My students need early finishing activities to keep their minds and hands busy. STEM boxes will be a great option for my highly motivated, curious learners.
I teach twenty-six eager, enthusiastic, and inquisitive second graders! Learning is an exciting adventure in my very active classroom. I am trying to come up with lots of ideas and activities that will engage and inspire my students. Our school motto is "Every child, Everyday...Whatever it takes." It is my desire as a teacher to do whatever it takes create an environment for my students to be the best learners that they can be.
With your help my students will continue to be excited about learning!
My Project
STEM boxes will be a fantastic option for my eager students to explore after they finish their work early. STEM boxes are plastic school boxes filled with an engineering manipulative, such as Legos, pattern blocks, base ten blocks, unifix cubes, toothpicks and playdough, kinetic sand, Wikki Sticks, and popsicle sticks with velcro on the ends. The boxes will also contain small sets of task cards on metal rings that picture a variety of basic engineering structures. STEM Boxes will be placed on a shelf in the classroom where the students can easily access them. When students’ regular classwork is complete, they can take one STEM box at a time, either to their seat or a more quiet carpet area so as not to distract other students who are working, and get a quiet moment to engineer. They will use the materials in the box to construct as many different structures on the cards as they can. And instead of being just “busy” with another worksheet or book, students will be engaged in creative, complex tasks and are encouraged to think like inventors. My kinesthetic learners, spatial learners, and logical learners will love exploring the different possibilities for the building materials as they try to construct more challenging structures.
More than a third of students from low‑income households
Data about students' economic need comes from the National Center for Education Statistics, via our partners at MDR Education. Learn more
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