Stem for first grade

When you pass out base ten blocks or linking cubes to Kindergartners for the very first time, what do you expect that they might do? Chances are, it is inevitable that they will immediately begin building towers, structures, and patterns without being prompted. In fact, it is a "common ground rule" that early childhood teachers must ALWAYS give their students ample time to explore, play, and build with manipulatives before attempting to use them as instructional tools.

We did another STEM activity this week. The students worked in teams of three or four to build a bridge using four cups, yarn, and tape. Th...

"I like to eat nice juicy children," says the Enormous Crocodile. Nothing like that line to get some kids to raise their eyebrows, or laugh. Mostly they laugh. It's one of those moments in a read aloud book where the kids are hanging onto your words and soaking them up like little sponges-- until they

Each challenge connects to a read aloud book to help students connect to the activities and is designed specifically with first graders in mind. They build simple projects to give them a firm foundation in engineering. The lessons align with First Grade NGSS covering all of the engineering standards.

Have you ever read a book to your first graders that included a sing-song chant they could repeat? (Think Pete the Cat and his new shoes....) Once the kids get the rhyme down pat they will repeat it everytime you get to that part. I also had this happen with There Was an Old Lady

Getting Started With First Grade STEM Activities and Challenges

This simple STEM challenge will be perfect for Pre-K, kindergarten or first grade. My kids love STEM activities! #stemforkids #stemlearning #steamkids #kidsstem #stem #kidssteam

A few years ago I began Genius Hour on Fridays to incorporate STEM into our classroom. STEM (which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) is an engaging, hands on way to get students to communicate, collaborate, be creative, think critically, and exercise compassion. These are all important skills for life and even your littlest students ... Read More about STEM in the First Grade Classroom

If you love STEAM activities for kids but hate having to buy a ton of extra materials and tools, you are going to LOVE these free STEM activities.

Do picture books work with STEM? One day I read a roomful of second graders this delightful book - What Do You Do with a Tail Like This? Then we talked about what we could build in STEM! This was magic with the youngest engineers. They loved having books read to them and I often