hill I took students out on, and I wanted them actually to test their invention with the water that we brought. Before taking the students outside, I had them take a picture of their invention before it got wet. Then some kids even went on to explain with audio how their invention was going to work. I then had students bring their inventions back into the classroom. After we tested them using the water and the dirt, they took an after photo and then explained what actually happened. I didn't want the iPads outside with the dirt, so that's why I had them bring the inventions back in. 


14:42

If there are before and after opportunities, consider taking photos. If you're doing projects that are all computer-based, there are some platforms that allow students to do screen recordings. This would be really cool if students are creating a code for a game or if they're 3D printing. They can actually film their screen in real-time and play it back on a hyperlapse to see the progression of their projects along the way. On the flip side, when you're thinking about teacher management, it would be great to keep kids accountable and ensure that they're staying on the screen that they're supposed to stay on. A great platform for students to use for screen recording is Screencastify. They have come out with a whole classroom set. You definitely should check that out because I love using Screencastify as a teacher, but it would be a cool asset to use for your older students when it comes to screen recording. Wii video is another platform that allows screen recording capabilities. So definitely check out those platforms and see how you can fit that in when students are designing digitally. 


15:49

As a recap, here are ways to help your students improve their STEM projects when you are in the experiment and improve stage. First, consider using a modification checklist. Next, create rubrics. Third, give students opportunities to show what happens. We have one more stage left in this mini-series about the Engineering Design Process. So thank you so much for joining me on this journey. Make sure to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and Planning Guide, which is linked in the show notes and are also found at this direct link: Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP.

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

helping-students-improve-stem-projects

 

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!

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

Teaching Strategies to Help Student Projects [EDP Series: Create, Ep. 19]

Teaching Strategies to Help Student Projects [EDP Series: Create, Ep. 19]

Check out the full episode on Teaching Strategies to Help Student Projects:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

The create stage of the Engineering Design Process is a fun stage and tends to be the kids' favorite stage.

Although a fun stage, it is easy for chaos to ensue during this stage.

In today’s episode, I will be sharing teaching strategies to help student projects so that you can have control instead of chaos in your classroom.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn three teaching strategies to help students with their projects during the create stage in the Engineering Design Process:

  • Create with controlled chaos
  • Manage the materials that stick (i.e., glue, tape, hot glue gun)
  • Have strategies for cleaning up and storing the projects

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Kids love to create in STEM, and this is by far their most favorite stage in the Engineering Design Process. In this episode, I'll be sharing with you teaching strategies to help student projects so you can have control of chaos in your classroom. 


00:50

I wanted to start off this episode by reading another review that was left on Apple Podcast for this podcast. Here's what brownie 819 had to say. “I am looking forward to hearing your podcast. I am a K through two STEM teacher and love all your work that you do with engineering challenges. So many times, I put together an idea and hope children will have some success with it. I can't wait to follow along.” Thank you so much for your review. I am so appreciative of that. Speaking of engineering challenges, for this episode, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. I'll also link it in the show notes. 


01:41

Now let's jump into the Create stage in the Engineering Design Process. Not only is this a favorite stage of my students, but secretly it's one of my favorite stages as well. When I am planning and researching lessons for my K through five STEM space, I have a vague idea of what the project should look like in my head. My students always surprise me with their creative and innovative designs when it comes to solving the problem. Over the years, I've also noticed that my students have been paying more attention to the details they've been adding to their designs. Not only are they solving the problem, but they are adding intricacies to their designs that make them even better and look amazing. I always joke with my classes that, yes, I am their STEM teacher, but there's a little bit of a, a little bit of art. In the top corner of my whiteboard, I have a giant whiteboard sticker on one of my walls. So the entire wall is a whiteboard. In the top right corner, I have the letters STEM cut out in paper, and, in between the E and the M, I literally have a little a written. So I'm their STEM teacher with a little bit of a literally. I tell them that it's always good to have an element of art within your designs, add the beautifying piece and a little bit of style because your project should not only solve the problem but also look good. 


03:17

If you're an inventor selling your designs, people are going to want to buy them. I always give them the example of the car, the PT Cruiser, because, yes, it's probably a quality car, but it is super ugly. I'm sorry if you drive this car, but it's super ugly. It's not super popular because, well, people don't want to be seen driving that, at least I don't. Anyway, let's dive into these strategies that you can use within your teaching during this create stage in the classroom. The Create stage is right after the plan in the Engineering Design Process. We talked about that in the last episode, episode 18. So if you haven't given that a listen, make sure to go and check that out to get some ideas for enhancing the planning stage before the kids dive into create. 


04:27

The Create stage can get a little bit crazy very quickly. So let's talk about ways you can have students create within controlled chaos. I definitely thrive in a classroom when there is a lot going on. My ADHD kicks in, and it becomes my superpower because, for some reason, I know exactly what is going on with all the kids in all of their projects. Also, being the oldest of five kids, I am used to being in loud environments with a lot going on. So these two things definitely become an asset during this create stage and the Engineering Design Process. When students come in for the day, so this is typically day three for me after we have asked the question and did some imagining and planning, the students still come in and meet in our group meeting area. I still have a mini-lesson for them before they tackle their projects and work the entirety of the class. This is the time when I will review where supplies are located in my classroom. This depends on how long you have known the students, if things have changed, or if you have set materials out in a specific part of the classroom, which I will do for certain projects. 


05:32

This is also the time when I will talk about the Makerspace menu, how that process will work for the day, and where all those materials are located. If you're interested in this whole process of the Makerspace menu, I talked about this in episode six. So go back and take a listen. This management system helps with the controlled chaos. During this create stage, I let students build on the floor and at the tables by choice. I typically don't have assigned seating for this stage of the process; however, you know your students best. So if you do need to have assigned spots, don't be afraid to do so. When students are creating, I let them create in groups of one, two, or three. Sometimes they want to create groups of four. However, that gets a little bit crazy, especially since the projects are so small. There isn't usually enough for kids to do when they are in a group of four. So when that's the case, I tell kids to split up in two groups. They can work side by side and share ideas, but they're creating two different projects so that all the kids have a chance to work on something for the next few days. 


06:44

I also remind students that projects will need to be cleaned up at the end of class, and they will be put on our grade-level shelf. This is especially important to tell kids because sometimes they might want to glue or tape things to the tables. Then when the end of class comes, they're sad because they have to take it all apart. So this really enhances their designs because this helps them be mindful of creating things that can be moved back and forth over the next few days. I also like to have a timer up on the screen that all students can see during their work time. I did this as a classroom teacher during their independent work time just as a time management strategy. It's so interesting when I started implementing this with my K through five STEM students. Many of them started getting freaked out by the timer. I did have to have a whole lesson about the timer, and is that me making you rush through everything. The timer is more, for me as a teacher, to make sure that I am giving you enough work time and that when it's time to clean up, we have enough time for that. I tell them I have more students to teach throughout the day. I teach six classes a day, and I wish I could keep them all day. I need to have a timer so we can stay on track and clean up, and then the next kids can come in. 


08:10

Also, a little tip about the timers: remind students that it's not New Year, and they're not counting down when it gets to 10 seconds or less. For some reason, this has become a pet peeve of mine. When it happens 24 different times, you get annoyed pretty quickly. So add that little tidbit in there when you use a timer. My favorite visual timer to use in the classroom is the one from classroomscreen.com. If you haven't checked it out already, pause this podcast and go look at it. The website is named classroom screen.com, and it has all of these widgets at the bottom. There's not only a timer that you can pull up on the screen but there is a clock you can add. You can embed images, and Google slides that you can click through. All of these different widgets are up on the one screen. So you don't have to minimize and move different website tabs around so you can fit it all in. You can fit it in on this main platform. It is a freemium. So the free version won't save all the stuff that you have up on the screen unless you leave the tab open and don't shut down your computer. I believe the annual subscription is a pretty reasonable price. It actually might be worth the investment, especially if you are teaching many classes a day like I am during this mini-lesson. 


09:34

This is also the time where I will teach strategies to help them with their projects, but not necessarily teach them step by step how to do everything. I really want my students' projects to look different. They might have some similarities just because those similarities might all solve the problem. However, this isn't a step-by-step craft. It is a STEM activity. So their inventions should all look different. So here's what I mean about teaching a strategy. When I was doing a lesson with cardboard, students wanted some of their designs to stand up on their own. I noticed that they wanted to do this. So during my mini-lesson, I taught students how to create an L brace using cardboard. Some students wanted to use the strategy, some didn't. But it was just another way to enhance their designs and make them better without me showing them. Oh, you all have to do this, you all have to use this strategy. Another way that I like to do this is posting up on my screen. With classroom screen, I will add images of students' work from the past that I have taken pictures of, and also real-life examples, if it's applicable. These are just as guides as inspiration. The students probably have even seen them before when we were in the Imagine stage. But this is just a great jumping-off point, especially for students who are having a hard time visualizing what their projects should look like. So break out your camera while students are working, take pictures of their work, and save it to a Google Drive folder. This is a great way to store all of those examples and help you reflect as a teacher on how you can improve the projects or even notice which strategies you can teach the students in the future. 


11:25

The second teaching strategy to help manage the projects in your STEM classroom is managing the things that stick, and I'm literally talking about the things that stick: glue sticks, tape, and hot glue guns. It's kind of funny that I'm talking about this, but this is a hot topic in the STEM space and let me tell you. First are glue sticks. I like to buy the Amazon Basic brand, which is so similar to the ‘s glue brand, but a little cheaper. I will link these in the show notes for you. In Episode Five, I talked about the organization of materials in your STEM classroom. So go back and listen if you're unsure how to get things going in your space. With glue sticks, I like to have these in a simple plastic bucket on the tables and have a collection of scissors for students to use. I have a separate bucket for pencils and large erasers. At one point, I had caddies with all the compartments I would set out on the tables. However, I felt that having all those supplies available all the time was quite a distraction for kids, especially when it came to pulling out the scissors and cutting things that aren't supposed to be cut, like hair and pencils. So I like keeping the pencils out all the time. Then I pull out those buckets of glue sticks and scissors when needed. 


12:54

I actually don't use the white Squeezy glue in my classroom because with that many kids coming into my room, I feel like that would get messy really quickly. I know that the tops of the glue bottles get clogged, but there is a way to unclog them. That's just something I don't want to be doing with my time. So glue sticks aren't for me. I also have a little collection of glue stick caps that I keep available for kids if they happen to lose their caps. So that's really helpful as well, so we can keep those glue sticks as long as possible. When it comes to tape in my classroom, I am a masking tape-only girl. I do have clear scotch tape on the side when it comes to specific student requests. They might want the tape to not show in their design. But overall, we are here for the masking tape. There is a bundle of tape that I like to purchase on Amazon quite regularly. So I will also link that as well. Now, one of my favorite things to do when it comes to tape management is to create baby tape rolls. This is something that I started during COVID but has carried on because it's been quite a success in my classroom. What I do and also what I have also taught my students to do is to measure about 24 inches of tape on a yardstick, rip that off, tape it onto a popsicle stick and hold the side and roll it up to create a baby tape roll. This is great because this is all the tape that students can use for their projects. So it really helps them be mindful of how they use the tape. Then, in between those days, their tape is in their supplies throughout the week. So then they can have it readily available for them. 


14:40

As a review, here are the three main teaching strategies to help students with their projects during this create stage in the Engineering Design Process. First is create with controlled chaos. Next, manage those things that stick, and third, have strategies when it comes to the cleanup and storage. There are two stages left in this mini-series about the end scenario design process, and I really hope that you have been enjoying it. If you have any successes from these episodes, definitely tag me on Instagram or send me an email because I would love to see how I am helping you and your students in your classroom. Before you go, make sure to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that can help you thoughtfully plan all those amazing ideas you have floating around in your head and implement them in your class. You can grab them in the show notes for today or use them using this direct link: Naomimeredith.com/podcastedp


14:40

Last is the hot glue guns, and this is a specialty item that I have on my Makerspace menu. I don't use hot glue guns all the time for all projects. This is something that we work up to the second semester of the year for second through fifth grades. During that mini-lesson, I will teach kids about the expectations and rules when using hot glue guns. Your school might also want you to have a permission slip when using this type of tool. So ask your admin if that's something that you need to implement. We'll go over hot glue guns, how to use this inner space, and where they're located in our classroom. I do have a list of those safety rules up in my TPT shop and a simple, organized poster, which, again, I'll link for you in the show notes. The hot glue that I like to use is low temperature, and they are made for kids. So there are fewer safety concerns when they're used this tool, but it's also great for them to learn to use that as well because it does have some stronger capabilities. Then my sad little glue sticks. 


15:44

Finally, at the end of class, during this create stage, students have to clean up and store their projects. Again, this is why a classroom timer is super effective because this helps students manage their time and even work a little bit quicker since they know they're going to have to clean up at the end of class. I am really big on transitions, boundaries, and setting up systems and routines in my classroom. So make sure to go back and listen to episode nine because I talk to you about those tips and tricks that I like to use, especially when you teach six classes a day. When it comes to cleanup time, some classes are going to need more structure and routines than other classes. This also will depend on how long you have known the kids and the dynamic of the classroom. Over the years, most of my classes have been able to clean up independently. When the timer goes off, they clean up their supplies, and then they sit at their clean table. Here and there, I have to go over those expectations and break down the cleanup step-by-step. This also comes into play when you think about who their classroom teacher is and what types of systems or routines they have in their homeroom. That will be reflective within your STEM space. So keep that in mind that you might have to change it up for certain classes to help them be successful during this cleanup time. 


17:07

For classes that need more structure, I will actually have them pause, leave their materials on the table and then come join me in a group meeting area. I'll talk about what it looks like to clean up, physically model where those supplies go, and then send them back out to their seats. For classes that need even more structure than this, I will still have that tiny little mini-lesson. So about one minute long, they go back to their seats, and then we will clean up step-by-step-by-step. I just did this with first grade with their fishing pole lesson where the timer went off and it was time to clean up. I showed them how we're going to clean up and then we did each step together as a class. So I said okay, everybody put their fishing pole and their fish in their grocery bag and hold it in the air. So they did that and they had their bag in the air. I'm all great, good job. Okay, put your bag down and throw any trash in the trash can. So they did that. Then after that I'm like okay, check your glue sticks and scissors and then sit at your table. So some classes will need more guidance. Over time, hopefully they can be more independent during that cleanup time. Also, setting a timer during cleanup can be very helpful for classes that move slowly. Some kids do get sad when it's cleanup time. However, that's how it is. You don't have them all day typically, and so it's just part of the process when it comes to this create stage. 


18:35

Like I mentioned with that fishing pole, I have students put all their extra supplies in a grocery bag, along with their plan from the day before. I don't have them write on the bags. I don't pull out sharpies because their plans have their names on them, and they know which bag is theirs. When they grab it the next day, all of their plans will go into a big fabric box from IKEA. I click on the name of their classroom teacher, and then all of their projects that they're continuing to build go on their grade level shelf. The projects are fairly small, so everything fits pretty well throughout the week. When students are done cleaning up all their supplies and materials, they have to go back and sit at their clean table so I can double-check that everybody did their part and cleaned before they line up in the hallway and wait for their classroom teacher while they're sitting at their tables. This is a great time to review the objectives for the day and the next steps for this project.

19:45

As a review, here are the three main teaching strategies to help students with their projects during this create stage in the Engineering Design Process. First is create with controlled chaos. Next, manage those things that stick, and third, have strategies when it comes to the cleanup and storage. There are two stages left in this mini-series about the end scenario design process, and I really hope that you have been enjoying it. If you have any successes from these episodes, definitely tag me on Instagram or send me an email because I would love to see how I am helping you and your students in your classroom. Before you go, make sure to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that can help you thoughtfully plan all those amazing ideas you have floating around in your head and implement them in your class. You can grab them in the show notes for today or use them using this direct link: Naomimeredith.com/podcastedp

 

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

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!

teaching-strategies-to-help-student-projects

Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs [EDP Series: Plan, Ep. 18]

Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs[EDP Series: Plan, Ep.18]

students-to-plan-designs

Check out the full episode on Creative Ways for Students to Plan Designs:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

The planning stage in the Engineering Design Process is an important step.
 
How do we get our students to enjoy the planning stage as much as the create stage?
 
In today’s episode, I will be sharing creative ways to enhance the planning stage so that students enjoy planning designs instead of rushing through this stage.

In this episode, you’ll learn ways to boost the planning stage in the Engineering Design Process:

  • Discuss the importance of planning
  • Share the materials before planning
  • Provide a space for students to explain their designs
  • Think about trying creative ways to plan

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

The planning stage in the Engineering Design Process is an important step. Kids always want to jump into the Create stage, but the planning stage is just as important. In this episode, I will be sharing with you creative ways to use in the planning stage of this process and even help kids love this stage to. 


00:55

For this episode in the Engineering Design Process series, I have a free poster and planning guide that you can use to integrate into your lessons. You can grab it in the show notes or use this direct link Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. When I first started teaching STEM, I did have the kids plan their designs. When we got the plans, the kids would scribble their designs. They would legit scribble their designs. Within five minutes, they were all done and ready to create. I knew with my experience as a classroom teacher before being a STEM teacher that this probably wasn't a plan that was going to be helpful. I had to improve my teaching to teach the students how to thoughtfully plan and really make their plan an important stage in the process. In fact, the kids now love the planning stage just as much as the create stage. I'm going to be sharing with you creative ways to enhance this stage in the process so they aren't just scribbling their designs just because they need to plan but drawing something useful for them. 


02:13

The first way to do this is to discuss the importance of planning. Our kids want to know why we are doing this. I tell my students in the planning stage that if we don't plan, we plan to fail. Now failing is good in STEM; however, what I'm saying is if we just jump into the create stage all the time, we're not understanding the reason why we are doing things. It's just try as we go, which is also fine. The create stage is helping students to visualize and bring those ideas out of their heads and onto paper or the way that you want them to plan. I like to relate the Engineering Design Process to the writing process when I'm teaching students. There are stages to go in order for both processes, but you can always go back to a stage. Just because we did the planning stage and we move on to create doesn't mean that you can't go back and plan. This has developed over the years with my students, and I have had students create a plan, and design something, but it doesn't work, and then they really do go back to the drawing board. 


03:28

So teaching thoughtful plans is so beneficial. Classroom teachers will like this, too, because you're helping them with their teaching when it comes to the writing process and why planning is an important stage within this flow. I found a really great book recently that you can read to your students to help them understand the importance of plans. It is written by HDTVs Property Brothers, Jonathan and Drew Scott. It is such an adorable picture book. It's called Builder Brother Big Plans. It talks about them as little boys and how they had an idea and wanted to build something. So they dreamed up ideas in their heads and started making lots of different plans for their design. They finally picked a plan that they wanted to build. They got the materials and started building…well, I'm not going to tell you the rest. I don't want to ruin the ending. Definitely check it out. It is so cute and a great way to introduce planning within your classroom. This could be a short mini-lesson. It doesn't have to take the whole time, but I highly recommend this book. 


04:41

Also, with the planning process, think about having criteria for what their plans should align to. This has definitely been a game changer in my classroom. I'm not having kids scribble little things anymore. There is something for them to refer to improve their work. I have a four-point rubric that I post on my TV. You could print this out for students if you would like. I just have it posted. We talk about this for every single project we need to plan for. There are four different categories. The first category is a one-star plan. A one-star plan is just drawing your design. This is something that I expect out of my Kindergarteners and first graders. A two-star plan is drawing and labeling your design with one view. This is what I would expect from my first and second graders. Then we move on to a three-star plan, which is drawing and labeling more than one view. So if I was the inventor of a TV remote, I would draw the front of the TV remote and label all the parts, and then I would draw the back or maybe the inside and label all the parts as well. This is what I expect in second grade and up. A four-star plan to take it to the next level is doing everything in the previous three, including drawing and labeling more than one view and explaining what each part does. This has really helped my students understand how their plans can be more thoughtful. It helps them think about the components that will make up their design and the materials that they might use. This is also extremely helpful if you are implementing the maker menu, which we talked about in episode six, where they are thoughtfully planning their designs. Then they can create a shopping list to coincide with this plan. 


06:37

So if that is a process that you're implementing the maker menu, this is the time where you would talk about the menu as well. If you want younger students to focus on coloring, I also recommend using a coloring rubric. I don't make my older students color because they are trying to be thoughtful when drawing, labeling, and explaining. Coloring could be a great option for your younger students to help them think about the different parts that their plan or design would have. So on your coloring rubric, you could have three different categories. Then it could be stars or smiley faces, frowny faces, a medium face, I don't know how to call that but a straight line face, you know what I'm talking about, right? So you could have three points in your rubric. The first one could be coloring in the lines, colors that make sense, and no whitespace. You can help your younger students be thoughtful when they're coloring their plans. 


08:50

I also like to teach students that planning is a lot like creating a patent for an invention. Over the summer, I went to Chicago with my teacher honey, and there was this cool booth. They had all of these cool plaques that were burned in with different images, and one of them caught my eye. It was a patent of the LEGO brick. It was so cool because it showed all of the different layers of LEGO brick. It had all of these different labels, and it was just so thoughtfully planned. I now have this hanging up in my classroom. When I'm talking about plans, I take the plaque off the wall. I explain to my students that LEGO didn't actually have a patent before they were selling their bricks, and people were copying their designs. So a patent is important for inventors because they need to be extremely thoughtful about their plans and include every single detail. They even have a document that explains every single part that is labeled in their pictures so no one can steal their ideas. The kids are super enamored by this story. It's true, it's history. You can fact-check me, maybe I'm off by some details. But overall, it's pretty much true. So it's important for students to see those connections. When they hear the words patent pending, they know what it means now. So that's why discussing the importance of planning is important for students. So then they really understand that this is an important stage, and it's not all just about creating when we're using the Engineering Design Process. 


09:16

During the planning stage, I also like to have students be aware of what materials they will be working with. This influences your plan since you know what you're working with, and then you can design your drawings from there. You can have a set list of materials or a Makerspace menu. It's up to you and depends on the project, the time of year, and the amount of time that you have. I have a lesson that is a one-day project, sometimes two, but it's a spider poly, and I have very specific materials that I want students to use. They can use a string that is looped on a pencil that will hold the spider ring. So those little spooky spider rings, they have those materials, and then LEGO bricks and a spider web. I make students aware that those are the materials that they will be using, which influence their design. For younger students, if they're planning on paper or Seesaw, I like to have pictures of the materials if it's a set list, and students can draw lines to the materials list to their drawing. That's just another way that they can label. That way, they're not overwhelmed by writing the words. I'm not here in a writing class, although writing is important. But that's a creative way that you can have students plan if you have the pictures and the words of the materials already on their paper. 


10:49

Third, provide a space for students to explain their plans. Planning through drawing and labeling, in my opinion, is just part of the plan. Give students an opportunity to explain how they're hoping their design or invention will work. I would do this by having a question that students can answer through writing, an audio recording, or a video recording, like in Seesaw or Flipgrid. That way, you can see how their plan is getting to the lesson objective, which is ultimately tied to the standard. Kids love talking about their designs. You probably have kids coming up to you when they're done planning and telling you all about what they drew. So harness all that talking and put it into a platform for them, Seesaw, Flipgrid, or any other platform that you can think of where they can do this. This is great for them to go back and reflect. They can go back and listen to those recordings right before they start creating, so they don't forget all of these amazing ideas. 


11:55

Finally, provide creative ways to plan for students. Here are different ways I like to do this. Of course, drawing and labeling are super important. I have the kids' plan on paper, whether it's a specific graphic organizer I want them to use or scratch or graph paper, which are great options too. I love having the kids take pictures of their plans and posting them in Seesaw. So then I'm not keeping track of all their papers class after class. This really helps with the organization of materials. If I am using Seesaw as a planning tool for Kindergarten and first grade, I will have them draw directly in the app. This depends on the project and the day. I will also use paper for them, but I noticed that for Kindergarten and first grade drawing in Seesaw works out great for them because they're not as detailed with their drawings yet. Also, having an abundance of colors and different tools really helps the kids who are not as engaged during this part of the process, allowing them to produce something on their screen. 


13:05

Another way you can have students plan is to verbalize their plan. You can have students think, pair share, and talk to each other about what they are hoping to do. Back in episode 15, I provided this as an option for my fifth-grade students. They ended up drawing their plans anyway. So that was a great success story because they actually did want to be a part of the planning process. Verbalizing your plan is a great way to have students still be involved in the Engineering Design Process. This is a great option if you're short on time. 


13:41

Another way that I've had students plan is to have them gather their materials. Maybe they do have a paper plan. Maybe they don't, or maybe they just verbalized it. Either way, I have them gather their materials, and then I don't give them the tape or glue or scissors yet. They tinker around with what they have first and think about different combinations of how the materials can be put together. Then after a few minutes, I will give them the tape, glue, and scissors so they can manipulate those materials. That's a fun, hands-on way that students can plan. 


14:15

Another type of planning is something that I actually did the other day, and it was an on the fly moment. I hadn't planned this, it was just something that I needed to do to get this student engaged since they kept running out of the classroom. They did not want to draw. They wanted nothing to do with drawing or holding a pencil. We were doing the build a shelter challenge for fifth grade for STEM survival camp. If you want to hear more about STEM survival camp, go back and listen to episode four. He did not want to do anything, so instead of drawing and labeling, I asked the student if they wanted to plan their design using playdough, and they were thrilled to do this. I grabbed different colors of playdough, and they ended up designing their plan with the playdough. Then we took a picture of the plan and put the playdough plan in a bag if they wanted to look at it the next day while they were building their shelter design. They ended up building an entirely different design, which was totally fine. That's normal when it comes to planning. You may start one way, and then it goes an entirely different way, which is great. It was a cool way for the child to be successful in my classroom. The good news was they didn't run away, which I was so excited about. 


15:38

As a recap, let's talk about the ways to boost the planning process when it comes to the Engineering Design Process within your STEM space. First, discuss the importance of planning. Next, share the materials before planning. Third, provide a space for kids to explain their designs. Fourth, think about trying creative ways to plan. I'll be continuing to dive into the Engineering Design Process with this mini-podcast series. Don't forget to download your FREE Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide to help you along the way. You can grab that at Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP, and it will also be linked in the show notes for today. 

students-to-plan-designs

students-to-plan-designs

 

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!

good-research-websites-for-elementary-students

Good Research Websites for Elementary Students [EDP Series: Imagine, Ep. 17]

Good Research Websites for Elementary Students [EDP Series: Imagine, Ep. 17]

good-research-websites-for-elementary-students

Check out the full episode on Good Research Websites for Elementary Students:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

What resources should you be using to teach the science part in STEM?

How do you fit it all in?

In today’s episode, I will be sharing good research websites and resources to help teach elementary students the science in STEM. 

 

In this episode, you’ll learn six good research websites to help teach elementary students science in STEM:

  • Epic Books
  • Kiddle
  • Science podcasts, including Brains On and Tumble Science
  • SciShow Kids Youtube Channel
  • National Geographic Kids website
  • San Diego Zoo kids live zoo cameras

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

I often get asked the question, what resources should I be using to teach the science part in STEM? How do I even fit it all in? In today's episode, I will be sharing with you my top favorite research websites and resources to help build background and teach the science in STEM. 


00:51

For this episode, I have a free engineering design poster and planning guide that can help you get started when you are integrating the Engineering Design Process in your classroom. You can grab it using this link Naomimeredith.com/podcastEDP. This will also be linked in the show notes, so you don't have to memorize it. The resources that I will be sharing with you today are my absolute favorite from back when I was a classroom teacher. They are also things that I love using in my STEM space. Now, I am not sponsored by any of these programs yet, but I just wanted to share with you what has worked really well with my students and things that I think that you will really enjoy. Now with the limited time I have with kids, I don't have the luxury of having the kids research all the resources on their own. So within these different platforms that I'm going to be sharing with you, I actually pre-research using these tools and then share the links with students so that they can get right to the information that they need. Researching is an important skill, and I know it is a standard. Like I said, with the short amount of time that I have, I really have to get to the heart of what I want kids to know and the background knowledge and science concepts that will help with their projects. 


02:18

So let's dive into these resources. I think that you're going to be obsessed with them as much as I am. Now don't feel like you have to memorize all of these links. Again, these will be in the show notes for you, so you can have that right at your fingertips. The first Research website that I absolutely love using in my STEM classroom is Epic Books. Now, if you haven't heard of Epic Books before, you need to jump on this bandwagon, it is worth your time 100%. What is so amazing about this platform is that it is free for teachers to use in the classroom. It provides a library of ebooks, audiobooks, read-to-me books, and videos that aren't connected to YouTube. I highly recommend this resource. It even works on any type of device, which is so helpful, especially since there are so many different devices that are in our schools. 


03:17

Now, as a STEM teacher, I do teach over 500 kids over the course of the month, and that would be a lot of different Epic Books accounts for me to track. So instead of grabbing the classroom teachers' code or creating separate classes for all of them, I actually have one designated epic books account that I use for all of my STEM classes. The way that I set up my Epic Books account is for the student names I just put in a number. So when students log in using my code, they just choose the classroom number that they are associated with. This is extremely helpful because I have specific collections that I create when it relates to the project. That way, I just have to send the collection to one class, and it can be used over the course of the month. This is just a great little hack. So if you feel like when you came from the classroom, you couldn't use epic books anymore, you definitely can. 


04:17

So here's an example lesson that I have taught using Epic Books as a tool for researching for a project. For this example, it is a second-grade 3D printing lesson, and their goal was to create a birdhouse to help the birds in their area. During that imagined stage, I wanted students to see different examples of ways they could enhance their birdhouses and upgrade their designs from the typical house design that we have in our heads. The collection that I made in Epic Books included buildings, architecture, and bird nests for inspiration and being able to see how birds create their homes which influenced their designs as well. There are a few books within Epic Books that are all about building a birdhouse. Having this variety of books is really helpful for students because they can browse through the pictures, read the words and look at the captions to help them imagine different possibilities for their designs. On their little sheet, I had them draw the things that they really liked and things that they might want to include in their plan. Again, this isn't their formal plan, but just gathering as many ideas as possible. Whether or not they tried those ideas, at least they had something going into their plan based on the collection of books that they viewed. 


05:40

The second research tool that I love to use in my STEM classroom is the website called Kiddle. It's spelled K-I-D-D-L-E. Again, this is another free platform that you can use in your classroom, and it is an online encyclopedia. Now, be mindful of the grade level that you use this with. It's best fitted for third, fourth, fifth, and up. So, I wouldn't recommend using this for the primary grades. This is another great research tool where students can gather information about things more in detail. When I was doing a project for third grade, they were creating an invention to help prevent the effects of flooding. What I did when using this tool was I looked up different points in history where floods made a ginormous impact in the area and created QR codes about those different places that students could explore even further. Also, you don't have to create QR codes. That's just how I shared the links to the places. You could definitely link within Google Classroom or Seesaw as well. This is an awesome tool. The articles are really short, and they usually have a few pictures to help students visualize what they're learning about. 


06:58

The third research tool that I love to use in my STEM classroom that I am obsessed with is the YouTube channel SciShow Kids. The girl on the show, I forget her name, I would love to meet her. I am putting this on my vision board: she is someone that I would love to eventually interview on this podcast. So let's hope that this can happen. I love using this resource tool in my STEM classroom as opposed to BrainPOP because I know the classroom teachers are using BrainPOP all the time since we have a school subscription. I am also teaching the same standards as them with a STEM twist. I don't want to overlap the videos that are being used. BrainPOP is an amazing resource that is a paid subscription and highly recommended. If you don't have a subscription, or if you don't want to overlap and take over the videos that they're also using, I recommend SciShow Kids. 


08:03

What's great about these videos is that there's a host that talks, and then there's her little sidekick squeaks, a little mouse. They talk about different science concepts within a few minutes. They also have videos of different science experiments that you could try, which would be great for one-day lessons if that's something that you're looking for. When I use this, I use it with K through five since the younger kids enjoy them a bit more. There are some topics that are relevant for the third, fourth, and fifth, and they like them too. How I used it for first grade is we were talking about the sun, moon, stars, and all the things that appear in our night sky. We were doing station rotations for each of those things, and there was a related video on SciShow Kids that could teach the kids a little more science about what they were going to do in their stations. For example, one of the stations was to build constellations using geoboards. The video we watched before going into our stations was from SciShow Kids explaining what constellations are and some of the ones that you might see in the night sky. So, not overloading kids with all of the science at once, but really breaking it down with short video clips before they spend most of their time working. 


09:24

Another resource to integrate into your lessons is podcasts, specifically science podcasts. Now you are here, you're listening, or maybe you're watching the video version of the podcast. But podcasts are another great tool that is really underutilized within classrooms. Now the two podcasts that I really love that relate to science are Brains On and Tumble Science. Fun fact: back on my previous podcast that I hosted with another teacher, we interviewed one of the hosts from Tumble Science. That was so much fun because that was a podcast that I used in my third-grade classroom all the time, and the kids started to love listening to podcasts. Here I was years later talking to the host, so that was definitely a full circle moment, that was so a core memory. That's for sure. I recommend using these podcasts, and if you're wondering how to listen to them with kids, both have their own websites where within each episode, there's a player that is embedded on the website page so students can listen to the podcast. You don't necessarily have to download a podcasting app for kids to listen to. Often those are blocked by your school filter anyway. But you can link the page that relates to the episode and use that as a tool. Now, both podcast shows, Tumble Science and Brains On, have episodes that are quite lengthy. So you might have a specific part that you want students to listen to either as a whole class or independently. 


11:11

Another way that you can use this if you do want to use the full episode is that this is a really great visualization task. When I am recording videos in the classroom with students, I need the other kids who are not recording to do a quiet task, so we can hear the ones who are on camera more clearly. I'll assign a couple of related podcast episodes to the topic that we're working on, and then students are drawing what the picture is that they're visualizing in their minds. Now, this seems simple enough, but trust me, kids really have a hard time making pictures in their heads. I've had a lot of students tell me, that they don't see anything in their head when it's being spoken to them. So definitely a skill for kids to work on. Now, we teach that podcasts are about listening and paying attention to the details. There's nothing to watch, usually, which is hard for kids because they're so used to watching lots of videos. For most students, podcasts are a new concept. So this is a great way to get kids into listening to podcasts and work on their visualization skills. 


12:22

The fifth resource that I love to use within my STEM classroom is National Geographic Kids. As a teacher, I do have a subscription to the adult version of National Geographic, which is a great tool that I use to help when I am researching for my lesson, but the kid website doesn't require a subscription. The website pages are visually appealing, and they have so many great nonfiction text features like maps, photographs, and captions, all the things that we teach kids about to recognize in print are available on this site. My two favorite categories to use on this website are the animal category and countries. The animal category is linked by its classifications. When you dive in deeper, there are different things about countries and places in the world. This is a great way to really focus on specific animals that kids are researching about or specific places, and they have enough information where they can comprehend what's being said, but it's not overwhelming. One way that I use this resource is for a third-grade 3D printing lesson. During this lesson, students were creating the life cycle of the living thing of their choice. We used Epic Books and the National Geographic Kids as resources that I offered to students to help them learn more about their animal and its lifecycle. I also wanted students to recognize different things that would impact their lifecycle for good or for bad. This would help them draw those inferences on what could affect the lifecycle of their living thing. I recommend the National Geographic Kids as a tool within your space. 


14:12

The sixth resource that I love to use in my classroom is the San Diego Zoo kids' live animal cameras. Now I do have my own live animal camera that I let my students explore. I have a Furbo dog camera at home in my laundry room, and it zooms in on my little dog Frederick, and we can check on him throughout the day when he's not at doggy daycare. The kids actually ask me all the time if we can check on Frederick. I started using this as a behavior incentive in my classroom, and the kids get so excited that they always want me to throw him treats. Now he is the sad little boy when I'm not home, and I tell them nobody wants treats thrown at them when they're sleeping, and they agree, which took some convincing to not throw treats at him. So a similar concept, if you don't have a Furbo, is the live animal cameras at the San Diego Zoo. They don't have cameras at all of the exhibits, but they have them at the most favorite animal exhibits, and almost all of them are live. It's so much fun to go back in and check on them. One time when we were checking in with my first-grade class, there was the condor which is like a vulture, and we noticed that there was an egg within the nest. Each day we kept checking in on the egg, and it was still an egg. A month later, we checked in one more time, and the egg had hatched, and there was a baby condor. So that was super cool that we could see the journey within a month's time of the baby being in the egg and then popping out and just being this ugly little bird that was walking around. That was super exciting. As I said, I did use this with first grade. For our 3D printing unit, students were noticing the similarities and differences between animal babies and their adults. This was one of the resources that we used to help observe animals in their zoo habitats. 


14:12

As a recap, here are the six different resources that you can use in your STEM space to really enhance the imagined stage and research stage of the Engineering Design Process and all sorts of various projects. First, Epic Books. Second Kiddle. Third, science podcasts for kids including Brains On and Tumble Science. Fourth, SciShow Kids YouTube channel. Fifth, the National Geographic Kids website, and sixth, the San Diego Zoo kids live zoo cameras. I'll be continuing to dive into the Engineering Design Process in this mini-series, so make sure you tune in to the next few episodes where you can get ideas to really enhance that process. Also, don't forget to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide to help you gather all of these resources and ideas and plan thoughtful lessons. You can grab that in the show notes or using this direct link: Naomimeredith.com/podcastED.

good-research-websites-for-elementary-students

good-research-websites-for-elementary-students

good-research-websites-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!

dot-day-stem

5 Dot Day STEM Activities to Try [ep. 16]

5 Dot Day STEM Activities to Try [ep. 16]

dot-day-stem

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

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Watch the full episode:

 

Episode Summary

Dot Day is an international celebration of inspiration and creativity. 

This is a fun one-day celebration that you can implement within your STEM space. 

In today's episode, I will be sharing with you five Dot Day STEM activities that you can implement in your classroom to celebrate this fun day. 

 

In this episode you’ll learn five Dot Day STEM activities you can implement in your classroom:

  • Augmented reality dots
  • Chalk dots
  • Spiral graph dots
  • Dot launchers
  • Stop motion animation dots

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Dot Day is an international celebration of inspiration and creativity. This is a fun one-day celebration that you can implement within your STEM space. After reading the book, The Dot, by Peter H. Reynolds, students have the opportunity to create their Dot that represents them. In today's episode, I will share with you five STEM activities you can implement in your classroom to celebrate this fun day. 


00:55

Dot Day, as described on their website, is celebrated on September 15ish. So really, this means you can celebrate on the day of or choose the day in which you want to celebrate creativity, which can be year-round. I have seen all sorts of posts all over social media over the years. There are schools that go all out on Dot Day and even celebrate for a full month. These activities might not take you a month to complete. They're fairly simple, but they're also engaging and can inspire creativity in your classroom. 


01:41

I tried to choose a variety of things and a variety of media to help you celebrate in a way that would work best for you and for whatever grade levels you teach. Don't worry, there are going to be a lot of links and resources that I'm going to be talking about in this episode. I will link all of them in the show notes so you don't have to pause and write them down. I have done all of the hard work for you. So let's jump into these five Dot Day activities. 


02:11

The first activity is Augmented Reality dots. Just to clarify, here is the difference between Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality. Augmented Reality is seeing things in our world. So it looks like things are popping up right in front of our eyes on our screen. It seems like they are there with us. Virtual Reality is when we are entering a world. So it feels like we are in that space. This activity is about Augmented Reality, bringing these dots to life, and making them pop out on the screen. This activity does require tablets, preferably iPads, and you will download the free app called Quiver. 


02:58

In addition, there is a free coloring sheet where students can design their Dot using markers. When they scan the Dot using the app, it looks like a magical 3D sphere is sitting on the table. This activity is so magical for students, and they love it. It's especially great for the younger grades because there is high engagement and low prep. I recommend for your coloring pages, instead of printing one full page, print four to a page and make sure to have extras because kids want to create an extra to try out other designs. This is also a great takeaway because students can take their coloring sheet and download the app at home to try it out with their families. 


03:51

The next Dot Day activity is sidewalk chalk dots. Of course, you're going to read this story before you do all of these activities. Then you will take your students outside to have them design a Dot that represents them. You can also have them decorate the outside grounds of your school. This is especially great if you teach multiple classes in the day and you can take them to different locations around the building. So by the end of the day, there are colorful dots that are just covering your sidewalks. This activity reminds me of the book The Questionnaires, that I truly love, and the book Aaron's Slater Illustrator, where he designs things in his way. So if you want another book pairing to the Dot, I highly recommend these books. Sidewalk chalk is very easy to get your hands on. My favorite couple places to grab it besides Amazon is the Dollar Tree and the Target dollar spot or even clearance sections. 


04:56

This next Dot Day activity has a couple of different options depending on your available resources. This is all about spiral graph dots. Spiral graphs are so beautiful and have so much symmetry. With the way the lines curve and using different colors within those designs, you can do this activity by using a free spiral graph maker. It didn't require a login when I last used this with students. Students can choose different colors within the palettes on the computer and then choose different spiral graph templates or those spiky things and create different spiral graphs within the different kinds of symmetry. I also found a really cool video that shows different artists and how they use spiral graphs within their artwork, which I also recommend adding in that connection. 


05:55

You can even make this an even more hands-on activity if you have spiral graph templates in your classroom already. I've been lucky and have been able to find some in the Dollar Tree. But also check out Amazon as well because you might be able to find those. So this is a great math and art connection to teach students about symmetry and how it's used in this artwork, and how they could design a fun spiral graph to express their creativity. Now, with the online version, there isn't a way to technically save the spiral graphs. So what I recommend is having students take a screenshot and share it within a platform that you use in your classroom, like Flipgrid, Seesaw, or Google Classroom. 


06:39

The next Dot Day activity is Dot ball launchers. One of my favorite robots to use in the K through five STEM space is the Dash robot by Wonder Workshop. This is not sponsored by them; I'm just recommending this robot. If you want to purchase something for your classroom, the Dash robot is so much fun. There are a lot of different coding options. You can also purchase the external accessory, which is a ball launcher. This is a one day activity. The ball launchers are a little bit finicky. And it's not an accessory I use for a ton of different activities. But it's a whole lot of fun, and the kids love it. 


07:24

Set up the ball launchers, download the ball launcher app that connects to the Dash robots, and have different cups or a one-page target sheet with different identifiers and STEM that students can relate to. These things can be like I am a mathematician, I am a creator, I am an illustrator, and they can be the targets that students are launching the ball toward or the thing that they are identifying with for the day. I have a whole collection of these made. I use these light bulbs with these identifiers in my affirmation station that I talked about in the back-to-school episode of the podcast. So make sure to go back and listen to that episode. But this is a fun way to use that same resource with a hands-on encoding activity. 


08:14

For the launcher, there isn't a whole lot of complicated coding. So if you haven't introduced robots or coding within your classroom yet, you can still do this activity. Again, it's a fun one-day thing to try. I like to put students in groups of three and give them specific jobs, which I like to do with robots. Here are the three jobs that I like to assign in their small groups. First, we have the driver, and they are the one who is holding the device and tapping the code that will launch the ball. The second is the navigator. They aren't necessarily touching the device, but they're watching the driver to ensure they're using the right code to launch the ball correctly. The third job is the retriever, and they're the one, like the name says, who will retrieve the ball. Wherever the ball lands, they can switch off jobs based on their own decisions. Or, if you have groups who have a hard time hogging certain jobs, you can set a timer on your screen, and when the timer goes off, that can signify the switch. So a fine coding activity to bring the Dot Day balls to life. 


09:30

The fifth and final Dot Day activity you can try in your classroom is stop motion dots. I love teaching with stop motion animation. It is a really old filming technique, but it pushes kids to think critically, and problem solve in front of the camera. There isn't much screen time when it comes to stop motion animation. It requires so much patience to make the characters and objects move smoothly in front of the camera. In reality, it is just a click of a button to put all the pictures together. My favorite app for stop motion animation on tablets is Stop Motion. I will link that in the show notes. There is a paid version. You can get it, but you don't have to. It works a lot bthan just having kids take a bunch of pictures all at once and just scrolling through the camera roll. 


10:27

If you're using Chromebooks, laptops, or tablets, there are a couple of Chrome extensions that I've played around with before. Or you could get the Hue Document camera. There is actually a whole line of software that goes along with the stop motion animation. For their Dot, for this activity, students can use modeling clay. My favorite clay is the Crayola modeling clay because it's super cheap, and it doesn't dry out, which is awesome. You can reuse it over and over again. Students can create a Dot that will roll into the screen, transform it into something that represents them, and then roll off of this screen. So if I were to create my Dot, I would, of course, have a hot pink Dot, but you all knew that by now. I'm sure I would have a hot pink Dot ball that would roll onto this screen, and possibly transform into a podcast mic. I could add other colors, and then it could squish down back into its pink little ball and roll off the screen. This will be a great way to introduce stop motion animation. It's a pretty easy activity but will take a lot of patience and collaboration to make it all work. 


11:43

As a recap, here are the five STEM inspired Dot Day activities you can try in your classroom. First is the Augmented Reality dots. Next, the chalk dots. Third, the spiral graph dots. Fourth, Dot launchers, and fifth, the stop motion animation dots. Again, all of the resources I mentioned will be linked in the show notes, so you don't have to remember them. If you try any of these in your classrooms, tag me on Instagram at Naomi Meredith underscore. I would love to see how I helped inspire creativity in your classroom.

dot-day-stem

dot-day-stem

dot-day-stem

dot-day-stem

 

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!

Stages-of-Engineering-Design-Process

Planning Lessons with Stages of the Engineering Design Process [ep. 15]

Planning Lessons with Stages of the Engineering Design Process [ep. 15]

Check out the full episode on Planning Lessons with Stages of the Engineering Design Process:  

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Episode Summary

Have you tried using the Engineering Design Process in your STEM classroom? 

Maybe you’re wondering what the Engineering Design Process is and what its stages are.

Should you be teaching the Engineering Design Process in elementary STEM?

In today’s episode, I will be answering these questions about the stages of the Engineering Design Process so you can get started implementing it into your STEM lessons.

 

In this episode you’ll learn:

  • What the Engineering Design Process is
  • The stages of the Engineering Design Process
  • Why you should be teaching the Engineering Design Process in elementary STEM
  • How to implement the Engineering Design Process if you see students multiple days a week or once a week

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Have you tried using the Engineering Design Process in your STEM classroom? What is it and what are the different stages of it? Why should you be teaching with the Engineering Design Process in elementary STEM? In this episode, I'll be answering all of your Engineering Design Process questions, so you can get started implementing it into your lessons. 


00:56

Before we dive into today's episode, I have a free Engineering Design Process poster and planning guide that you can download for your classroom. You can grab it at Naomi meredith.com/podcastEDP. I'll also link it in the show notes. A side note: EDP is short for Engineering Design Process poster. I may or may not use this acronym within this episode, but just so you know what I'm talking about, that's what EDP stands for. 


01:28

When I first started teaching K through five STEM, I actually had never heard of the Engineering Design Process. However, the more I started researching and developing my own curriculum, I quickly realized that this is a process that I definitely needed to be teaching in my STEM space. Today, I'm sharing with you how you can easily implement this within your lessons. 


01:51

First, let's go over what the Engineering Design Process is, and a snapshot of what it actually means. The Engineering Design Process is the real process that engineers use to build, test and create their designs. It's all about that iteration and testing it repeatedly. When you think about it, this process is the heart of trying lots of different ideas and failing, which is definitely something that we want to be teaching our students. STEM is a great place for it. So naturally, the Engineering Design Process has a perfect fit within your STEM classroom. And yes, this is applicable for Kindergarten on up. In fact, there actually are Next Generation Science Standards, NGSS, that are all about the Engineering Design Process. There is a set of these standards for K through two, and also a set for three through five.  If you use the Next Generation Science Standards, not only are classroom teachers going to be using the Engineering Design Process, but in your STEM space, you have the opportunity to use it too. 


03:12

I also get a lot of questions about whether or not the Engineering Design Process is replacing the scientific method, project based learning or PBL, and design thinking. In my opinion, you are not replacing those methods. Those are all different and important methods, which we can do future episodes on. I even have a few people in mind that can talk to you about some of those topics. The Engineering Design Process is its own thing, and has its own place alongside of these processes. It's definitely up to you if you want to teach with the Engineering Design Process all year long, which I typically do. Or maybe you want to mix it in with the scientific method, PBL, or design thinking. This is your call, or, if you're on a planning committee, what the committee wants to do, or what your administration is hoping for you to do. So this is just a another format and another way to teach these amazing STEM concepts to your students. 


04:18

Now, when you research the Engineering Design Process, there are a lot of different stages, but they pretty much are saying the same thing. So here's how I have broken it up into six stages for you to teach to your students. I'm also going to be talking about how you can teach with this method and give you a sample of how I break up these stages along with a sample lesson plan and how these stages are implemented along the way. The six stages that I have divided the Engineering Design Process into, which is in that free poster for you to download, is first ask what is the problem. Second, imagine what are the possible solutions. Third is the planning stage, so what could your solution look like? Fourth is the Create stage, so bring your plan to life. This is student's most favorite part. The fifth stage is experiment and improve meaning test your solution and make it better. Finally, the sixth stage is share what happened. 


05:23

Just like when you're thinking about the writing process, or even those other methods that I just talked about, these aren't one and done type of stages. These are things you can always go back to if something doesn't work or go back to a previous stage. I always tell my students this as well. I am teaching them in phases throughout the week. But if they're not done with this stage, they can continue in that place. Maybe they don't even get to that next stage? That's just where they're at in the process. Likewise, if a creation doesn't work, they can always go back to that planning stage, create a new one, and then go through the the creation and experimenting again. So these steps are not set in stone. They can't since they're very fluid. It is also good for students to have structure so they know where the project is going. It's not always just creating, which you can do. However, you are bringing more meaning into your lessons when planning with this process, and using the standards alongside it. 


06:31

Now that you have a basic understanding of what the Engineering Design Process is, let's talk about a sample structure that you can use in your classroom, and how you can teach each of the different stages. Currently, I teach K through five STEM five days a week with the same students for the entire week. I know in past episodes, like we talked about in episode 12, some of you teach STEM to all the kids in the school, but you only see that same group of kids once a week. You can break this up how it works best for you. So let's talk about sample structures for both. 


07:09

First, let's talk about if you'd see the kids five days a week in a row or something similar to that structure. On day one, I present students with the question. Now you can have students help develop this question with you, but I know in this special space, you are very limited for time. So I actually develop the question ahead of time based on the science standards that I want to target. If you're curious about how I actually get to the planning piece, make sure to listen to episode 14 where I discuss how to create your year long plan with the standards in mind. 


07:49

So we are in that ask stage and I asked students the question that we're trying to solve. Then we move on to the imagine. The imagine is where we are thinking of different possible solutions. This isn't actually their formal plan. This is the part where you want to tie in lots of different resources for kids to explore. This can be in the form of videos, websites, ebooks, like epic books, podcast, infographics, or real books. This is a time where students are exploring all of these different resources to help them gather ideas of what can work for their invention. This is also a great time to talk about the science behind the experiment. This can even be part of the research. So this is where you're really boosting up that background knowledge and getting kids excited for what they're hoping to create. On day two, this is where I might finish up some of that imagining, depending on the structure of how that's presented to kids. Sometimes it is more guided where I am sharing the information, and we are writing down our ideas together. But further along in the year, especially with the older students, the imagined stage is more independent, and they might have a graphic organizer where they're capturing their thoughts and accessing the resources on their own. 


09:16

Day two, we're finishing up that imagining and then we're really focusing on that plan. Plans can look different in various ways. We usually think of plans that can be a simple draw and label your plan type of thing. I recommend starting here. There are a lot of different ways that you can plan, which we will talk about in future episodes. So you can really build up the different planning methods when you use the Engineering Design Process. Day two students are working on that plan, maybe even have a shopping list, which we talked about in episode six where you're managing that maker money, and then they're ready when they come in on day three. See where they get into the create, experiment, and improve stage. This is where you can step back and see how kids are problem solving and trying to bring those plans to life. This is always our most exciting day. I always teach with the Engineering Design Process.  


10:20

Let me tell you how this paid off in my classroom. We were working on a STEM survival camp challenge, I believe it was fifth grade. We only had three days. I think it was something with this schedule where I only had three days with them. Anyway, I wanted to make sure they actually had time to create. So we did some imagining, and then I told them, okay, you can just talk about your plans totally fine. You can draw if you want. I'm not kidding you. Every single group decided they wanted to draw their plan. They were very thoughtful and were labeling. They were drawing more than one side, and they were really involved in that planning process. This was a proud teacher moment, I must say, because I didn't even force them to plan and they wanted to plan. 


11:11

Keep going, this process is a year long thing that you will continue to work on. You might get some whining at first, but you are the teacher, your job is to teach them and to help them research and gather ideas. STEM isn't just the creation part. There's some stuff you have to do before that, and hopefully your invention even makes sense. I feel like the creation part is the easiest part of your job. Getting kids to understand why they're doing things is going to make their projects even better. On day three, the kids are experimenting and improving. Moving on to day four, they're still creating and improving, but also consider giving them ways that they can improve their designs. Instead of saying, “Oh, just do this,” have a checklist that is related to the project, which can be very powerful. The checklist could be things they may or may not have to do, but it will help them think about their designs in a different way, which we'll talk about in the example lesson I have in just a little bit. 


12:20

Finally, on the last day, they are doing any finishing touches and sharing their work, which could be just talking to other groups about what they did. My personal favorite is to create videos and pictures within Seesaw, and having reflection questions where they can talk about what went well, what would they try again, and what was actually challenging for them. This is a great way to be reflective and really think about the entire process throughout the week. 


12:52

Now, if you don't see kids five consecutive days in a row, here's how I would break up the Engineering Design Process for you. Day one, you can start with a question, the ask, do a quick imagine stage where you are guiding, so it might not be as independent for the kids. But you're still providing that information for them to build some background knowledge, and then dive into the planning. That way when kids come back the second week with you, they have a plan that they've already started. You could watch another video to trigger their memories and then students can begin planning and creating. On day three final day they can finish creating their designs. They can of course experiment and improve when they're creating. Then they can share their work some of the ways that I discussed earlier. You're going to actually want to condense things even shorter, but you definitely can still fit this process in. It just takes a little modification and careful planning on your part. 


13:56

Let's talk about an example of how I actually use these stages with a third grade lesson in my STEM classroom. I picked third grade because it's right in the middle. You can definitely flex this lesson up or you can flex this lesson down. I do use the Engineering Design Process with K through five. So I want you to visualize how this could work in my classroom, but also in yours as well. We started off on day one with the ask: how can you create an invention that will reduce the impacts of flooding? This connects to the NGSS standard that is specific to this third grade unit. From there we went into the imagined stage where I had a variety of resources for kids to explore to see how flooding is actually a problem and different ways that people have already been able to and are continuing to solve the problem. Now flooding isn't going away, but there are some inventions already out there that I wanted kids to see. So I included pictures and videos for them to explore, to see what inventions are working and ways that they could maybe create something similar, but also trigger ways that they can improve those designs that are already out there. 


15:17

We also talked about what flooding is and how it can be a part of severe weather. I also provided them with links to some websites about different places in history where flooding was a huge problem, what the effects were, and success stories within those pieces of history. This was all within our day one. We completed some of the imagining on day two. On day two, once that imagining piece was in place, we focused on their plan. Students used the imagining information to help them develop their plan of how they could create the invention that will help reduce the impact of flooding. 


16:10

We did talk about reducing instead of stopping the impact.  We discussed how they could get it to where it's not ruining a home and how to slow it down. Students were thoughtfully planning their designs by drawing, labeling and explaining how it works. I had the kids still plan on paper for this project. But then I had them take a picture and add it to Seesaw where they could record their voice or type their answers to the questions I asked. On day three we dove into the create stage. For this project, they received a little house made of paper that they could tape onto a plastic block. They also received a plastic bucket that they could build their design in. When we experimented towards the end of the week, that's when we added in the water. 


17:06

This project also involved the maker menu that I talked about in episode six. So make sure to go and check that out because that is a game changer for this lesson. Day three is all about having that plan, grabbing and chopping materials and starting to create the invention and their plans. Day four is a little more shopping and more experimenting and improving. I also give them a modification checklist where they can look to see how they might want to improve their designs. This one is a little bit different because they are actually testing their design with water. So not only does it include different modifications that they can use in their design, but it also includes what their guesss is as to what will happen. There's another column for what actually happened. You don't have to do this for all of your checklists. But when it makes sense, having a before and after type of checklist is really helpful. Kids can think forward as to how their invention will respond to this situation. On the final day is our real experiment, so we add in the water. I do have the kids take a picture or video of their design again in Seesaw to show what it looks like before and after it gets wet. 


18:31

Students are having such a blast not only looking at their designs, but noticing how other designs work in the class. So it's some friendly competition. But it's just so much fun to see how their inventions work. When we're finished and clean up, there are some reflection questions. I use the same questions all year, so students are used to that format, but they have different responses because the projects change. The three questions that I like students to reflect on either through writing, typing, recording their voice or a video are: I am proud of; if I were to try this challenge again, I would change; and they explain something that was challenging for them. So within five days, we get through all of this content, we clean up, and there aren't any projects left in my room. But it's cool how we can zone in on the impact of floods, and go through the Engineering Design Process together. 


19:35

As a recap for today, we talked about a whole lot. Let's review everything we discussed. First, I explained what the Engineering Design Process is and each of its stages. Next, we talked about how you can teach using the different stages depending on when you see your classes. Finally, I shared with you an example lesson on how I use the Engineering Design Process from start to finish. 


20:04

Over the next few episodes of the podcast, I'm going to be diving deeper into those different stages of the Engineering Design Process, and share with you different ways that I like to implement each stage. This can really impact your planning and make it meaningful and it will keep you from doing the same thing for every single lesson. You're mixing it up and keeping kids engaged. Also, don't forget to grab your free Engineering Design Process poster and Planning Guide, which will be linked in the show notes so you can definitely dive on in and get started. You can grab that at Naomi meredith.com/podcastEDP.

Stages-of-Engineering-Design-Process

Stages-of-Engineering-Design-Process

Stages-of-Engineering-Design-Process

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

STEM Favorites That You'll Enjoy:

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-curriculum-scope-and-sequence

How to Write Your STEM Curriculum Scope and Sequence [ep. 14]

How to Write Your STEM Curriculum Scope and Sequence [ep. 14]

stem-curriculum-scope-and-sequence

Check out the full episode on How to Write Your STEM Curriculum Scope and Sequence:  

 

Subscribe to the podcast HERE on your favorite podcasting platform.

Watch the video version on YouTube here:

Episode Summary

When you first become a STEM teacher, you most likely weren’t given any curriculum. This was my experience when I left the regular classroom and jumped into teaching K through Five STEM. 

Through trial and error, I have written a year’s worth of K through Five STEM lessons connected to the STEM standards.

In today’s episode, I share the behind-the-scenes of my method for creating STEM curriculum scope and sequence.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn the three major steps in how to write your STEM curriculum scope and sequence:

  • Review your overarching themes
  • Backwards plan and find relevant standards that connect to your theme
  • Brainstorm lessons related to those standards

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

When you're first walking into your STEM classroom, you are most likely met with zero curriculum. Like many of you, I left the regular classroom and jumped headfirst into my K through five STEM role with a handful of supplies and zero curriculum. Yet, through trial and error, I have written a year's worth of lessons for K through five connected to standards. I'm going to be sharing with you my behind-the-scenes method in this episode. 


01:01

Some schools are fortunate enough to purchase a specific curriculum for their STEM programs. If that is you, that is absolutely amazing, and I hope that works well for you. Now, based on teachers I have talked to on various platforms, most teachers in the STEM world have to write their own curriculum and start from zero. I know where you're coming from since that was me. So, through trial and error, I built a K through five STEM program that has a progression of learning and standards and a mix of different themes and topics that students learn throughout the years when they come into my STEM space. Now, I will say this isn't perfect. But, this is what has worked well for me in my classroom. I am constantly updating and trying new things with my students as the years go by to ensure that I am teaching relevant and meaningful lessons to my students. You can get a whole view of this year-long plan for free. This will be linked in the show notes. You can find it also at this link, naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. 


02:18

I also want to mention that my first year teaching K through five STEM was all about building relationships and basic skills. The things my students do five years later compared to when I first started are completely different. I had to backtrack and build up the skills of my students, even when it came to basic technology like logging into the computer, learning how to use Seesaw to document their work, and how to collaborate with others, which collaboration is something we are always working on. So don't feel like you have to do all the things you plan in one year. You can build up to all these lessons and perfect them as the years go on. So this is the future you that we are talking about. But at least you will get a great foundation for your year-long plan and where you want your STEM program to go. 


03:18

When first starting your year-long plan, you want to brainstorm the overarching themes that all students K through five will be learning in your classroom. In Episode Two, we talked about what STEM education means in the elementary space. I highly recommend this episode to help you build your background knowledge on what STEM is and what STEM should look like in the elementary space. When thinking about those themes, I am talking about Makerspace robotics and Hour of Code. Hour of Code is a freebie, and there are tons of resources out there already that are free for you. So you might not have to do much planning on that theme, but add it to your year-long plan. Your overarching themes can also include video and audio production, digital citizenship, and LEGO education kits if you have the funds. When you purchase the LEGO education kits, they come with their own curriculum that is connected to standards. So, if you are looking for something to purchase for your STEM space, I would save all of your money for LEGO education and kits. Also, if you can, add 3D printing to your lessons. If you don't have 3D printing, you can still have students plan and go through the process of creating a 3D design online, but they might not have the opportunity to print it, which is okay. But, again, that is something to save your budget for, if possible. Once you have a well-balanced mix of those themes, plan them out for the month you will see kids or works best for you.


05:00

In Episode 12, I talked about creative ways to plan your lessons with students, especially if you see groups of kids one day at a time. When planning this year-long plan, I saw students five days in a row. This overarching theme can vary for you. I use the same theme for the whole month. But if you see kids once a week, maybe you want to keep the same theme for two months. But again, have an overall balance of themes you're going to teach your students. 


05:34

For the purpose of this episode, I'm going to be using my theme of maker month and earth systems as an example to help you see how I planned out this overall unit. I wanted students during the third month with me to dive into our Makerspace and use that space independently. This is where I taught students how to gather supplies, use our money system, and plan a budget. This is a big part of this unit when it is connected to Earth System standards. Also, go back and check out episodes five and six, where I talk about how to set up your Makerspace and how to use the money, menu, and system. So for this theme, in my third month of STEM, students use Makerspace. Once you have all of your themes planned out for the year and you have a balance of different topics, you will backwards plan and tie in those relevant standards. In my opinion, you're not going to teach all of the standards in your classroom. Most likely, you are an extension of the general classroom, especially regarding science. I don't think STEM should be a replacement for regular science lessons. In fact, science in the regular classroom is so much fun. That is something I do miss sometimes, planning a fun science experiment. 


07:01

Your role as a STEM teacher is taking the science standards, integrating other standards, and giving them your own STEM twist. Now, maybe your principal and district have a different opinion. This is just me and how I interpret what STEM should be when the students come into my classroom. When planning my lessons through backward planning, I like to use science as my base and build on my other standards. From there, I use the NGSS, the Next Generation Science Standards. You may use your state standards for this planning. Start with your base for science and then integrate your common core state standards, including English, language arts, and math. I like to look at the English and language arts standards when reading informational text. When students build their background knowledge and research, they use a lot of informational text in different formats to gather that information. Check out those standards that will help you plan those imagined stages in your lessons.


08:22

When it comes to your math standards, you may be using specific standards regarding geometry, fractions, and telling time. But you might also want to consider the mathematical practices recognized in your classroom. For example, there's a mathematical practice that talks about making sense of problems and persevering when solving them. That is a huge concept in STEM. So don't forget about those mathematical practices. They are very relevant in the STEM space. Also, when you're in those common core state standards, look at those speaking and listening skills. Again, there are so many things that you are working on in this STEM classroom when it comes to sharing work, participating in a discussion, and being able to collaborate with others. These are some great standards that you can target in your STEM space. 


10:19

I also like to integrate the ISTE standards for students. These are technology standards that have their own overarching themes. There is also one about digital citizenship, which you can easily tie into your digital citizenship lessons. They have their overarching themes and then little themes within those. Definitely become familiar with those. Those are also a must in your STEM space. Again, keep the science standards as your base, and then integrate the ELA, math, and ISTE within that to create well-balanced lessons. When thinking about assessing your students, when it comes to the standards, I would probably assess them how they show proficiency with the science standards. The other ones are skills that will help them to get there. But my assessment tool would be the science standards. If you are doing grades in your classroom, pick one or two that students can attack. You're zoning in on that specific standard in your STEM way. For this example, for my maker month and Earth Systems, I was looking for standards related to earth systems when possible and standards that talked about students demonstrating through building a model, creating, or building, which made the most sense to me for a Makerspace standard. Those connected well. I went through and highlighted those on my computer and then really brainstormed ideas from there. 


11:53

That leads me to my third part, which is to brainstorm your lessons. Now that you have your overarching themes planned for the months, you know which standards you want to teach each grade level. This is where you can bring all those ideas to life, all of those different things you have been saving on Instagram, that you have been pinning on Pinterest, and that you have been googling. This is where you are going to bring in those ideas that are connected to standards. If you don't feel like brainstorming, I have all these lessons made. It's in a growing collection in my TPT shop. It's also in my monthly membership where you can access the year-long plan lessons and other monthly lessons and resources to help you in your classroom. If you don't want to do this part, I know it's overwhelming for K through five; that's six different grade levels. I have it all set up for you. I'll link that in the show notes. When brainstorming your lessons, think about how you can bring a different experience to your classroom that is different from the regular classroom. You might have tools that a regular classroom might not have, so play upon that. Can you show lifecycles by using robotics? Can you use Makerspace to demonstrate a model that classrooms might not always have? Take those standards in another direction so you're not repeating the same ideas for students, and they get to explore differently. 


13:29

I'm going to be sharing with you two different lessons in this maker month and the Earth Systems lesson and how you can see how I approached this standard with a STEM angle while the teachers are still covering it within their science and reading instruction.


13:46

Here's what I did for the Kindergarten NGSS standard that discusses constructing an argument about how plants and animals can change the environment to meet their needs. I zoned in on ants. I was kind of a little unsure about talking about ants with Kindergarteners. I wasn't sure if they were going to like it or not. Now, if you know, you know, with Kindergarteners, they might love something or they might not. They're a complete mystery, and I love them. They're my favorite grade. I could do a whole podcast about Kindergarten. But we talked about how ants change their environment to meet their needs. It is amazing how ants build their whole colony underground and above ground that comes literally from nothing. When you look deeper at their colony, they have a space special for the queen, a different room for their eggs, a different place for the baby ants, and another room for their food. It is amazing how they change the environment from literally nothing to meet the needs of their entire colony. So as a class, throughout the week, we looked at different videos, books, and images about ants. Then students, in their own Makerspace way, built a cardboard maze that showed the different spaces that ants have in their colony and then had a little marble that would roll through the different rooms to go and check them all out. This was appropriate for Kindergarten. I knew that my Kindergarten teachers weren't talking about it specifically. They could still teach that standard while I taught it differently in my STEM classroom. For fifth grade, in this same unit, I picked two related standards that go together and how they could demonstrate their knowledge. It was the first NGSS standard that talks about developing a model to describe the movement of matter. The second related standard was to use models to describe that energy. For the standard within this Maker month and Earth Systems, fifth grade made a Rube Goldberg ecosystem. The students researched an ecosystem of their choice using the different tools I provided. This is a great opportunity to use epic books within your STEM classroom. Students researched their ecosystem and all the different components that come in it. Then we learned about Rube Goldberg machines and how it forms a chain reaction. With both of these pieces of information, students used materials from the Makerspace and other supplies I had on hand to build their Rube Goldberg machine to show the chain reaction of the movement of matter within their ecosystem. It was a very simple Rube Goldberg machine, but it was a great way for kids to be talking about that movement of matter and how different reactions should hit other or multiple chain reactions depending on what their ecosystem was. They were so excited about these Rube Goldberg machines. Many kids went home and started making their own and sent me videos that I could include on our school-wide news. 


17:09

These examples are two different ways, from the littlest kids to the oldest, we can take these science standards, integrate other standards within them, and have a progression of learning where they can show it in their own STEM way. As a recap, here are the three major things we discussed when planning your K through five STEM year-long plans. First, look at your overarching themes. Second, backwards plan and find relevant standards that connect to your theme. And finally, the super fun part, brainstorm lessons related to those standards. Of course, everything is linked in the show notes for today's episode, including the free year-long plan, the ultimate STEM resource library, and the lessons that I talked about, so you can get a better idea of how this can work best for your classroom and your students.

stem-curriculum-scope-and-sequence

stem-curriculum-scope-and-sequence

stem-curriculum-scope-and-sequence

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

STEM Favorites that You'll Enjoy:

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!

back to school night ideas

5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers [ep. 13]

5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers [ep. 13]

back to school night ideas

Check out the full episode on 5 Back to School Night Ideas for STEM Teachers:  

 

Episode Summary

Back to school night for STEM teachers and classroom teachers can look very different.

Back to school night expectations for STEM teachers is different for each school.

As a STEM teacher, what should you set up for back to school night?

In today’s episode, I will be sharing 5 back to school night ideas that STEM teachers can incorporate into their classrooms.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn 5 back to school night ideas for STEM teachers:

  • Create a hand-on building station
  • Make a digital meet-the-teacher letter and collage
  • Create your clubs’ signups or summaries about the clubs you’re hoping to host
  • Share your wish list and donation list
  • Create a STEM affirmation station

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Back to school night can look different for STEM teachers compared to classroom teachers. So what in the world should you actually set up? In today's episode, I will be sharing with you five easy things that you can add to your STEM classroom for back to school night. 


00:49

Each school has a different style when it comes to back to school night expectations for STEM teachers. It has always changed for me and my STEM classroom. So try what tips work best for you, and even consider using some of these tips for parent-teacher conferences or doing the same thing, and you have it ready to go for these situations throughout the school year. 


01:15

Idea number one is creating a simple hands-on building station. You can set out things like mixed LEGO bricks, planks, hashtag blocks, playdough, and other easy things that encourage the kids to be hands-on with the materials. This is also a great distraction for kids when they're in your space. You can chat with their families a little bit and get to know them better. You can add small images for the kids to inspire them, like an engineer inspiration board. I have one that is for back to school that my kids love doing. It can get them talking about back to school night or back to school in general and encourage them to have a fun conversation with you. 


02:02

Idea number two is to create a digital meet the teacher letter. You can create a one-page letter that lets families know a little about you, has a picture and lists some of your favorites. To take the favorites page even further, you can create a collage that visually shows all of your favorites. One way I like to do this is to make the collage on Google Slides or Canva. I use a background removing tool for the images that I find online. There is a cool website called remove.bg. It's free to use, and you can upload any image, and it will remove the background for you. It's pretty good if everything is clear in the picture. It makes it so that you don't have to do extra editing in Canva. Another option is if you create your collage in Canva, you can upload the image or use images that are available in Canva. When you click on the image, there is a tool that allows you to remove the image's background. A digital meet the teacher letter is a fun way for families to learn more about you and your favorites. You can share this all on the screen in your classroom instead of printing a copy for each family. You can also repurpose this letter and have it in your school-wide newsletter or send it on a parent communication platform your school uses or on Seesaw. 


03:42

Another idea for back to school night is to share your club signups. I have done this in the past while the signups weren't open yet. I had a summary of each club I would be hosting. We will have future episodes about clubs because I am very passionate about after-school clubs. Even as a classroom teacher, this was something that I loved doing. We will explain more about clubs in the future. But think about when you're planning your clubs and how you can have a balanced selection and involve various grade levels. Think about if you could have a Makerspace club, a robotics club, maybe a LEGO building club, or my personal favorite, a school-wide news recording Club, which I will do an episode about that in itself. You can send home that information, so parents are aware. You can include that information if you know when the signups will open. This is a great time to promote your clubs and allow parents to get to know you since you will be the one hosting the clubs with their kids. 


05:53

The fourth idea for your back to school night is to share your wish lists and donations. In episode three, we discussed creative ways to gather supplies for your STEM space. Those ideas can apply to your back to school setup. This is a great opportunity to share links or QR codes to your Amazon wish list, or a donors choose that you have set up in your classroom. Double-check your school guidelines to make sure this is something you are allowed to share. I know different schools and districts have different restrictions. So just make sure you are following your school and district policies. If you need help with setting up an Amazon wishlist, I created a short tutorial video that is up on my Youtube, Naomi Meredith. It will also be embedded in today's show notes.


Another thing that you can share and include with your Amazon wishlist or donors choose, or if you can do this instead, is having a donation for Makerspace supplies. Often these supplies don't cost anything, like cardboard and paper towel tubes. Maybe people have a roll of tape that they can donate. Back to school night is a great time to share this with parents. You can create a list, print it out, and send it home with the families. Or you can create a QR code of the digital list where parents can scan that. Another option is to give them a tiny QR code card with this information they can take home. So think about creative ways that you can get families involved. I know that it's hard as a specials teacher not always knowing who the families are. So this is a great time to chat and interact, sharing what your space is about and how they can help contribute to that area. 


07:42

The fifth idea for your back to school night is one that you can keep up all year round: having a STEM-styled affirmation station. Now Secretly, I love my affirmation station because I can check my hair and outfit in the middle of the day. Mine is outside my classroom door, so when classroom teachers come and pick up their classes, they're also fixing their hair. So the teachers and I are affirming ourselves with this affirmation station. It is for the kids, but we all know it's also for the teachers. You can go to Walmart since they have some cheap ones for about $7. Grab them here, grab some Gorilla Glue tape, and hang them on your wall. Then create little light bulbs that you can hang up around the mirror with little phrases like, “I'm an innovator, I am an entrepreneur, I am a maker.” Create a positive way to look at STEM and help bring to light the whole purpose of your class. It's not just about the tools and the toys, but the experiences for kids that you are creating. The affirmation station is a great reminder of that. 


08:55

Today's episode is short because your back to school night prep shouldn't be overwhelming. These are some fun ideas you can set up and repurpose at various times throughout the school year and annually. The five back to school night ideas that we discussed are creating a hands-on building station, making a digital meet-the-teacher letter and collage, creating your clubs' signups or summaries about the clubs that you're hoping to host, sharing your wish lists and donation lists, and creating a STEM affirmation station. All of this will be linked in my show notes for today's episode. You can even see pictures of some of these ideas to give you some inspiration to make your planning so much easier for this special day.

back to school night ideas

back to school night ideas

back to school night ideas

Video: How to Make a STEM Affirmation Station

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

 

STEM Favorites That You'll Enjoy:

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!

5-different-stem-classes

Help! I Teach 5 Different STEM Classes a Day! [ep. 12]

Help! I Teach 5 Different STEM Classes a Day! [ep. 12]

5-different-stem-classes

Check out the full episode on Help! I Teach 5 Different STEm Classes a Day!:  

Episode Summary

Are you a STEM teacher that teaches 5 different classes a day?

Do you feel overwhelmed with figuring out how to structure your time throughout the day?

Teaching 5 different STEM classes a day is the equivalent of teaching the entire school.

In today’s episode, I share different ways to structure your STEM lessons when you teach different classes daily. Using these strategies to restructure your STEM lessons will help you feel more confident in the lessons you teach and less overwhelmed.

 

In this episode, you’ll learn:

  • Three ways to structure your STEM lessons when you see different classes daily
    • Challenge of the day lesson
    • Condense larger projects into 1-3 day lessons
    • Create STEM sessions where students have four total stations to rotate to but only do two stations a day
  • Examples of STEM lessons you can incorporate into your classroom

Resources Mentioned:

Episode Transcript: 

00:00

Help! I am a new STEM teacher, and I see five different classes a day with a total of 25 different classes for the week. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with how to structure all of this time. Any advice? 


00:17

Does this sound like you? In today's episode, I will be sharing with you different ways to structure your STEM lessons when you see different classes every day to help you feel more confident in the lessons you teach and less overwhelmed. 


01:03

Before we get started in today's episode, I want to read another review that I got on Apple podcasts. Like I said before, I read these reviews, which make me smile. You guys say the sweetest things, encouraging me to continue this podcast. This one is written by M Kircher 04. They said, “What a great idea. I can see myself growing my new STEM program now. Thank you because you always have fun and practical ideas.” Thank you so much for your review! That is so kind of you. Like I said, I do read all of these. So if you listen to me on Apple podcast or watch the episodes on YouTube, leave a review or comment.  I read these, and this helps encourage me to continue to create content for you that will be valuable in your STEM space. 


01:57

I've been talking to many teachers on social media and through email. Many of you teach STEM with five different classes a day, which equates to seeing all the kids in the entire school! I completely get it. In fact, within my five years of being in the STEM space, my schedule has been different and ever-changing all across the years. So let me give you a little snapshot of what my role has been in STEM. Currently, I see the kids five days a week, K through five, with a total of six different classes a day for 45 minutes. I see them Monday through Friday, the same classes, which I feel like I'm fortunate because I can continue and go deeper into those bigger projects. However, it hasn't always been like that. Actually, the year I first started in STEM, my first few days of the week, I was co-teaching with teachers in their classrooms to help them integrate technology and innovative practices.

Then, Wednesday through Friday, I would teach K through 5 again for 45 minutes a week. So my lessons were a lot shorter when it was only three days. Another year on Mondays, I would teach eight classes a day. I think it was about 35 minutes per class with no passing time. Then Tuesdays, I would co-teach in the classrooms. I would teach K through five STEM 45 minutes a day on Wednesday through Friday. So I've had a mixture, which means I totally understand when it comes to seeing a lot of classes in one day and not seeing them again for the rest of the week. 


03:42

When I had that schedule where I saw the eight classes a day on Mondays, it didn't always line up with the kids I saw Wednesday through Friday. So I treated my Mondays more as isolated lessons rather than combining them with my regular instruction. Because I felt like the times always didn't line up, and it didn't always just make sense. Oh, and not to mention, I have always been our technology lead at my school. We don't have a tech teacher, so that is me. So I completely get it when you feel overwhelmed with things because I sometimes feel it too. So that is real life, and I'm here to share with you some tips that have helped me in the classroom that I know will also help you. Here are three different ways you can structure your one-day-a-week class with kids, where it can still be a meaningful experience for students, be rooted in standards, and be meaningful with your short time with them. 


04:43

I feel like this first way to structure your lessons is the most common way to start with planning. I recommend you start with this, especially if this is your first year in STEM or your time has also been shifted. These are one-day lessons if you see the kids once a week. These lessons allow you to start and end on that same day. I like to call them a challenge of the day. So even though you have that one day, name it the something challenge of the day. So here are some ways you can plan a challenge of the day lesson. One way you can do this is by having a STEM in stories lesson. Now there are a ton of picture books out there that are geared towards STEM. For example, the questionnaires with Rosie Revere Engineer and Ada Twist Scientist fit perfectly in the STEM space. Also, consider other stories that aren't always used in STEM that could also have a place. So books that have a clear problem and solution are great to integrate into your instruction and allow you to hit those ELA standards in your classroom. Sometimes it is tough to get through a whole story, especially when kids are transitioning in, you're getting to know them, and they want to chat with you. 


06:06

So try this little hack when you are reading stories in the classroom. Of course, you could look up the story on YouTube. However, I think it is more meaningful when you, the teacher, are the one reading the story. I have a whole blog post about this. I will link this in the show notes, Different Ways That You Can Create a Virtual Read Aloud. I know you're in person, but still, use those virtual teaching tools in person. Here's what I mean by this, I recommend getting an e-book version of the stories you want to read or even taking pictures of the hardcover version and adding those to your Google Drive. Have digital pages of the story you want to read to your students, and then share that on your screen and screen record yourself with your picture and video in the camera. You can play that with your students. You will be surprised by how much more quickly you can read this when you are online instead of in person. This will help speed up the time when you have a really short time with your kids. I do this still even though I have 45 minutes with the kids. I still screen-record myself reading specific stories. They are not on my YouTube for copyright reasons. I save them in my personal Google Drive. I read the stories with my little dog Frederick, and I introduce him to the camera. So that's fun, too, for the kids to see. So I highly recommend recording these stories at home because you can add in your little pets, and the students can make that connection with you. Screen recording yourself reading the story can help speed up the time when you're planning a STEM in stories lesson.

When you plan your lesson, you might not always get to the part where they're planning and drawing their design. Instead, their plan could be talking to a partner about how they would like to attack the problem. Then they can build the solution using reusable materials like blocks, LEGO bricks, hashtag blocks, anything reusable that they can build, possibly take a picture in seesaw or Flipgrid cleanup. Then there's no storage at the end of class. So you are done with that whole thing from beginning to end: story read, the creation is built, they share in some way, and they are on their way. So this is a great way where you don't have that storage issue.


09:47

Another way to plan a challenge of the day lesson is to create it in a somatic theme. One way that I did this on Mondays with my eight classes a day is Dot Day, which is coming up. Now, we will have an episode about Dot Day. This is September 15ish. The website even says ish, but Dot Day is September 15. This is a great one-day celebration in the STEM space where you can have a quick activity; again, tie it into the book that the kids can do with you, have a short experience with STEM, and be on their way. When planning STEM and story or even thematic lessons, I recommend combining grade levels. So for Kindergarten through Fifth, you can combine lessons that can help you save on the materials you need to plan, shorten the cleanup time, and the amount of time it takes to prep things. This is especially helpful if you have a short transition time between all those classes. 


10:54

Another way to plan your lessons is by condensing longer projects spanning one to three days. In my K through five STEM year-long plan, I have a year of different lessons you can teach K through five. You can find this year-long plan at naomimeredith.com/yearlongplan. It will also be linked in the show notes. When I originally planned these lessons, they could span about five or more days. However, you can choose what works best for you and your classroom. I always provide more than enough content because I know everyone's situation is different, and you all have different needs for what you need to teach in your space. There are also digital materials included in the year-long plan. So you don't have to make many copies every time unless you want to. 


11:53

The other day, I was talking to a teacher about this on Instagram. We discussed how she has the year-long plan and is picking and choosing what works best for her within her first year of STEM. Shout out to her. This is a great way to save time when you're planning. When looking at a lesson that spans about five days following the engineering design process, you may wonder how you could do that when you have limited time with kids. The first day could be all about building background knowledge and doing some research about the challenge at hand using all of those different research tools that we've talked about in the past, like podcasts, videos, ebooks, epic books, to lots of different materials to get the kids excited and build background on the topic. During that same day, have students plan their designs. They can do that by drawing, labeling pictures, and possibly making a shopping list. In episodes five and six, I talk more about the management and setting up of your Makerspace. If you haven't listened, go back and check out those episodes. That will help you with your management for all these classes that you see. On day one, you have the background built, and then they create a plan the next week that you see them, day two, maybe three, this is definitely up to you. Day two can be looking at their plan, reviewing that information, and building their creation. I also recommend keeping those projects very small, so small enough to fit in a gallon-size Ziploc bag if you want to store them. This also helps you save on materials and all of that prep work. You can build day two, and if needed, keep them and go on to day three. Or you can even be done with building day to try it out. But that's not much storage for you over the long term, and you could fit it in over that week. 


13:53

The last way that you can plan your lessons when you have an interesting schedule with five classes, different classes, and a day is you can implement STEM stations. This strategy isn't something I would recommend starting immediately at the beginning of the year. As a classroom teacher, Stations are built up during those first couple months of school. As a STEM teacher, I recommend following that pattern and getting into the stations around the fall when students are used to routines and following multi-step directions. I like to use STEM stations with my K-One students. When I started my STEM role, I used stations with K through five. This helped me as a teacher learn how to use the tools and how things worked with different grade levels and test things out with minimal materials. Again, you can do this with K through five yourself or if you want to do this for the younger students. Definitely up to you. I recommend only having up to four stations and completing two stations a day for your short time. That way, you can have students complete two stations on day one and the following week, complete stations three and four. You could even carry on the following two weeks, three and four, or days three and four, and repeat those stations. That will help save you time on planning. You may get a little bored with explaining the directions 25 times, but it will be a new experience for the kids. 


15:33

Here's one way that I plan first-grade stations in my classroom. Each station follows each letter of STEM, so science, technology, engineering, and math. There is a station that goes along with each one. Of course, these are very integrated stations, so they don't necessarily have to be that letter. It's a good way to help remind students what station they're at and what STEM means. One station was constellation creations, where the students built different creations using geoboards. They had the images at their station and then a laminated sheet with a list where they could check off the ones they created that day. Another station was a space engineering inspiration board where students had different images related to space. They could build those different things with LEGO bricks. The third one was moon phase puzzles, where students had all eight moon phases cut up into puzzle pieces. They had to layer them on top of the full images of the moon phases and learn about them along the way. The fourth station was day and night robotic coding. So using robots, students rolled a dice, and the dice said day or night. On the grid they were coding on were different things that could be seen during the day, during the night, or during both, which was fun for them to think about those conversations and things that they have background knowledge about. At the beginning of class, I reviewed all of these stations and how to do them, then students had enough time to go to two stations the first day and then two stations the next day. If you're interested in these stations, these will also be linked in the show notes so you can check those out and modify those for your classroom. 


17:28

As a recap, here are the three ways you can plan your STEM lessons when you see different classes every day. The first way is the challenge of the day lessons. The second way is to condense longer projects into one to three-day lessons. The third way is creating STEM stations where students have four stations to rotate through two stations a day. I go into more detail about these lesson planning methods in my STEM teacher 101 course, and it has different examples for you to check out. You can get all that and all the links from today in my show notes for this episode. Thank you so much for joining me today. Let me know if there are other ways to support you, and I will chat with you soon.

5-different-stem-classes

5-different-stem-classes

5-different-stem-classes

5-different-stem-classes

 

Related Episodes/Blog Posts:

STEM Favorites that You’ll Enjoy: 

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!