Tuesday, November 26, 2013

The Mitten

Where can I find this book? Wegivebooks.com (account needed, but free)  Book level? AR 3.9, 800L

Summary:
Nicki's grandmother knits her a beautiful pair of snow white mittens. When walking through the woods, she loses one in the snow. This mitten is discovered by countless woodland animals as they attempt to squeeze into the warm mitten. Until an animal sneezes, and they are all thrown out in the snow.

STEM Challenges:
- engineer a way to keep Nicki from losing her mitten
- build a mitten that can hold plastic animals without ripping
- build a mitten that is "snow proof"
- math challenge: give graph paper in the shape of a mitten, animals have to take up a certain area, how many animals could fit,  assign a value to each animal, etc.
- give them a certain amount of string and they need to figure out how to make it so it will cover a hand

What materials could be used?
 - recyclables, craft, clay
- string or yarn
- various fabrics/papers
- graph paper

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- Snowy Day
- bring in a variety of mittens
- animal books or videos for size comparison

Standards/Skills:
- area
- properties of materials
- weather/water cycle

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-5

Turkey Trouble

Where can I find this book?  (Ms. Czerney has it) Book level? Kindergarten

Summary:
It is almost Thanksgiving and turkey is getting worried. Instead of waiting to become dinner, the turkey decides to disguise himself as the other animals because surely Farmer Jake won't eat any of them for Thanksgiving. Then by the end of the book, he is hiding in the garden and gets an idea. He disguises himself as a pizza delivery man!

STEM Challenges:
- disguise the turkey as another animal
- disguise the turkey as another animal, need to have at least one part of their disguise pop off the page
- hide the turkey through camouflage
- dress the turkey up in a costume
- have them engineer how to create a turkey and hide it around the school. writing: give directions as to how to find it or clues where it is for students to follow

What materials could be used?
- 2D on paper color and disguise the turkey
- craft materials to make a turkey and hide it
- 3D recycling/building materials to make a turkey and disguise

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- animal nonfiction texts on grade level to help students improve

Standards/Skills:
- 2D and 3D objects
- animal knowledge/adaptations
- counting: give requirements or make math problems

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-2

Friday, November 8, 2013

Perfect Square

Where can I find this book? STEM Lab  Book level? ATOS 2.2, Lexile AD470L

Summary:
Narrated from the perspective of a square, this square is perfect. Each day a different thing happens to the square and it changes itself into something new. This shows creativity and imagination as to what a square can become.

STEM Challenges:
- have students take a square and cut it into pieces, then arrange them into a new picture
Variations/Additions; have them trade pieces so that they have all different colors. Allow them to only cut X amount of times. They need to make it into certain pieces. Could use tangrams. Have them crumble or hole punch, or only rip. Give them additional constraints, they must make a building, or animal, or plant, or pieces have to show a verb, then have them write about it. Use technology to take pictures of their creations and allow them to make multiple masterpieces. Bring all the pieces together to make a mosaic.
Have them measure the square and find its area, perimeter, discuss squared numbers. Look at arrays. View squares in real life and discuss the shape itself.

What materials could be used?
- paper
- ipod
- scissors/markers/glue/tape
- rulers

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:

Standards/Skills:
- area/perimeter
- square numbers
- arrays
- directions
- imagination

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-5

Fish is Fish

Where can I find this book? Fish is Fish  Book level? ATOS 3.7

Summary:
A young fish and young tadpole are friends, but then the frog grows up and is able to leave the pond. The frog sees all these things, that the fish has never seen. The fish imagines these to have fish bodies and adds the information from frog. He uses his schema to come up with a picture of these items. One day fish tries to leave the pond and is gasping for breath on the shore. Frog saves him by pushing him into the water, and fish decides that he lives in the most beautiful place.

STEM Challenges:
- students can design a way for fish to be able to experience being on land
- students can create their own animal with adaptations that can live on land, in water, in the desert, in the cold, etc.
- students can imagine certain objects that are described by a partner
- blind build and the importance of details

What materials could be used?


Other books/resources to supplement lesson:


Standards/Skills:
- adaptations
- compare/contrast
- details
- ecosystems
- animals
- directions
- wants/needs

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-2

the dot

Where can I find this book? TumbleBooks  Book level? ATOS 1.9

Summary:
Vashti is a little girl who claims she cannot draw. Her teacher empowers her to just try! She of course does not show any effort, and puts a dot on her page, the teacher asks her to sign it. The next day it is framed in the classroom, and Vashti is determined to make a better dot than her first. She continuously improves and creates a whole collection of dots. Then another students comes to her and complements her work, he claims he cannot draw. Vashti has him draw a line, and then... sign it.

STEM Challenges:
- taking something small or a mistake and making it into something new
- have students draw a doodle or design on a page, then switch with a classmate to add to it, then maybe switch again
- have a student start drawing a picture, then have them trade with someone else to finish it
- student 1 can only draw line segments, student 2 can only draw using 2D shapes, student 3 can only add color
- partner a lower grade with an upper grade. Have younger students do marble painting, or using only straight lines, then the upper grade students must create it into a picture
- do small challenges where 1 student draws a design and the other must make it into a picture
NO ERASING!

What materials could be used?
- paper
- pens/markers/crayons
- water colors/paint
- iPod whiteboard apps

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- Beautiful Oops (STEM Lab)

Standards/Skills:
- color theory (water colors)
- perseverance
- improving
- finding strengths
- lines and shapes

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-5

Not a Box

Where can I find this book? STEM Lab  Book level? ____________

Summary:
In this story, the narrator, a bunny, is adamant that the box he has is so much more than just a box. He is continuously asked what he is doing in/with/on a box, but it is NOT a box. He uses his imagination to make it into something more!

STEM Challenges:
- change a box into something else
- use an index card/square/rectangle to make it into something different
- create a cardboard arcade

What materials could be used?
- boxes
- paper/cardboard/notecard

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- Roxaboxen
- Caine's Arcade

Standards/Skills:
- discuss squares and rectangles
- discuss 3D and 2D shapes
- could have them create the box into something with a science or social studies concept
- arrays
- area and perimeter

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-5

A Balloon for Isabel

Where can I find this book? Kindergarten  Book level? ATOS 2.8

Summary:
Isabel is a porcupine who is about to graduate from Kindergarten, and at graduation all the students get balloons. Well, except for the porcupines. They get bookmarks, and Isabel is sick of getting bookmarks. She and her friend Walter, who is also a porcupine, beg and plead to get a balloon, but when their teacher Mrs. Quill continues to say no, they come up with a plan. Isabel tries a box, pillows, and bubble wrap, but nothing works until she puts gumballs on her quills.

STEM Challenges:
- create a way for Isabel to cover/protect a balloon from being popped on her quills
- create a porcupine

What materials could be used?
- candy
- cotton balls
- tape
- cardboard
- string
- pipe cleaners
- clay/playdough
- balloons for testing

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- build background about porcupines with Teddy and a baby porcupine
- How to Hug a Porcupine (book)
- TB: Porcupining: A Prickly Love Story
- discuss or view balloons (what is inside, what do they do, observations)

Standards/Skills:
- problem solving
- collaboration
- speaking and listening

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-1

Thursday, November 7, 2013

The Curious Garden

Where can I find this book? The Curious Garden   Book level? ATOS 4.4

Summary:
A young boy wants to make his city a prettier place, so he begins by growing a single plant. He then adds more plants, and begins a beautification project for his city. The community gets involved to plant rooftop gardens and change their dreary city into a lively place.

STEM Challenges:
- plan a garden
- ways to better a community (take a drab place and improve it)
- design planters that would grow in a city
- design a self-sustaining garden


What materials could be used?
- crayons and paper
- seeds, soil, water, planter boxes
- Garden Planner 3 - online

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- DE: What's on the Roof?
- TarBeach
- Rocks-a-Boxen
- The Tiny Seed
- Michigan State University Children's Garden 
- MSU Virtual Garden

Standards/Skills:
- community
- plants/seeds
- ecosystems
- rejuvenation of a city
- city planning (architecture)
- parks
- one person making a difference

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-5

The Legend of Spookley the Square Pumpkin

Where can I find this book? Youtube narrated, Scholastic Book  
Book level? 6-10 years

Summary:
Spookley is a square pumpkin in a patch full of round ones. He is made fun of and feels left out. Then when a storm comes, the fence to the patch breaks and many pumpkins roll out of the patch and into the bay. Spookley saves the day by placing himself in front of the gap and keep the pumpkins in. The farmer realizes how special Spookley is and plants his seeds for years to come. Then he has a pumpkin patch of very unique pumpkins!

STEM Challenges:
- build their own fence to hold the pumpkins in during the storm
- design a creative pumpkin in different shapes, sizes, and colors/patterns
- build a stand so that the pumpkins don't roll
- create a way for Spookley to fit in
- plan a speech or letter for Spookley to write about being unique and standing up for yourself

What materials could be used?
- fence: straws, popsicle sticks, spaghetti, sticks, toothpicks, pipe cleaners, cardboard, clay, tape, glue, etc.
- unique pumpkins: paint, paper, construction paper, stickers

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:
- The Runaway Pumpkin
- How Big Could your Pumpkin Grow? (WGB)
- Scholastic: Pumpkins Pumpkins Everywhere
- DE: Farming and Agriculture Pumpkins (1:00)
- DE: Life Cycle of a Pumpkin (2:01)

Standards/Skills:


Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: K-2

Template

Where can I find this book? _____________________  Book level? ____________

Summary:

STEM Challenges:

What materials could be used?

Other books/resources to supplement lesson:

Standards/Skills:

Grade levels appropriate for this lesson: