Why STEM?

I am so excited to begin my new adventure this fall in first grade!  I am definitely a little nervous as I have spent the last two years with third graders- but we will learn together.  I'd like to start my blog by sharing some of the GREAT successes I have had integrating STEM activities into my classroom this past year.

I had heard great things from other teachers but I was not prepared for the amount of engagement and learning that would happen in such a small time with absolutely no help from me.  The first activity we did was build a tower out of index cards.   I saw several different variations of this on pinterest but I tried to keep it pretty simple since this was our first STEM activity.  (I didn't get any pictures of this one!)  I watched as the students struggled to balance the cards against each other.  Some groups (my early finishers) got frustrated pretty quickly.  Then, I looked over to see another student- one who struggles in some academic areas bending and tearing cards to attach and stack them.  This student quickly built a tower and then looked around to see his classmates still struggling.  He grinned at me, took it completely apart and said "I think I can make it taller".

I couldn't believe it, it was phenomenal to see him having such success.  After a few minutes he offered to go help some other groups and I sent him around the room.  As he explained that the cards would not stay stacked unless they did something to change them I saw the lightbulb come on.  I was SO impressed with the final product from each group.

So, reasons to do this STEM activity in your room?

1.  minimal or no financial investment- all you need is some index cards
2.  No lesson plans required- this is inquiry style student led learning
3.  Students get practice thinking outside the box
4. Students get practice with team work and encouragement
5.  This will engage ALL students in your room and it will surprise you which students are the most engaged and successful

I used a rubric to grade each group (teamwork was worth the most points so they didn't argue!). Below is a link to the google doc I used as a rubric for each group!  In order to edit the document you must make a copy of it and save it to your documents.  Enjoy!

Card Tower Rubric