Chapter books!! My first love!! There is just something about diving into a new chapter book that is so wonderful. But, something that is even better than just reading is finding an awesome classroom activity that will engage students while reading the book!
In my experience, doing activities that go along with the book you are reading as a class helps get your students thinking more deeply about the plot and characters. ELA activities are the most commonly used when it comes to books, but I love to think outside the box and tie it in with more subjects to really enhance the learning experience and engagement!
If you know me, you know coming up with awesome STEM activities that encourage problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity is one of my favorite things to do. I love thinking of STEM activities that will be applicable to the topics we are covering in the book and will require them to really think deeply about the story.
Here are some of the great chapter books I have made STEM activities for:
Wonder by R.J Palacio: Build a pyramid, sled, make music and more related to this fantastic story.
The Wild Robot by Peter Brown: Make a robot, build a lodge, and more engaging activities that go along with this book.
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: Use design and engineering skills by creating a Tesseract like in the story.
Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt: Friendship bracelets, code cracking, and color wheel activities are all included with this resource.
How To Steal A Dog by Barbara O’Connor: Delve deeper into this book with a May Basket STEM challenge, lap book, and other resources that can be used in a reading journal.
If you’re interested in using some of my resources, you can get all of these activities plus 15 more in my STEM Activities Literature Bundle.
Your students will love these novels and the STEM activities will take them to the next level. They will give your students a chance to go through the design process as they cover the Next Generation Science 3-5-ETS1-1 & 2.
Do you connect STEM activities with books? Let me know your favorites in the comments!
For more creative ways to connect STEM activities with other subjects, check out my post here about connecting STEM with geography!
