Fixed schedule in your elementary library? You can still offer makerspace learning activities with makerspace centers as part of a library centers program.

Bring STEM to your classroom with this hand picked list of STEM Kindergarten Books! They are great for science in the classroom and nonfiction unit study.

Bee-Bot-coding-fun is such a great way to introduce coding to your elementary students. Find out what a Bee Bot is and how to use...

You might have noticed that we’re big fans of Chris Grabenstein’s Lemoncello books around here. That’s because they’re chalk-ful of learning opportunities. There are so many ways that you can learn with these books – and that’s why I’ve written another series of lesson plans for Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics. These lessons are different… Continue reading NEW! Literacy & STEM Challenges for “Mr. Lemoncello’s Library Olympics”

Fixed schedule in your elementary library? You can still offer makerspace learning activities with makerspace centers as part of a library centers program.

Every fall we get a new crop of schools and teachers coming to us looking for ways to get started with making. We're developing more awesome Maker

If you need STEM projects ideas, this is THE place to go! This is a collection of over 200 STEM projects and activities that kids love!

Did you know that STEM activities are a great way to build classroom community and teamwork at the beginning of the year? Unfortunately, STEM challenges can tend to be used as a classroom competition where students and groups are competing against each other. While classroom comp

Are you a reader? Do you worry about your students being readers? Of course, you do! Several years ago I became a trainer for our local science curriculum and now teach teachers how to use the science kits adopted for each grade. At one of those training sessions I conducted, a teacher said

So, I posted recently that my sixth graders were writing a mystery that was going to take place in the library. I took two of the best mysteries that were submitted and combined them! Here's how our mystery looked: The Problem: Mrs. Svarda got to school on Monday morning and saw the mess. At first she was just mad that all of the books were out, then she saw that all the books were missing their endings. She picked up a book and noticed that the barcode was missing, too. She looked around and found that several books were missing their endings and barcodes. The scanners were also missing so no one could check out books! Then Mrs. Svarda was scared and mad. Who could've done such a thing? What happened here? How could this happen? She needed help. Starbelly Sneetch Alibi: It was 5:00 and I heard a knock on my door. It was Fox in Socks. He came in and I turned off my music and put away my IPod. We played at my house until we got bored. We decided it would be fun to go to the movies. We texted Hop On Pop and Yertle the Turtle to see if they wanted to come, too. Everyone came to the movie except Hop on Pop. After the movie we couldn't think of what to do so we walked around. We thought we might stop by the library to visit Hop On Pop. It started to rain as we walked so we stopped at Fox in Sock's house to pick up some blankets to keep dry on our walk. Hop On Pop Alibi: It was 5:00 and I was looking at my clock when the doorbell rang. It was Yertle the Turtle. He had brought me some homemade bread. He asked if I wanted to go to the mall. My mom said, "No. I had to work on my homework at the library." Yertle the Turtle got a text right after that asking if we wanted to go and see the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. Bummer. I really wanted to see a movie and hated that I had to go to the library instead. Yertle the Turtle left to meet everyone for the movie. I headed to the library with my homework. My animal report was due on Monday and mom said I couldn't do anything fun until I was finished with the report. The fun thing was that everyone came by the library after the movie and told me all about it. They had a great time. At 8:00, everyone had to head home. I had about thirty minutes left of homework, so I told them I'd have to stay around just a bit longer... Yertle the Turtle Alibi: It was 4:00 and I was cooking some homemade bread. When it was done I wanted to have some fun so I took some bread over to my friend Hop On Pop. I asked if he wanted to go to the mall, but then I got a text from Fox in Socks and Starbelly Sneetch asking if I wanted to go to the new Diary of a Wimpy Kid movie. My mom said I could go to the movie, but his mom said he had to do homework. He tried not to show it, but boy, was he mad. I had to leave Hop On Pop to make it to the movie on time. I told him if we had time, we'd stop by the library after the movie to hang out with him. Fox in Socks' Alibi: I was sitting in my room when my mom came in and said when I finished my chores I could play. I decided to go over to Starbelly Sneetch's house to play. We thought it would be fun to go to see a movie and texted our friends to see if they could come, too. When the movie was over we went by my house to get some blankets because it was raining and we didn't want to get wet. Then, we headed to the library to visit Hop On Pop because he was doing homework there. At the library, I looked for the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book. I really liked the movie so I thought I would like the book. What the students do: When the students entered the library, they each grabbed a clipboard with a pencil, ingredients of a mystery checklist, alibis, map of the crime scene, and suspect list attached to it. They also grabbed a highlighter. I had the problem and alibis typed up on my SMART board including pictures of the characters. I read the problem and each alibi to the students. We walked through the ingredients of a mystery and checked off all of the mystery elements that our mystery had on the list. Then, I separated the students into two groups. One team surveyed the crime scene and drew the map of the evidence in the crime scene first. The second team worked in teams to read through the alibis and highlight evidence they found in the text that made them believe a character or characters might be guilty. After ten minutes, the teams swapped stations. We returned together as a group to discuss all of the evidence the students had found in the crime scene as well as the alibis that led them to believe that specific characters could be guilty of the crime. We completed the suspect list together. Students work in teams to highlight evidence in the alibis. Students sketched the crime scene. We taped off the crime scene with caution tape. The crime scene included Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, barcodes with fur on them (from characters), endings ripped out of the end of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books (these were really just copies I ripped), a blanket, movie ticketes (3), and a book about bumblebees (this was the book Hop On Pop was using to do his research for homework). I found the copies for the ingredients of a mystery checklist and suspect list from Beth Newingham's Scholastic post about the mystery unit she teaches in her classroom. The Solution The students really thought like detectives in this lesson! I did catch a few of them off guard with my red herrings, though. The fuzz on the barcodes made some of them immediately suspect Fox in Socks and the Starbelly Sneetch. One of the kids said, "This is the best lesson we've had in the library all year!" So, you can make whoever you want responsible for the crime. I decided that Hop On Pop was guilty. He was mad that he did not get to go to the movie with his friends. He was working on his report about bumblebees (since bears love honey) and had to stay later than his friends in the library to finish up. All of the other characters visited the library to visit Hop On Pop and they did not say anything about something being wrong in the library. Hop On Pop tore the endings out of the books when his friends left. To excite the kids about checking out mysteries in our library, we created a mystery display. All of the books were sealed in brown paper bags with the barcodes on the outside so we could check the books out without opening the bags. Each bag had a different mystery inside. This was a fun way for our students to try reading something new in the library and practice their detective skills we learned in our lesson together! Mystery books in mystery bags!

Kindergarten blog for teachers in the classroom. Ideas for homeschooling as well. Free files to your with your students.

STEM education helps teach students how to solve real-world problems. Here’s a list of 3 fun, super simple STEM activities for the library!

Are you looking to set up an effective STEM center? Here, you’ll find some relevant information on setting up a STEM center. Visit to read now!

Make these fun penny spinners with just a few simple supplies. This project could be an awesome STEM lesson on physics, too!

Plan these simple and fun Paper bag STEM challenges for kids! Easy STEM activities that use what's around to encourage invention and design.

Library centers have been in full swing for more than 1 1/2 years at DC Elementary, and with the new semester just a few days away, it's time to reveal a new approach to the centers. In the past, students participated in centers based on their table number. Centers rotated each cycle, and students often had choices related to books and reading, technology, word play, and story telling. (You can read about previous library centers posts HERE.) Now, however, centers will all be free choice, with nine options from which to choose rather than seven. Check out this Vine video that shows a quick overview: The nine choices relate to some of the same kinds of topics, but also included are centers that feature building and observation, along with some favorites like storytelling and technology. Stay tuned for updates to the poster and different centers available to students!

S.T.E.M. and Growth Mindset concepts complement and reinforce each other perfectly, so teaching them together is a perfect match! Here's how I combine them.

I decided to take on my own challenge of incorporating a STEM activity every day for a week. It turned out to be a huge success where both my students and I had a blast. Here were the various …

Fun with Dash and Dot! These Dash and Dot Task Cards can be used in an elementary library, STEM class, or as a classroom activity/center. This pack includes: 19 Dash and Dot Task Cards at varying levels of coding ability 1 Dash and Dot Directions sign

Click the either of the pictures below to subscribe to my Teach Outside the Box newsletter and receive your set of STEM Supply Labels for FREE! After subscribing, make sure to confirm your subscription in your inbox and your freebie will be sent to you!

Make a Zoetrope with a few easy comic strips for a kool science craft project.

Here are some of my favorites STEM books for kids that you can add to your collection today! Before starting a STEM or building challenge, I always read a book with my class. I love connecting literacy, sitting together on the carpet, and engaging my students in discussions. There are so many amazing books that ... Read more

Inject the 'A' into your STEM challenge projects with cut paper and the free app Stop Motion on the iPad. The 'A' being Art of course! Full STEAM ahead... We used Stop Motion and cut paper to make moving models of the Lunar Cycle and the phases of the moon in science. The challenge was that students were only allowed to use cut paper (you could also use Oreos for this to mimic the moon as shown in this free download) and the app Stop Motion to show all 8 lunar phases. As with any STEM/STEAM challenge, I introduced

Subject English Language Arts, Science, Engineering Grade Levels 3rd, 4th, 5th Resource Type Lesson Plans (Individual), Activities, Novel Study File Type Compressed Zip File Be sure that you have an application to open this file type before downloading and/or purchasing. 11 MB|125 pages

Coding for kindergarten is actually much simpler than you think! Kids as young as five can already understand some of the basic coding concepts, even if they don’t know what they are specifically. So what

Accommodations allow students with dyslexia to perform at their intellectual ability in the school setting even if they are still reading below grade level. Here are some great accommodations for students with dyslexia that really work!

February 3, 2017 Over the last few days we spent sometime going through the piles of tools saved in our archive and managed to select the ones that fit perfectly for STEAM (Science, Technology,... ..

Are you in need of sub plans for your STEM classroom? Whether it's planned ahead, the morning of, or a 2 week COVID quarantine, I try to always have low-prep STEM lesson plans ready if needed. But sometimes preparing for a sub can feel like more work than actually being there! So I got together with

Over the last several years, I've done at lot of change up our library space at Stewart. Here's some of my tips to help you rethink your library.

STEM technology activities are a part of our world today and won't be going away anytime soon. But when it comes to STEM, the "T" in STEM, technology, can be hard to teach! Use these

Ready to build your STEM library with the best picture books? Start Here! Check out my Top 10 all time favorite read alouds for elementary STEM

Green Screen technology (or Chroma Key as it is known in more “techy” circles), used to be so complicated! I first tried the available technology with my fourth grade students about 20+ years ago. This post contains affiliate links. If you click through and make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you. I remember setting up green bulletin board

10 Dr. Seuss STEM Activities to celebrate Dr. Seuss and all of the joy he brings! Cross curricular science experiments, hands-on projects, and STEM challenges for kids! #stem #stemeducation #science #seuss #readacrossamerica

"It was like herding cats!" That was my answer to my husband the other day when he asked how my day had gone. Seriously, the days I have first and second graders are just hard - fun, but exhausting. That is until I found the SECRET to STEM and the littles! Are you ready for

This is a STEM building and engineering projects with a Greek Myth Theme. Students will construct a new set of wings for Icarus. This activity is designed to encourage critical thinking and scientific reasoning skills, as well as, problem solving and teamwork. Great for use in a STEM classroom, media center, gifted classroom, or as part of your science and math curriculum! It can be completed in one class period of an hour or less. Included: -Student recording sheets (four options) -grading rubric -parent letter -extension menu -detailed notes to teacher Additional materials that you will need: -coffee stirrers -index cards -masking tape -student balance to measure mass -meter stick or measuring tape -small action figure, Lego man, or small object (cork, eraser, clothespin) to be Icarus You might also like: ✰ Maker Space Task Cards ✰ Seasonal STEM Megabundle ✰ Fairy Tale STEM ✰ Nursery Rhyme STEM

One of the BEST things I ever did was start a Facebook group just for STEM educators. It is by far the best Facebook group I have ever been a part of. Why?

In honor of Read Across America and Dr. Seuss's recent birthday, art and music held some classes in the media center today - very exciting t...

Teaching Digital Citizenship in Kindergarten.

From elementary school to middle school to high school, we've rounded up 41 STEM projects and activities for kids of all ages!

Interested in learning how to start, schedule, and manage an elementary Makerspace?! Check out these supply suggestions, organization tips, and more.