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

Full STEM Ahead......

My love affair with Donor's Choose is still going strong!  They never let me down when I write a grant, and it has gotten even easier to request needed materials now that they have partnered with Amazon as a vendor.  I also LOVE the fact that all donations are matched by Donor's Choose within the first 7 days the project is posted.  I usually put my request up on Facebook, Twitter, and email close family members and have my grant funded within a few days between people I know and those I don't.  In the days of limited budgets and stagnant salaries, Donor's Choose is truly a life saver!!!

My current project is focused on STEM activities for my Kindergarten and first grade students. STEM -- Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics --seems to be a major push in lots of school rights now, and I wanted my kids to have a chance to explore these academic disciplines in a fun way. So, how did I do it?!!! I came up with the idea that I wanted to request a variety of building materials -- Magnatiles, plank blocks, Legos, stacking cups, and gear blocks-- and use them in engineering centers. Each center has a specific task card to guide students in what they should be building with the assigned material.  However, there is a lot of room for students to use their own critical thinking skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities within each task.  Some of the websites I explored to add to my own ideas were these great Livebinders here and here.

I introduced the idea of becoming an "engineer for the day" with these YouTube videos to help explain what an engineer does. Kindergarten saw this one:

First grade will see this one:

I also wanted to incorporate teamwork skills, which can be a struggle for this age group, so I created a teamwork checklist that we follow during the center activities. Students rate themselves at the end of the lesson and give themselves 0, 1, 2, or 3 teamwork points as a way to reflect on what they did well on and what they need to improve. The Kindergarten students helped me brainstorm the three skills:  Passing materials, whispering and making a plan, and talking nicely and using manners.

Each child also has a center activity sheet to help with accountability for completing the center. Again, I explain the sheet at each center and assist as needed, especially with some of my English Language Learner students.

These engineering centers are particularly exciting for my Kindergarten kids who I teach "specials" (enhancements, rotations) to each day because they can complete the entire rotation of centers over the next five to six weeks.  At this point in the year, I wanted to mix things up and have more of a challenge since the majority of my students are reading and can handle being a little more independent. I am creating groups to ensure that at least one really strong reader is in each group and am assisting when needed.  My first graders will only receive one lesson so they will probably only get to explore one of the following five centers:

1.  Magnatiles:  Students work on building a house together.  They start with a cube and use their imaginations to add the magnetic tile shapes to create the rest of the structure. On the activity sheet, students identify the shapes and colors they used and sound out the names of the shapes to write them down. In my  opinion, Magnatiles are one of the coolest building materials around. If you haven't tried them before, you've got to check them out!!!

**Permission was given to post these pics of students on my blog since I am required to share pictures with Donor's Choose.

2. Lego Center:  Students attempt to build a "pet carrier" for Bruno who is 5 blocks wide by 1 block high.  They have to think about how he will get in and out and how he will breath. Initially, I was having students use the plank blocks for this center, but I could tell they weren't as familiar with these types of blocks and it was harder for them to build a tall structure so I switched the Lego and plank task cards....always tweaking and adjusting!

3.  Gear Center:  Teams works to create a new invention that will create wind in this center.  They have to see how many gears they can get to turn and count the final number for their activity sheet.

4.  Plank Center:  This center is focused on having students build a bridge that a toy car can cross.  Students practice using measurement and compare hand lengths to the bridge to determine how long it is for their center sheet.

5. Stacking Cups Center: Students attempt to create a tower using Solo cups.  The task card stipulates that the tower must have at least four levels and use at least 20 cups, and students draw the tower on their activity sheet.  Check out how great my kids did in the picture to the right!

Here are some more close-ups of the students' work on their center activity sheets (left and below).  So far, we are having a blast and I am really enjoying seeing the students use their creativity to work together, use their brains, and have fun! My first grade kiddos start their lessons this week, and I think they will do an even better job due to having another year of maturity and problem-solving skills. I truly could use these centers all the way through third or fourth grade and may do that next year!!!  Send me a comment if you have done any STEM activities or have any other questions!                                      Happy Counseling! ~Angela

Finding Your Inner Olympian.....

The other night my daughter and I were watching the slopestyle snowboarding event at the Olympics. All of a sudden she looked at me and asked, "Mommy, why aren't you in the Olympics?"  After laughing out loud and explaining to her that I didn't know how to snowboard, she boldly proclaimed, "I am going to be in the Olympics." It quickly brought me back to the now famous story of the Seahawk's quarterback Russell Wilson whose father used to say, "Why not you, Russell?"  I get chill bumps every time I hear that story and think about the goals that could be reached if every child had parents who saw limitless possibilities for their child and urged them to dream big.

I grew up excitedly watching the winter and summer Olympics and even had the privilege of going to the 1998 Olympics in Atlanta where the indelible image of Michael Johnson's gold track shoes on the Jumbotron will forever be etched in my memory. I LOVE everything the Olympics stand for ---hard work, self-discipline, goal setting, perseverance;  the list goes on and on.  So, it was only fitting that I created a lesson incorporating the Olympics to go along with the character trait of FAIRNESS for my first graders this month.

 I started out with my multiple choice pre-survey to find out how many students already knew the definition of fairness.

HINT:  C is the correct answer!!! My big emphasis for this lesson is for kids to realize that FAIR DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN EQUAL.

After the pre-survey,  I made a big deal of showing a bag of M&Ms I brought and telling the class I was only going to give one to students wearing red (or yellow or just girls...whatever your whim).   You can imagine how quickly students started exclaiming that "it wasn't fair" that some kids got M&Ms and others didn't.  We then had a discussion about how no one had earned the M&Ms and how you didn't really NEED M&Ms to live so I was simply favoring some kids over others, which made the have-nots feel bad.  Then, I pulled out some Band-aids and asked if anyone needed a Band-Aid. If you have ever been in a first grade class, you know there is ALWAYS someone who needs a Band-Aid. After giving my "injured" child a Band-Aid, I started passing them out to every student and innocently asked, "Don't I need to give everyone a Band-aid just like the M&Ms?" Of course, the students said no because they didn't need them, and I re-emphasized that everyone doesn't always need the same thing.

We then applied these discussions to FAIRNESS at school, at home, at recess, and on the playing field and brainstormed specific strategies students could use to show FAIRNESS in these locations.  Every class had their own ideas but sharing, taking turns, including everyone, doing your job, helping out, and good sportsmanship were all recurring ideas among my first graders.

Next, we really focused on FAIRNESS in teamwork and I incorporated my Olympic theme. I had made a paper torch as a prop and embedded Bugler's Dream into my Smartboard slide (play it and you'll recognize it!).

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I had them brainstorm teams they might see competing in the Olympics who would have to use FAIRNESS.  There are a million, but I used this slide below:

Then, we watched and discussed two video clips showing different sides of FAIRNESS and TEAMWORK.  I took them old school on the second one! Unfortunately, I can't embed the actual Mighty Ducks clip I used because it was a DVD.  It was the part of Mighty Ducks where Coach Bombay tries to get Charlie to cheat, and he says he won't.

Finally, I gave the kids a written sheet I created for a work product. In teams, they colored in the Olympic rings and added hair and facial features to make it look like a person.  Then, they added the FAIRNESS strategies they had brainstormed earlier for recess, home, school, and sports teams inside the rings.  Each team completed one paper and  used teamwork strategies while working together. Once I'm done presenting the lesson to all my first grade classes I am going to make a bulletin board to share it with others.  Visit my Life on the Fly Store to get a copy of the PDF sheet emailed for free. Enjoy and Happy Counseling! ~ Angela