Chicka Chicka Boom Boom in STEM

Who doesn't love that catchy refrain "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom will there be enough room" in the children's classic Chicka Chicka Boom Boom? The book  is one of those beloved stories that many children have on their bookshelves and most primary educators read to their students at some point in the school year. Back in the fall I got two grants for STEM-related (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math)  projects at my school, which included delivering some STEM lessons in the classroom. I decided to kick off my 2015 STEM lesson series in Kindergarten using Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  You may remember this 2014 STEM lesson I wrote about here.

My goal of the STEM lesson was to encourage creativity, teamwork, and problem solving while introducing the career of engineer.  I started off with this great YouTube video from a MIT student.

Although it used a lot of higher level vocabulary words and concepts, it kept the students' attention with its humor and engaging topic of creating a volleyball launcher. After all, what Kindergarten student wouldn't want to play with something like that?! The video did a great job of reviewing the design process and could easily be used all the way through 5th grade, if not further into middle school. To ensure it worked with Kindergarten students, I paused periodically throughout the video to explain what was happening and ask my Kindergarten students comprehension questions as they learned about becoming a design engineer for the day. 

Next, I read Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.  We did choral reading for the refrain to incorporate some literacy elements. After completing the story, we identified that the main problem was the letters falling off the tree. Then, we put on our imaginary design hats to become design engineers for the day! We got to work with the following steps to design our own letters that would NOT fall off of our tree (yes, there was a tree cut from my yard to bring that "wow" factor to the lesson--see below). Students worked in pairs to complete the project.

1)  Assigning the letter:  Each pair received a picture of an animal  (like the one to the right) and had to figure out the initial sound and letter to begin their project.

2)  Planning:  Each pair received a planning notebook for students to create their letter prototypes.  We talked about drawing "bubble letters" so we could create letters that we would be able to cut out of paper or cardboard like an ornament.  Some students used the planning drawing as a template and traced it for the final product while others used it solely for brainstorming.

3)  Designing:  Students received paperboard for their letter final product (think paperboard from cereal boxes, fruit snacks, etc. donated by parents) and completed the letter design.

 4)  Problem-Solving:  Students cut out their final version of the letter from the paperboard and had to brainstorm how they would use glue, yarn, and other scraps of cardboard to create something that would allow the letter to stay on the tree.

5)  Reflection/Modification:  Students tested their products.  We stopped often to do "sparkle alerts" to highlight students who were completing the steps and to show successful versions of hanging letters.  We also stopped to help teams brainstorm if they were struggling.  Once a few teams were able to come up with ideas, I encouraged students to try different ideas so they didn't all use the same yarn loop solution and continued to be creative.  The most common ways the students solved the problem were to tie the string through a letter opening (think P), tear a small hole in the letter for the yarn to create a loop, and use glue to paste one end of the yarn to the letter while tying the other end to the three. However, there were some "out of the box" ideas like using extra cardboard to create a hook for the letter or designing the letter in a way that created a hook for hanging.

6) Final Touches:  Students decorated their letters and hung them on the tree (check out a few examples below. It was flush with letters by the time all of my classes were through with the lessons).

This lesson took two to three class meetings depending on the class but was a fun way to talk about the job of an engineer and the engineering design process.  It also helped Kindergarten students practice teamwork, which is pretty hard at this age.  At the end of our lessons students had to rate their teamwork skills with a thumbs up, down, or sideways, and we reflected on how they could improve teamwork the following lesson using this teamwork checklist.

You may also enjoy this Voicethread I made as part of a professional development Moodle course I am completing in exchange for a Chromebook I was awarded earlier in the year.   Check back soon at my TPT store to see STEM center cards and these lesson resources if you want to incorporate STEM into your comprehensive school counseling program.

Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~  Angela