Literacy and STEM with Simple STEM Stories

STEM and literacy go hand in hand and are easier to use together than you may think. Whether you are a classroom teacher looking for ways to incorporate STEM learning into your lesson plans, or a STEM teacher looking for ways to do some cross-curricular activities in your classroom, STEM literacy activities are the perfect way to meld STEM and literacy in engaging ways! I am really excited to introduce you to my Simple STEM Stories activities and share examples of how I use some really cute and engaging books as themes for hands-on STEM activities in my classroom.

What Are Simple STEM Stories?

Simple STEM Stories are hands-on STEM activities that align with a specific book. It’s a fantastic way to combine literacy with STEM learning. These activities are great to use with a whole group or as part of a center activity. These themed activities are a great way to encourage students to hypothesize and reflect on their challenges in thoughtful ways.

As a classroom teacher, you can use Simple STEM Stories as part of a book study in your classroom. Incorporate your typical reading skills and strategies throughout the week. Then wrap it all up with a STEM activity on Friday.

As a STEM teacher, you can do the book read-aloud and activity in your classroom too! Don’t have time for the read-aloud? Talk with the classroom teacher or school librarian to see if they can help out. Your students will love connecting a read-aloud from class to a STEM activity during enrichment

Step 1: Choose a Book

There are so many amazing children’s books available. They not only teach valuable life lessons but also go perfectly with STEM activities! I am so excited to be able to use some of my favorite children’s books with STEM activities in these Simple STEM Stories. And, when you have STEM activities that align with the seasons and holidays throughout the school year, you can be sure to have fun and engaging activities your students will love all year long!

Simple STEM Story for The Recess Queen

The book The Recess Queen by Alexis O’Neill teaches students about healthy ways to handle bullies.

The book is perfect for STEM challenges because of the setting of the story. Every kid loves the playground!

Why not have them complete a challenge to design a new piece of playground equipment?

Your students will love getting to design something for the playground. You are going to be amazed at the creativity that your students show.

Simple STEM Story for The Pigeon Has to go to School

The Pigeon Has To Go To School by Mo Willems is a wonderful back-to-school book and a great book for a STEM challenge.

This book helps students overcome their fear of going to school. After reading this book, challenge students to create a mode of transportation for Pigeon.

But to get them thinking outside the box of the school bus, this resource includes real-life pictures of different types of school transportation from around the world.

Once your students see that the big yellow bus is not used everywhere, they will be ready to start designing. The STEM activity for this story challenges students to think about different types of transportation and create a way to get that silly pigeon to school.

These books, perfect for the first weeks of the school year, are the start of the Simple STEM Stories line with challenges for the entire school year. The fun doesn’t stop after the back to school season. Simple STEM Stories includes a full year of literacy based STEM projects that your students will love!

Some of the other books in the Simple STEM Stories Bundle are Mama Built a Little Nest by Jennifer Ward, A Rainbow of My Own by Don Freeman, and Spookly the Square Pumpkin by Joe Troiano.

Picking your book is just the first step!

Step 2: The Engineering Design Process

Simple STEM Stories activities, like the Roaring Rockets challenge, asks students to use the engineering design process. The engineering design process helps students work through the process of creating a prototype based on a question or challenge relating to the book Rocket Girl by Didi Dragon.

The design process is so amazing because students have the opportunity to work through the design process, test, and modify their creations. It’s a great way to teach our students that failure is part of the process.

This design process is something students will use all year long! So there’s no better time to introduce them to the engineering design process. The more students practice these steps the easier they will become.

My students have become so familiar with working through the engineering design process, that they automatically know they will have to improve and make changes to their prototypes throughout the course of a project.

Step 3: Making Connections

The book Love Monster and the Last Chocolate by Rachel Bright is the perfect way to kick off a Valentine’s Day simple STEM story activity.

I love sitting my classes down on the floor to read this super cute story about sharing. Even my older students love to be read to.

After reading, we take some time to talk about the lesson the Love Monster learned. Then, take a minute or two to share about a time we had to make a difficult decision.

When students can connect their learning to real-world situations, you will find them more eager to learn. There’s something about taking academic practice and connecting it to real life that makes students engage at a different level. It’s also a great way for students to see why school and what they are learning are so useful in life.

Next, it’s time for the challenge. Your students will design and create a chocolate box that the Love Monster could use to hold the chocolates. It’s the perfect way to wrap up this literacy and STEM activity!

Step 4: Celebrate Success

If you have ever had your students complete a STEM challenge, you know success looks a little different. I love watching my students fill with pride as they work through a STEM challenge. There is a real sense of ownership that is hard to replicate with other activities.

When they trust the process, students will soon realize that the measurement of success isn’t all about the finished product. It’s more about the process of getting there and what they learned along the way.

By using stickers and certificates, I can reward my students for all of their hard work. This is also a great way to get kids to talk about the process of working through a STEM challenge! They love showing off their stickers and certificates to their families.

Literacy and STEM Activities for the Win!

This Simple STEM Stories Growing Bundle is the perfect way to integrate literacy and STEM into your lesson plans all year long. The best part is… once you purchase the Simple STEM Stories Growing Bundle, any additional STEM stories added will be FREE to you! In no time you will have a year of fun and engaging literacy based STEM projects for your classroom.

Grab them now to get the very best deal!

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