Reflective Post 5: STEM in the Primary Classroom

Hi everyone!

I'm back with another post for my technology grad class!

This year, I have tried to incorporate more science and technology into my classroom instruction.
My students have completed a few STEM Challenges, one of which can be seen here.

My students also have a 45 minute STEM time every Friday afternoon.
Some of the activities they use during this time include (links included in each bio):

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When using the building materials (mag blocks, regular blocks, magz, brainflakes, etc), I have a few different options for them:
The students started the year by exploring with the materials and creating their own designs.
Some of these I took pictures of for students to try to recreate later.
I also found some sample pictures online of things they can create. 

I recently had a few Donors Choose projects funded that will be great additions to our STEM time:
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Do you use Bee Bots, Botley, or Ozobots in your classroom?
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I'd love to hear your ideas for using them in the comments below!

2 comments

  1. Thank you for sharing each of these resources! I am making a list of new tools to try. This did make me wonder about the cost of STEM in our classrooms. I can imagine making some of these kits with left over materials (like paper towel rolls and old legos), but some (especially the coding ones) you would need the hardware and software. Before Donors Choose, how did you go about funding these projects in your classroom?

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    Replies
    1. For some of the items I have hit up garage sales or friends that are looking to get rid of toys/furniture their kids don’t use anymore (legos, blocks, small tables, etc). Before Donor’s Choose it was a very slow process to get new materials. My school has a budget for each classroom, so occasionally I could get items using my classroom money. I am also an Oriental Trading brand rep, so in the past I have received items for free (Mindware blocks & games) for providing a review. Other than that, I wait to find items that are on lightning deals on Amazon and buy things myself. If I do that, I make sure that they are labeled with my name so that they go with me if I ever leave.

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