STEM Ideas!

Sunday, April 6, 2014
I am always trying to find ways to incorporate STEM into my instruction! To begin familiarizing my students with the term STEM, I reviewed what STEM actually means by using the foldable seen to the right.The students wrote what each (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) meant to them on the front of each fold.  Behind each fold, students wrote careers that they felt applied to this area.  I found some great videos on different STEM careers at this STEM career lab website found HEREThe students loved this because they could hear professionals, professors, and students give testimonials about different careers that fall under the STEM umbrella.  I loved showing students these examples because it gave them an opportunity to visualize each career and allowed them to reflect on whether or not they would like to pursue it.in their future. While planning, I sat down to find some articles that incorporated STEM concepts AND that I thought my students would be interested in.  I found some really good articles and compiled them together for my students to read.  You can download the articles by clicking on the picture below!


Before students chorally read their article with their partners, we discussed the foldable they would be completing.  On the first flap of the foldable, students recorded the name of the article and illustrated a picture that related to the topic.

Most importantly before reading, students wrote any information that they knew already knew about the topic of the article.  
First Read
After the first read of their article, students recorded new vocabulary words and then reflected with their groups to determine if the article dealt with Science, Technology, Engineering, or Math. Behind this fold, they needed to write evidence supporting their claim as to what STEM area was being covered.  
2nd Read
After the foldable was half-way finished, we completed a 2nd reading of the article.  While reading, students recorded highlights from the article that they felt were important.  They also were able to use these notes as a tool for reporting their information back to the class during our class discussion!  Finally, on the last flap of the foldable,
 students illustrated a concept from the article and then wrote questions that they still had on the final writing space. Below are some examples of how the student's writing came out!




Download the foldables and bulletin board header by clicking here!
How do you incorporate STEM in your classroom?
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