Read Across America: Engineering Focus

Will you be celebrating Read Across America in your classroom?  Every year, thousands of classrooms (across the WORLD) celebrate reading on or around March 2nd.

ReadAcrossAmerica.org

In my fifteen years as an educator, I have seen a multitude of ways to celebrate Dr. Seuss and his contribution to reading.

• Schools hold assemblies.  
• Some show Dr. Seuss videos.  
• Others have guest speakers read their favorite book to students.  
• Many have parties.  
• Students wear "Cat in the Hat" hats.  
• Cafeterias serve green eggs and ham.  
• I have seen DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) days with jammies and hot chocolate.  
• I have even seen STEM.  STEM?  Yes, STEM.

Perhaps my favorite Dr. Seuss book to read on March 2nd is Bartholomew and the Oobleck. The book lends itself well to a STEM lesson on solids, liquids, and gases. I add a math component with the recipe (think fractions!). Students then engage in a Socratic Seminar on the properties of matter. We conclude the unit with an Engineering Design Challenge: design a spaceship that can land on a planet and stay upright for at least 10 seconds. Your initial reports show that the surface of the planet is a non-Newtonian solid. (Ellen's got nothing on us!)

Jack and Josh following a recipe to create a non-Newtonian solid, otherwise known as "oobleck".

If you want to integrate Read Across America with your science studies, there are numerous books on the market that not only give you (great) lesson plans, but they also pair picture books with nonfiction books. The popular Picture-Perfect Science Lessons series offers just that.  They have books for K-5 and books more narrowed down to grade level bands K-2 and 3-5.  Click here for a link.  The National Science Teachers Association has produced their own book on the subject as well.  Teaching Science Through Trade Books offers lessons for grade bands K-3 and 4-6 with lessons and student engagement strategies.

http://www.nsta.org/publications/press/picture.aspx 

This year, I wanted to focus on engineering. I love how Engineering is Elementary uses the first two lessons of each unit to teach students the difference between technology and engineering. All too often, students think engineering is merely building bridges and skyscrapers. (By the way, we do students no service by simply offering toothpick/marshmallow challenges. We need to go further!)  For instance, I recently created a STEM Family Challenge Gift Pack that focused on various engineering careers. As I was researching engineering degrees, I was amazed at the breadth of the discipline!

If you are confused as to the difference between science and engineering, you can read National Research Council's book A Framework for K-12 Science Education. (click here for a free download) The researchers did a wonderful job of spelling out the difference between science and engineering, and also, creating a case for engineering in our classrooms today. 

"Science begins with a question about a phenomenon, such as "Why is the sky blue?" or "What causes cancer?," and seeks to develop theories that can provide explanatory answers to such questions....Engineering begins with a problem, need, or desire that suggests an engineering problem that needs to be solved." (National Research Council, p. 50). 

Using the theme of engineering, I selected books at each grade level band (K-2nd, 3rd-5th, 6th-8th, and 9th-12th) that lent themselves to an Engineering Design Challenge. But, just telling teachers which books to read isn't enough. Teachers are already swamped with math lessons, reading tests, and indoor recess (!). Teachers need a go-to resource, where everything is a click away. Hence, my website: ReadAcrossAmerica2016.weebly.com 

The website (free for anyone to use) has a page devoted to each grade level band. Each page has a synopsis of the book, a teacher's guide, and an Engineering Design Challenge. Some books include an interactive online platform. For instance, Talk to Me is a National Science Foundation funded project. The project created a graphic novel, a "game", and an electronic journal. Some books have videos that accompany them, such as Rosie Revere, Engineer. The high school book launches a Star STEM War: the F=m(a) Awakens.

Each school in Navajo and Apache counties will receive their Read Across America book during Engineers Week, February 21st-27th. Each book comes with a QR code on the cover. The QR code links to the website, where the teachers (and students!) can quickly access their resources with their smartphones/devices.

I would love to hear how you are celebrating Read Across America or 

how you used the website: ReadAcrossAmerica2016.weebly.com for your festivities. 

Email me at: STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com 

STEM Family Challenge: November

STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is a term used by teachers to encompass lessons and projects which include these subjects.  STEM does not just happen at school. In fact, STEM can be very effective, engaging, and fun at home.  

STEM Family Challenge: November

November is Native American Heritage Month. Click here for the Native American Heritage Month website. Along with resources for teachers/families, they also have an interactive game where you can choose your own adventure and follow a Cheyenne tribe. (very, very cool!)

**Disclaimer: I have lived with, taught beside, learned from, loved deeply, cried alongside, and laughed with Native Americans for over 9 years. My own children have been raised and schooled on the reservation and know more Apache words than I do. I have seen many Native American "lessons" in the past, however I feel they denigrate Native American traditions and peoples. Let's move past the paper bag "leather vest" lessons.

My STEM Family Challenge for November is to honor Native American traditions and tradesmen. You might be wondering where you can go to get information on traditional trades. I have compiled a list of resources to inspire you and your children. You never know, you may find a new favorite author.

Books as Resources

I have used Michael Lacapa books in my classroom every year. Mr. Lacapa was a very talented Native American author/illustrator. Unfortunately, "Little Blue Bird" passed away too young, but, his books have become his legacy. Of all his books, The Flute Player is perhaps my favorite. I dare you not to cry.

For those who prefer novels, I suggest Scott O'Dell's Island of the Blue Dolphins or Elizabeth George Spear's Sign of the Beaver.

Challenge: make a flute, make a canoe, or make a bow and arrow.

Maker Sites as Resources

loom on instructables.com 

Use Maker Space websites, such as DIY.org to find a new engineering challenge. Want to learn how to bead? Look it up! Want to learn how to weave a dream catcher, find it here!

Another Maker site is Instructables.com There, you can learn everything from basket weaving to looms. You can even learn how to do the Hoop Dance.

If you wish to have your project displayed, email a pic of your project and the STEM Reflection Sheet to me at STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com .  With your permission, I will post your pic!

Architecture of Accomplished Teaching

The Architecture of Accomplished Teaching.  National Board candidates and teachers know this double helix well.  They are accustomed to using the upward spiral to impact student learning.  I would like to posit that National Board candidates use the highly reflective practice when reflecting on their own journey to certification.

http://boardcertifiedteachers.org/

When accomplished teachers look at the architecture for their students, they start with their students.  Who are they?  Where are they now?  

Then, said teachers set high goals that are appropriate to those students at that time.  As the teachers deliver instruction, they are constantly revisiting the goals and the student.  Is the student making progress?  If not, where is the breakdown?  

Through reflection, the accomplished teacher sets new goals and the upward spiral continues.  

But, what about using the architecture on yourself?  Is it not true that you, a National Board Candidate, looked yourself in the proverbial mirror one (or more) years ago and asked yourself, "Who am I?  Where am I now?  What are my goals?"

No doubt you had several conversations with yourself and maybe even with an advisor; a confidant.  You set worthwhile goals and you worked hard to achieve them.  Hard.  "National Board Certification is easy," said no teacher ever.

Through deep reflection, you honed your craft, tweaked your practice.  It is safe to say, you are not the same teacher you were a year ago.  And here's the beautiful thing: you never will be the same, just as the butterfly cannot become a caterpillar again.  You are transformed.  

And here we sit.  Waiting for "score release".  The day you thought would never come.  The wait will probably seem like an eternity.  Might I suggest you use this time to thank the people who helped you come so far?  Maybe your family really stepped it up and took over household chores while you typed. and typed. and typed.  Maybe it was a colleague who listened.  A mentor who guided.  No matter the scores tomorrow, you know you could not have come so far were it not for them.

But, what happens after score release?  For some, it will be the affirmation of a lifelong passion.  Certification.  How wonderful that must feel.  

For others, it will be the realization that there is still more mountain to climb.  The double helix continues upwards.

Advanced Candidates, don't look at your score as something that is "less than".  Look at it as "more than".  More than it was a year ago.  

What do we do as accomplished teachers?  We look at our students where they are now.  Look at yourself.  You have come so far.  Where are you now?  Where do you want to be?  Look at your scores.  Where is there room for improvement?  For me, it was Entry 4: Documented Accomplishments and two assessment center exercises.  Yes, I too, was an Advanced Candidate.

Set a worthwhile goal for yourself.  Work to achieve that goal and reflect on your practice as you continue to move up that double helix.  Continue climbing until you have reached that summit!  

National Farm to School Month

October is usually filled with thoughts of pumpkins, candy, and leaves changing colors.  But, did you know that October is also Farm to School Month?  Farm to School Month is "a time to celebrate the connections that are happening all over the country between schools and local food" (www.farmtoschool.org).  It doesn't get more local than a school garden.  

Why a School Garden

Classrooms are moving back to integrated studies.  This can be done in the classrooms (reading about science concepts, for example) and outside the classroom (measuring the heights of various corn stalks).  Much research has been been on the subject....of integrated subjects:

• "Students who participated in garden-based learning programs showed higher test scores in science and increased food knowledge" (edutopia).
• "Garden-based learning has been linked with higher levels of science achievement" (edutopia).

Our Garden

Last year, students and parents built a STREAM Garden at our school.  STREAM stands for Science, Technology, Reading, Engineering, Arts, and Math.  Students engineered the benches used for reading and writing in the garden.  Parents built the raised beds; one for each teacher.  Community members donated seedlings and seeds from their personal gardens.  The local farm sent a farmer to work with students weekly and teach them about soil, veggies, and the importance of healthy eating.  Teachers taught/enhanced math lessons in the garden.  Visitors scanned the QR codes on each bed to view videos about what is growing in the beds.  And grow they did.

In it's inaugural year, the STREAM Garden produced The Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash), salsa (tomatoes, peppers, and onions), roots (carrots and radishes), and flowers (sunflowers and snapdragons).  And that's just the beginning.  Students are already planning what they want to plant next spring.  

How We Will Celebrate Farm to School Month

Our school has partnered with Food Corps (a division of Whole Foods Market) to:

• Support indigenous foods knowledge, growth and re-introduction

• Prevent hunger and food insecurity

• Increase local food production, distribution and access

• Promote healthy nutrition and fitness across the lifespan

To celebrate Farm to School Month, we will have a Garden Party with all 8 Food Corps Teachers across the state!  This isn't your grandma's garden party.  This Garden Party is going to be STEM-tastic!

• Students will build an additional compost bin out of pallets and stakes.  
• Students will build an additional raised bed as our ancillary teachers and resource teachers are wanting their own raised beds as well.
• Students will harvest the above-ground produce (corn, squash, bean, peas, tomatoes, etc.).
• Students will top off the raised beds with fresh topsoil and fill the new bed with topsoil.
• Students will paint rocks to inspire hope for the future.
• Students will go on a garden-themed scavenger hunt.

How You Can Celebrate Farm to School Month

There are as many ways to celebrate as there are farms and schools.  The National Farm to School Month website offers suggestions for those just getting started.  Arizona Department of Education also offers suggestions and resources.  

STEM Family Challenge: October

STEM, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, is a term used by teachers to encompass lessons and projects which include these subjects. STEM units usually start with a problem.  The teacher guides the students through discovery and experimenting to find solutions.  STEM does not just happen at school. In fact, STEM can be very effective, engaging, and fun at home.  

At my school, I present a STEM Family Challenge each month.  Families take the challenge, complete a reflection sheet, and earn a $20 gift card to local businesses (bowling alley, movie theatre, miniature golf, etc.).  I would like to offer the STEM Family Challenge to you as well.  Although I can't offer you a gift card, I can put your name in lights HTML.  

STEM Family Challenge: October

Fire Prevention Week is October 4th-10th this year.  “Nearly 3,000 people continue to die in fires each year, with most of those deaths occurring in homes,” said Carli from the National Fire Prevention Association. “The vast majority of home fire deaths are preventable, and working smoke alarms play a big role in helping reduce those numbers.” 

http://www.nfpa.org/safety-information/fire-prevention-week 

"Smoke alarms can make a life-saving difference in a fire, but they need to be working,” said Lorraine Carli, NFPA’s vice president of Outreach and Advocacy. “Unfortunately, many home fire deaths result from fires where a smoke alarm is present but does not operate." This year’s Fire Prevention Week theme focuses on putting a smoke alarm near every bedroom.

According to NFPA statistics:

• Having a working smoke alarm in the home cuts the risk of dying in a fire in half.
• On average each year, three out of five home fire deaths result in fires where there are either no smoke alarms or no working smoke alarms.
• In one-quarter (23 percent) of the home fire deaths, smoke alarms were present but did not sound.

What You Can Do: Engineer a Solution

Using items around the house, 

• design a smoke detector, or
• design a device that will remind people to check their smoke detectors

See example below for inspiration. Have FUN!

photo by ICStation

If you wish to have your name in lights HTML, email a pic of your project and the STEM Reflection Sheet to me at STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com .  With your permission, I will post your pic!

Want more info?

Info for Teachers
Info for Families

After-School STEM Club Resources

Ahh, Labor Day is behind us and a new school year awaits us. Time for teachers to label desks, folders, bins, and notebooks. Time for students to gear up for success. And, time for after-school clubs to commence.

The After-school Alliance recently released data on after-school STEM Clubs.

afterschoolalliance.org 

Their report, titled "Full STEM Ahead", makes the following recommendations:

• engaging & educating parents about the importance of afterschool STEM
• increasing technology and engineering programming
• strengthening & increasing STEM community partnerships 
• improving assessment measures; and 
• increasing investment in afterschool programs. (Full STEM Ahead)

This is great news for kids. But now, teachers are left to create STEM curriculum for their after-school clubs. This can be especially difficult for teachers who teach all day and don't have time to scour the internet for lessons. There are many great programs out there. Here are a few of my favorites:

Engineering is Elementary (EIE) has a mission to "support educators and children with curricula and professional development that develops engineering literacy" (eie.org) Personally, I have worked with EIE for years and have found it very user-friendly. In fact, I am honored to say I have been chosen by EIE to pilot a new unit this fall (available for download next year).

EIE offers many products, but specifically for this purpose, they have after-school curriculum. Engineering Adventures is a FREE after-school curriculum for grades 3-5. Engineering Everywhere is a FREE after-school curriculum for middle and high school students.

Students meet two characters, Indie and Jacob, and help them solve problems around the world. The curriculum has intro lessons if your students are new to engineering. Each lesson has an audio file (or the new ones have videos) that capture your students' attention and guide them through activities. Many of the lessons have optional online components. In addition to downloading the FREE teacher guide, you can also download a FREE student journal, where students are encouraged to diagram their designs and work through the engineering design process. The only cost you may incur is for supplies, but you will find that you have many of the supplies already lying around your classroom/school. If not, many are household items that the students can bring to school.

diy.org

DIY.org is not an official after-school STEM curriculum. However, I have used their challenges for out-of-school learning.

I recently wrote a blog post on DIY.org. They have a bazillion challenges for students. Students choose which ones appeal to them and work towards those goals. When they complete the challenge, they can purchase a badge (yes, a real badge) for $4.

DIY.org also offers "camps". Camps cost about $10 each. However, if you can get $5 off when you use this link: https://goo.gl/MBkRKK

This type of curriculum is a more "maker space" type of curriculum. With DIY.org, students are engaged in engineering solutions. Interestingly enough, EIE released an interesting article yesterday regarding science scores when students engineer. Click here to read the article.

Along the same lines as DIY.org is Design Squad and Instructables.

mysteryscience.com

Mystery Science is my new favorite. I could tell you about it, but Doug does a great job in this video:

mysteryscience.com 

Right now, you can get into Mystery Science for FREE. I have used the magnetism lesson with my students and it was so easy to project the slide show.

azafterschool.org

The Arizona Center for Afterschool Excellence (AzCASE) has links to many other FREE STEM Club resources. You do not need to be based in Arizona to take advantage of these opportunities.



This list is not meant to be exhaustive. In fact, if you know of a great resource that should be added, please email me at STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com and I will add it.

Autumn: The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

It's the most wonderful time of the year,
With the kids robot building
And everyone telling you "Fall Break is near"
It's the most wonderful time of the year!

It's the cool-coolest season of all,
With the leaves a-changing and lunar eclipsing
When elk start to call,
It's the cool-coolest season of all.

There'll be pumpkins for carving,
And butterflies larving,
And harvesting corn by the row.
There'll be no fires blazing
And late night star gazing
At galaxies long, long ago.

It's the most wonderful time of the year,
With the kids robot building
And everyone telling you "Fall Break is near"
It's the most wonderful time of the year!
            -Susan Rodriguez



Autumnal Equinox is practically a holiday for STEM teachers.

We not only have trees stopping their production of chlorophyll, but we also have a total lunar eclipse (!).

We have caterpillars fattening up and corn ready to harvest.

Lego robot leagues are ramping up for competitions and star gazers are looking at the Pleiades.

Fire Prevention Week reminds us to check our smoke detectors while we get ready to set fire to hollowed-out pumpkins (after we have counted each seed and diagrammed the pumpkin life cycle).

It's the most wonderful time of the year.

What lessons do you love to teach this time of year? Email me at STEAMingAheadWithSusan@gmail.com .