Are you ready for some football? Super Bowl Sunday is just around the corner, so why not use a real world event to get your students excited about learning! 😀 That doesn’t mean just add a football on a math worksheet, it’s about connecting our essential standards to these real world events.
Here are some fun ways to add football into your elementary or middle school classroom!
Football STEM activities: Students can create football fields and test their skill at flipping a paper football through the field goal.
Football Math: The Pro Hall of Fame has an incredible website with some great math problems for upper elementary and middle school students. Great math word problems with conversions from feet to yards, and inches.
Football Books and Vocabulary: I made a list of vocabulary words I wanted my students to understand during this unit and the definitions with them. Students will work in teams to match the word with the definition.
Football Decorations: I love a football room transformation! It can be costly, but the great thing is that the Super Bowl happens every year and your purchases can be reused! So start small and add to you Super Bowl tub each year. I had a great Homeroom mom that had the turf squares and the football balloons. Many times football moms have had banquets, birthday parties, or thrown showers for friends using the football theme. So just ask! Here is my football Amazon list!
Famous Football Quotes: I love using quotes to put up all over my classroom. This link has several great quotes for kids.
Have fun teaching and make learning fun! Engagement is key!!!
When your team says you aren’t switching gifts, but they still get you a Christmas present. Happy New Year gifts!!! I love these Sharpies! My new favorites https://amzn.to/3YVuJkB So fun and bright! Download your free tag!
As back-to-school preparations are amping up amongst teachers, I wanted to share one of my favorite ways to start a new day with my students- STEM soft starts!
Soft starts in general are a way for students to come in and get mentally ready for the day. STEM is the perfect way to do this. It naturally gets students thinking critically and creatively which puts them in the right mindset to get the day off to a great start. Having STEM soft starts ready to go will have your students designing, creating, engineering, predicting, comparing, building, & reflecting on their challenges.
You can set up STEM soft start stations using supplies you have in the classroom. This can be Legos,pipe cleaners, popsicle sticks, magnets, cards, etc.
The STEM School Box Challenges is a packet of 12 STEM Challenges that will fit into a school box which makes them perfect for STEM Soft Starts or when students arrive at school early. This packet contains Challenge Label, Inside the Box Student’s Directions, a Teacher’s Page with the directions and materials, and Student STEM Journal.
These activities can also be used for STEAM Activities, Maker Spaces, Tinkering Labs, or After School Clubs. Your students will love designing, creating, engineering, predicting, comparing, building, & reflecting on their challenges!
Do you have a STEM Makerspace set up in your classroom or school?
STEM is a great way to get students working on multiple subjects at one time. It combines science, technology, engineering, and mathematics into one and usually takes the form of an educational challenge for students to work through. Sounds fun, right?
To optimize time working on STEM in the classroom, I like to have a designated area, or Makerspace, that we can use again and again.
What is a Makerspace?
Makerspaces, also called Tinkering Labs, Learning Labs, or even STEM Labs, are essentially dedicated spaces for hands-on STEM learning. These spaces are great for allowing students to use their creativity to explore and learn different STEM concepts.
What makes a good Makerspace?
There are so many things you could include in your STEM Makerspace, the sky really is the limit here! Here are some of my favorite supplies to have on hand for the perfect STEM Lab or Makerspace.
I hope these ideas help you get the perfect STEM Lab set up for your students. What are your favorite items to have in your Makerspace? Let me know in the comments! For some fun STEM activity ideas, check out some of my favorites here!
Have you read any great books with your students lately? If you know me, you know that I absolutely love all things STEM and books! In fact, I have created multiple resources that connect these two passions of mine that you can check out here.
Today, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite STEM books. These books are the perfect pair to a STEM activity because they will get students thinking critically and problem-solving. They are great for upper elementary to middle school students.
Check out these STEM books to find your next favorite!
f you read Because of the Rabbit by Cynthia Lord this is the resource for you! Because of the Rabbit STEM Challenge and Literature Resources is a packet of literacy activities that pair perfectly with this engaging book.
Love Shouting At the Rain by Lynda Mullaly Hunt? This is the resource for you! Shouting At the Rain STEM Challenge and Literature Resources is a packet of literacy activities that will get your students engaged in STEM and reading.
If you read The Friendship War by Andrew Clements you’ll love this STEM activity! The Friendship War STEM Challenge and Flipbook is a packet of literacy activities that your students will love and be engaged in while reading the novel.
Summer is here and it’s time for relaxing in the sun with the smell of sunscreen in the air. But that doesn’t mean that the learning has to stop! Just make it extra fun. How do you do that? STEM!
STEM stands for Science Technology, Engineering, and Math. It’s my favorite subject because it incorporates all of these subjects plus reading, researching, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, and even some history, all at once. What’s not to love?
Summer STEM activities are the perfect way to get students engaged in learning during those hot and sunny days because it allows them to have a lot of open-ended exploration while learning. If you’re looking for some summer STEM challenge ideas, you’re in the right place.
What is a STEM challenge for kids?
An example of simple STEM activities for kids would be something where students are given an educational problem to solve and they need to come up with a solution to solve it or they need to build something. It’s so amazing to see their creativity flourish as they all put their own unique spin on the answer!
What are some STEM challenges?
Ready to get started with some amazing summer STEM activities for elementary students? I have you covered! Here are some of my absolute favorite STEM challenges for kids that are perfect for fun summer learning. Each of these activities is a unique, hands-on experience that will take students through the STEM process as they work to complete the challenge.
This is a packet of experiments your students will love! Flying and creating paper airplanes is a fun activity that will engage your students as they collect data and use measurement skills. Includes Google Slides for remote learners.
A great literature connection is added as students research the history of airplanes and the Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, and Bessie Coleman.
Also, these activities can also be used for STEAM Activities, STEM Fun Fridays, Maker Spaces, Tinkering Labs, Summer Programs, or After School Clubs.
This resource includes three activities that your students will love while exploring the theme of camping. Students will design and construct boats, tents, and fishing poles. These challenges will engage your students as they design, engineer, and test their creations. Students will go through the Engineering Process as they build and test their creations using various materials to construct them.
Your students will love designing, creating, and engineering. They will problem solve and think critically as they complete their challenges.
Tip: It is important to keep the challenges open-ended so students will start thinking about other challenges or tests they would like to perform.
STEM Jumping Frog Challenge is a fun STEM activity that your students will love as they create origami frogs to test their jumping abilities. Students will problem solve and think critically as they complete their challenges.
Your students will love going through the design process as they cover the Next Generation Science 3-5-ETS1-1 &
You’ll love how excited students get when testing their frogs and testing how far their frogs will jump! Students can use paper folding instructions to construct their frogs.
I hope you have lots of fun this summer with these STEM challenges! If you want more summer STEM fun, check out my post here!
