Weekly chat for excited 1st grade teachers who love to learn and share ideas. Participants are interested in a variety of topics including literacy, math, technology, play, inquiry, and being the best educators they can be!
Hello #1stchat! Thanks for joining us tonight! We are going to be talking about #STEM. Please start by introducing yourself and tell where you are from. I'm Michelle from Wisconsin. Excited to moderate tonight! Please follow me if you aren't already!
A1: Our tech coaches have things and will help us plan ideas, but it's up to the teacher, I try to bring engineering and designing into my lessons #1stchat
A1 I love doing STEM challenges in my classroom. I am starting to integrate STEM stations during our guided reading time to tie STEM with literacy. #1stchat
A1: my district has STEAM Ts that visit our classrooms ever other week for 90 minutes. This gives us release time for PLC. Also, we have mystery science this year. #1stchat
A1: In Massachusetts where I am from we only started introducing STEM to students in 6th grade. All middle schoolers have to take a STEM class every year as an 8th grade graduation requirement. #1stchat
A1. My school is very proactive regarding STEAM. We have a technology lab and teacher who provides that instruction for our students. We also have science instructors who integrate it well. I’m still struggling to find ways to integrate it in my own room. @jennyktechin#1stchat
A1: I am currently observing a first-grade classroom in NC. I have not seen a lot of science incorporated into their daily schedule but the teacher just started discussing the weather with her students. #1stchat
Right now kids are investigating tops & writing about their findings & wonders. They are also making things with Legos and blocks & writing about their creations. #1stchat
Yes, integrating things like the weather is a great way to add science to the day. We are talking about sun patterns and discuss what they are noticing outside all the time. #1stchat
A2. STEM is very important for our students. It’s a part of our everyday lives. Our students need to learn problem solving skills to succeed and be prepared for the future. #1stchat
A2: I think STEM should be incorporated because of the thinking and processing that comes through. It covers so much of our standards, and students are so engaged. It creates more thoughtful problem solvers too. #1stchat
A2: STEM is so relevant to them, real world, problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration,communication, allows for integration with other subjects. #1stchat
Often times I give material & criteria to create something. Ex. Fire truck... they can build or draw. Ex2. Read Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. They had to create a paper purse that held certain things. #1stchat
A3: Right now, we are learning about our place in the universe w sun/moon/Earth patterns. So great for relating to their world, love getting them outside to see these patterns, talk to others around the world about the differences in time, day/night, seasons. #1stchat
A2: I totally agree! The world we live in is surrounded by technology and collaborating with others! My students are motivated by technology and love that they can use some of the same apps and strategies at home too 😀 #1stchat#moravianar
A3: When we learn about economics, Ss engineer products that they sell to family members, need to create commercials, etc. You can get lots of subject areas in this one #1stchat
That's one of my fav things is that we can connect to others all over. I'm not an expert on space or ?, but we can connect with NASA or authors, etc. with techn #1stchat
A3 I love making rainbows when we are learning about light. The Ss are amazed that the colors are really there. I also love using a tuning fork to teach vibrations and sound. I place the fork on a Ss chin and they can feel and hear at the same time. #1stchat
A3: I usually do some paper worksheet type things to teach about Earth's rotation, but tomorrow, I'm going to use the Engineering Design Process to have Ss create an Earth and Sun project to show how the Earth moves. #1stchat
A3 I love integrating coding with content area. We will be learning about sun moon and stars. Can't wait to code patterns in nature using @ScratchJr#1stchat
A3: One of my favorite STEM activities I observed was last year when my teacher brought in live caterpillars and had each student observe them until they turned into butterflies #1stchat
I'm partnering them up with someone, 1 person will make the Earth and the other the sun (so they have to think about size a bit), they will create these 2 things & use them to model the movement. #1stchat
A4: My school does have a school Makerspace, but I have also created a small corner of my room to be our class MS. It stores all our supplies and allows for 2-3 Ss to work on something at a time #1stchat
A4 We have a makerspace in our school. I don't really use the space since I want engineering process to be part of what we learn in my classroom. In my classroom, my students love Legos & drawing. Hoping a green screening studio will take off! #1stchat
A3: One of my favorite STEM activites is tracking the weather each day and recording it on a calendar. This is a great visual tool for students to learn about weather patterns in different places. I look forward to incorporating the weather into my future classroom. #1stchat
I get it! Many times these projects take up so much space. Storing while working on them and then finding a place to show them off have been challenges at times. #1stchat
A3: One of my favorite STEM activites is tracking the weather each day and recording it on a calendar. This is a great visual tool for students to learn about weather patterns in different places. I look forward to incorporating the weather into my future classroom. #1stchat
Hi #1stchat! I’m late to the chat and just following along for inspiration. I’m a picture book author and love to hear how Ts and Ss engage with #STEM in the classroom. So many great ideas here.
If you are familiar with @Flipgrid,think about how cool it would be to partner up with some other classes around the world to share out what your weather is. #1stchat Real world learning!
A3 I love giving students tons of random materials and challenging them to make structures to withstand wind or rain. They always amaze me with their creations. I love to then get them writing about them. #1stchat
A5 It has to be planned for. It just doesn’t happen. We just shifted our Sci curriculum, so it is going to take me some more time to figure out. #1stchat
A5 This is exactly why I want to integrate STEM into literacy stations. STEM is more relevant & real life to the students. They are more motivated write & share about their interests. Win win! #1stchat
Thanks for the welcome! My latest is MAGNOLIA MUDD AND THE SUPER JUMPTASTIC LAUNCHER DELUXE - full of wild inventions and permission to make mistakes. Coming in March 2019 I have BE A MAKER - about the many things we make in a day. #1stchat
A5: After my students come and complete their morning routine, I have morning tubs. Each group has a different tub of legos, blocks, shapes, etc. I am always looking for new ideas to put into my tubs #1stchat#moravianar
A5. That’s been my challenge. Teaching first grade requires a lot of pencil and paper activities. Incorporating STEM has been very challenging for me. #1stchat
We are on a paper crunch, so I have been trying to think of alternative ways to have my Ss do things that I use to do on paper. I use @seesaw and have been creating activities for them to do or having them explain their thinking with video/pictures. #1stchat
A5. That’s been my challenge. Teaching first grade requires a lot of pencil and paper activities. Incorporating STEM has been very challenging for me. #1stchat
Love this bin idea. So much more interactive and engaging than a morning worksheet! Have you thought about bins with wiki sticks, paper clips and magnets, yarn and felt. So many fun ways to make! #1stchat
A5: The students in the class I am currently observing made Thunder Cake after reading the book "Thunder Cake" by Patricia Polacco. This was a great way to incorporate STEM through their class reading. #1stchat
A5: My teacher showed her students a live weather forecast and explained what the news reporter was saying and pointing to in the video then read them a book about the weather. Next the students wrote a script for the weather forecast they would record later in the week. #1stchat
A6: I love to do Wonder Projects (Genius Hour) with my Ss. This helps them take the lead in what they are curious about and teaches all Ss about lots of STEM topics #1stchat
A6 Model how to wonder, practice how to wonder, emerge students in a STEM rich environment & ask what they wonder:) Show excitement when they wonder. Celebrate when they wonder! LOL #1stchat
My students love bins! It gives them an opportunity to unwind and collaborate with others. I do not have any of those materials. So simple and I am sure they would love them! Thanks for the ideas 😀 I'm going to order some wiki sticks on Amazon! #1stchat
A6: I also have a Wonder Wall where we write our wonderings so we can go back to finding the answers to them. Right now my Ss have some great questions about space! #1stchat
If you teach Grades PreK-2 and are ready to get started with Seesaw, join us for this hands-on session. We will explore the creative tools within Seesaw, and you will experience Seesaw from the student perspective! https://t.co/IBFkdxi2rD#prekchat#1stchat#kinderchat#2ndchat
A6: One of my teachers had all her students write down a science topic they are interested in learning about and every week she picks one of the topics from a bowl and does an activity with the class based on that topic. The students loved it! #1stchat
A6: A great way for students to express their wonderings about STEM is for them to pick a topic they are interested in. When students are interested in a topic they are more likely to participate and share the information they already know about a certain topic. #1stchat
This was a great chat to participate in. It was good to hear everyone's ideas and the tools you use in your classrooms. I am excited to incorporate many of these ideas into my future classroom. STEM is so important to teach at a young age! #1stchat
