STEM: A New Horizon

At last week's volunteer seminar, we asked volunteers for their reactions to Read-Alouds on Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM).  Here are some of the things they had on their minds. 

• It will feel too much like school.
• Kids don't like science and math, so STEM topics won't hold the kids attention.
• How can math be made interesting?
• Is there any good fiction about math and science?
• Many STEM subjects are very complicated and the kids won't understand or will ask questions I can't answer.
• There's not enough time to do complex activities required for these themes. 
• The activities are often messy or require equipment I don't have.
• The kids at my site are too young to understand.
• The age range at my site is too wide to be able to talk about science or math.

During the seminar, we explored these topics.  By the end of the evening, most volunteers said their reservations had dissipated. When you think of science and math in the form of rockets, robots, baking and color, what's not to likke? So bring them to life at your Read-Alouds!

Here are some tips on how to have fun with STEM at a Read-Aloud.

• Pick aspects of STEM that are exciting. See the the list of ideas that the volunteers produced at the seminar.
• Adapt activities to the age of the kids at your site. Do more of the preparations beforehand if you are working with younger kids. Searching the internet and books like Bite-Sized Science will help you find manageable activities.
• Check out the Read-Aloud outlines posted last week for books and activities that work with kids as young as three- or four-years-old.
• Bring a reference book about your topic to help answer questions that are sure to come up. The kids will like the challenge of finding their own answers.
• Books by Greg Tang and Loreen Leedy for math and Steve Jenkins for science are a great place to start.
• Check out TRC's STEM Resource List for more websites and books to check out.
• A wealth of math books and activity supplies are available at TRC for you to use. Check out the complete Math Resource List here.

Good luck!  Let us know how your STEM endeavors turn out!!

To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

STEM Read-Alouds: Volunteer Seminar overview

What do Lincoln Logs, sun dials, rockets, grizzly bears, rainbows and oobleck have in common? TRC volunteers found out at a volunteer seminar all about incorporating STEM topics into weekly Read-Alouds.

For the record, STEM stands for science, technology, engineering and math. It is one of the hot topics in education circles these days, but TRC isn’t just being trendy by focusing on STEM. Here are good reasons for exploring science and math with books and activities:

First and foremost, it’s fun. Shooting rockets, making rainbows: that’s fun. TRC Read-Alouds are intended to help kids build positive experiences with books and reading. In many cases, we’re helping kids and families overcome anxieties or stereotypes about reading and readers just by having fun with books. What's more, STEM topics may appeal to kids who don’t get excited about more traditional Read-Aloud themes.

STEM-themed Read-Alouds can help kids overcome anxieties and stereotypes about math and science, too.  A kid may say she’s not good at math, but she does like baking. Baking is full of fractions, proportions, temperature and time. You start with a book about baking and the next thing you know, you are doing math, with a tasty result. When you put it that way, math is fun and delicious, not scary or boring. 

It’s not just fun and games, though. Science and math use many of the same skills as reading. In science, you predict, observe and evaluate. You make guesses, look for patterns and outcomes. Afterward, you circle back to evaluate. In math, you often make guesses and look for patterns. Reading involves the same process and skills. You also use your imagination and your background knowledge to predict what might happen in science, math and reading.

A great book can foster curiosity, imagination and creativity. These traits are essential for success in math and the sciences. A STEM-themed Read-Aloud isn’t about getting a certain predetermined result.  It’s about asking questions, exploration and reading great books. 

Check out these STEM-themed Read-Aloud outlines prepared by TRC staff. Books and activity materials were provided for the volunteers to use at the volunteer seminar. In each outline you'll find books, activities and conversation starters for your Read-Aloud.

Science:  States of Matter and Colors

Technology:  Rockets

Engineering:  Building Houses

Math:  Time and Measurement

Many of the books and materials listed on the outlines are available at the TRC office for volunteers to use at their Read-Alouds.

Next week's post will explore the great STEM Read-Aloud ideas generated by TRC volunteers and more resources for creating your own STEM-themed Read-Alouds.  

Get inspired. Try something new. Explore, wonder, imagine!  The kids will love it.



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Finding diversity and inspiration in STEM books

Astronaut Sandy Magnus talks with kids 
at Independence Place

One of the best benefits of reading is that the language in books guides us to imagine or create our own vision of the story. It's even better when a story inspires a vision of something we might not have seen or looked for on our own. Our vision may be quite different from the author's vision or from the vision of a movie director. We may even begin to see ourselves in the story. You all knew that, I'm sure, but I hope you'll also recognize that intersection of the story and the readers' / listeners' reactions is where we can use books to best influence and empower young people in the most constructive ways. A single book can spark an interest that could drive an entire career.

Social science research shows correlations between exposure to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math), career stereotypes and self-perception, particularly concerning sex, gender, socioeconomic status and race.  As a community, a nation, and as humans, we benefit from diverse thinkers and diverse examples of everything we do and have. This is why I hope you’ll help expose children to books describing a wide variety of STEM professionals: young field researchers, technicians, computer programmers, nurses, accountants, crime scene investigators, architects, mechanics, marine biologists, electrical engineers, civil engineers, construction managers, entrepreneurs, environmental scientists, vulcanologists, health inspectors, IT specialists and astrophysicists.

Where should you look for great STEM books? Many of you may already be familiar with the Children’s Book Council. They have a great Children’s Choices Reading List assembled in cooperation with the International Reading Association.  But, for almost 40 years, experienced science teachers of the National Science Teachers' Association (headquartered right here in the Courthouse neighborhood of Arlington) have worked with the Children’s Book Council to identify great books, selected based on the books’ accuracy, creativity, how they convey the practices of science and how they engage readers. These lists are called the Outstanding Science Trade Books for Students K–12, and the lists from the last 15 years are published online at www.nsta.org/publications/ostb/.  

The books vary from exploratory to career inspiring, from poetry to visual art, and from narrowed focus to integration with history and culture. The lists are very comprehensive, so narrow things down by looking for books in the age range of the children at your Read-Alouds and about topics that interest you. Browse these lists, and look for books that especially spark your own curiosity. When you read one aloud, your audience will hear your enthusiasm and may be inspired, too. If you're looking for books describing a specific STEM career, I'll be glad to help.

Guest blog post by Jim Egenrieder - Jim[at]STEMeducation.us



To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.

Getting kids to think outside of the box

A recent conversation with TRC board member Jim Egenrieder got me thinking about how TRC includes books about science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) in our programs.  Jim is, among other things, a STEM education specialist for Arlington County Public Schools in Virginia. He helped me realize that I’d been too limited in the way I thought about the relationship between STEM education and books.

Exploring the states of matter

At TRC, we’re all about creating regular and passionate readers.  That means giving kids the books they want to read.  In many cases, that means nonfiction.  Kids love exploring the whys and hows of the world, and we’re happy to supply them with lots of nonfiction books at Read-Alouds, and in the mail through our Book Club.  We even provide explanations of how certain Book Club books build math and science skills in addition to reading skills in the tips we send out with packages.  We plan special Read-Alouds about math and science, sometimes with special guests, and feature exciting books all about these topics.

During my visit with Jim, he defined what STEM means and then we talked about ways books can foster that kind of learning. 

• Science is answering questions with observation and isolating variables.
• Technology is any purposeful modification of the natural world.
• Engineering is solving problems using a design process.  And,
• Math is the relationship between things real or imagined, based on logic and often quantified with numbers.

His explanation of the goals of STEM education made me realize that books not only can teach math and science vocabulary and concepts, they also do much more.

At the very core of STEM learning and proficiency are curiosity and imagination.  A sense of wonder and possibility lead to exploration.  Imagination and creativity are essential for problem solving.  And most relevant to our Read-Aloud, kids love stories about exploring mysterious things and solving problems.

When we share books with kids that spark their imaginations and encourage them to think creatively, we help create the future Marie Curies, Albert Einsteins, Charles Drews and Bill Gates of our world.  I’m talking about picture books like King Bidgood’s in the Bathtub or novels like Harry Potter, The Phantom Tollbooth, The Mysterious Benedict Society or The Calder Game.  All of these books feature kids solving problems in a creative way.

Or books like It Looked Like Spilt Milk and (the sadly out-of-print) Bored--Nothing to Do!, Press Here, Not a Box or books David Wiesner and Chris Van Allsburg.  These books challenge a child to look at the world with in a different way and to apply their own imagination to the stories. 

Here's a new TRC favorite: Not a Box!

Encouraging kids to use their imaginations and think creatively builds the skills our kids need.  The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind by William Kamkwamba and Bryan Mealer tells the story of just such a boy, who imagined a solution to his community’s drought and built a windmill out of parts he finds in a junkyard.  Yes, it fits Jim’s definition of engineering and maybe even technology, but at the heart of the story are William’s curiosity and creativity.

At TRC, we’ll continue to provide books about fact and fiction for the kids we serve, to build their passion for reading and their imaginations.  And here at the TRC Training Hub, we’ll also include posts every few months exploring the relationship between STEM education and reading.  In the meantime, read a book that gets you to think outside the box!


To receive credit for this online training, please fill out the form here.