STEM
STEM Classroom Activity Guide
BONUS ACTIVITES brought to you by
Engineering As children get older, they’ll begin to see a greater connection between engineering and mathematics. Start them off on that journey with this activity that introduces simple graphing and ranking skills. We recommend this activity for older children or groups that are comfortable with the original “Radical Ramps!” activity. For the original instructions, either refer to or download our original activity guide.
Materials
• Foam ramps from original “Radical Ramps!” activity • Objects to roll (example: crayon, block, wooden craft stick, pebble, acorn, etc.) • Tape • Chart paper • Markers • Stopwatch • T-Chart Reference Page
•
Optional Materials • Ruler • Poster board • Hot glue gun © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Radical Ramps! Part II Large Group/Circle Time Activity 1. Set up as if conducting original “Radical Ramps!” activity with the foam ramps and tape. 2. Select the objects you are going to roll before the activity begins. 3. Using the ruler, markers, and chart paper draw a modified T-Chart. Refer to the T-Chart reference page if necessary. Write the name of the objects you are going to test down the left hand column. Optional: Use poster board to set up your chart and use the hot glue gun to glue duplicate objects next to their name on the chart. 4. Explain to the class that you are going to pretend to be engineers, and you’re going to do some experiments together to discover which object rolls down the ramp the fastest. 5. Show them the objects you are going to roll and ask questions like, “What object do you think is going to be the fastest?” Ask them to explain their answer. Consider writing their prediction on the white board for later reference. 6. Children take turns dropping items down the ramp while you time the objects with the stopwatch. 7. Use the T-Chart reference page to keep track of the information. 8. After all the items have been rolled, have the group gather around your large T-Chart. 9. For each object ask, “Did it roll?” and mark the answer. Use your reference page to fill in the time for each object. 10. Once all the information has been filled in, explain that now it’s time to determine which object rolled the fastest. Use the times to write the rank down the right side of the chart. 11. See if the item they predicted was going to roll the fastest had the best time. If so, ask them again what they think made it perform the best. If it didn’t ask them what made the object that won have roll faster than the object they selected.
Mathematics
Take your “Five Little Rockets” poem to a whole new galaxy of learning! This four-part activity explores new vocabulary, numeral recognition, and word discrimination. These activities work best in a small group setting of about 4-8 children and we recommend spreading this activity out over several days. For the poem and rocket cards, either refer to or download our original activity guide.
Materials • • • • • •
“Five Little Rockets” poem (included in original eBook) Five (5) rocket cards (included in original eBook) Teacher vocabulary cards Student vocabulary cards Chart Paper Markers
Extension Idea
Tape the rocket cards to different corners of the room. Play a “Fruit Salad” type of game by asking children to go to the color of rocket that matches an article of their clothing. Once the children are comfortable going to the color of rocket, switch it up by only using the number of the rocket. Example: “If you have blue on your shirt, go to the blue rocket.” “If you have on green shoes, go to rocket three!” © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Five Little Rockets Stellar Vocabulary Activity Phase 1 1. Print out “Five Little Rockets” poem. Consider laminating the poem. 2. Read the poem while tracking the words with your finger. Try having a few of the children track the print with you as you read. 3. After the first reading, talk to the children about rhyming words. Point out specific pairs of rhyming words within the poem. 4. Select a rhyming word from the poem and write it at the top of a sheet of chart paper. We suggest using one of these words: flew, three, and fun. 5. Ask the children to think of all the rhyming words they can for that word and write them under the rhyming word. Activity Phase 2 1. Print, cut out, and laminate student vocabulary cards. 2. Distribute the cards to the group and tell them they’re going to play “I Spy.” 3. Ask a child to find their word in the poem. 4. Once they’ve located their word, ask the rest of the group to say the letters in the word. 5. After they have identified all the letters in the word, clap out the number of syllables in the word. 6. Repeat for all the cards! Activity Phase 3 1. Print and fold teacher vocabulary cards. 2. Lay the cards out on a table with the word facing up. Have the group sit around the table so they can see the cards and the poem sheet. 3. Read the poem once, tracking the text with your finger as you go. 4. Explain that this time as you read it through again, the group should be looking and listening for “golden words”: explore, zoom, crew, and discover. Whenever they hear a “golden word” they should say, “Stop!” 5. Once they say, “Stop!” ask the children to say the word with you. Pick up the teacher vocabulary card and share the definition on the back and use the discussion question to explore the word. 6. After all the “golden words” have been read, read the poem one more time and invite the children to say the “golden word” with you. Activity Phase 4 1. Print out and laminate the five rocket cards. 2. Ask the children to identify each numeral on the rocket cards. Ask them to place the cards in sequential order. 3. See how many parts of the rocket match the rocket’s number. Example: The fifth rocket has five windows, five legs, and five orbs on its antennae. 4. Ask the children which rocket they would like to ride in and why?
Test Items
Did it Roll? Yes No
“Radical Ramps” T-Chart Reference Page © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Time
Rank
Notes
explore FOLD
Explore is a word that can mean two different things! It can mean to look at something very carefully to learn more about it, or it can mean to travel to somewhere new. Optional Discussion Questions: 1. Look at this picture of a rocket. What do you see? What is the rocket going to explore? 2. Have you been exploring recently? Where did you go?
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #1
zoom FOLD
Zoom means that something is moving so fast that it makes a hum or a buzzing sound! Teacher Action: Make a zoom sound and ask the children to make their own zoom noises. Read the poem again and ask the children to make zoom noises when they hear the word. Suggested Discussion Question: 1. Zoom means to move very fast. What things do you know move fast? (Rocket, airplane, cars, etc.)
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #2
crew FOLD
When we use the word crew, we are describing something very specific. A crew is a group of people who work on a boat, an airplane, a spaceship or a train. Suggested Discussion Questions: 1. What kind of jobs do you think the robot crew does on the rocket? 2. Would you like to be in the robot crew on this spaceship? Why or why not? What jobs would you do? 3. There are many different types of crews. A crew on a ship are called sailors. Another name for a spaceship crew is astronauts. What is the name for the crew on an airplane? “Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #3
discover FOLD
When we discover something we visit, find, or learn something for the first time. Suggested Discussion Questions: 1. What will the robot crew discover during their space trip? What will they see? 2. In the poem, we discovered how to count backwards. Let’s count backwards now! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #4
zoom
crew
explore discover “Five Little Rockets” Student Vocabulary Cards © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
BONUS ACTIVITES brought to you by
Engineering As children get older, they’ll begin to see a greater connection between engineering and mathematics. Start them off on that journey with this activity that introduces simple graphing and ranking skills. We recommend this activity for older children or groups that are comfortable with the original “Radical Ramps!” activity. For the original instructions, either refer to or download our original activity guide.
Materials
• Foam ramps from original “Radical Ramps!” activity • Objects to roll (example: crayon, block, wooden craft stick, pebble, acorn, etc.) • Tape • Chart paper • Markers • Stopwatch • T-Chart Reference Page
•
Optional Materials • Ruler • Poster board • Hot glue gun © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Radical Ramps! Part II Large Group/Circle Time Activity 1. Set up as if conducting original “Radical Ramps!” activity with the foam ramps and tape. 2. Select the objects you are going to roll before the activity begins. 3. Using the ruler, markers, and chart paper draw a modified T-Chart. Refer to the T-Chart reference page if necessary. Write the name of the objects you are going to test down the left hand column. Optional: Use poster board to set up your chart and use the hot glue gun to glue duplicate objects next to their name on the chart. 4. Explain to the class that you are going to pretend to be engineers, and you’re going to do some experiments together to discover which object rolls down the ramp the fastest. 5. Show them the objects you are going to roll and ask questions like, “What object do you think is going to be the fastest?” Ask them to explain their answer. Consider writing their prediction on the white board for later reference. 6. Children take turns dropping items down the ramp while you time the objects with the stopwatch. 7. Use the T-Chart reference page to keep track of the information. 8. After all the items have been rolled, have the group gather around your large T-Chart. 9. For each object ask, “Did it roll?” and mark the answer. Use your reference page to fill in the time for each object. 10. Once all the information has been filled in, explain that now it’s time to determine which object rolled the fastest. Use the times to write the rank down the right side of the chart. 11. See if the item they predicted was going to roll the fastest had the best time. If so, ask them again what they think made it perform the best. If it didn’t ask them what made the object that won have roll faster than the object they selected.
Mathematics
Take your “Five Little Rockets” poem to a whole new galaxy of learning! This four-part activity explores new vocabulary, numeral recognition, and word discrimination. These activities work best in a small group setting of about 4-8 children and we recommend spreading this activity out over several days. For the poem and rocket cards, either refer to or download our original activity guide.
Materials • • • • • •
“Five Little Rockets” poem (included in original eBook) Five (5) rocket cards (included in original eBook) Teacher vocabulary cards Student vocabulary cards Chart Paper Markers
Extension Idea
Tape the rocket cards to different corners of the room. Play a “Fruit Salad” type of game by asking children to go to the color of rocket that matches an article of their clothing. Once the children are comfortable going to the color of rocket, switch it up by only using the number of the rocket. Example: “If you have blue on your shirt, go to the blue rocket.” “If you have on green shoes, go to rocket three!” © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Five Little Rockets Stellar Vocabulary Activity Phase 1 1. Print out “Five Little Rockets” poem. Consider laminating the poem. 2. Read the poem while tracking the words with your finger. Try having a few of the children track the print with you as you read. 3. After the first reading, talk to the children about rhyming words. Point out specific pairs of rhyming words within the poem. 4. Select a rhyming word from the poem and write it at the top of a sheet of chart paper. We suggest using one of these words: flew, three, and fun. 5. Ask the children to think of all the rhyming words they can for that word and write them under the rhyming word. Activity Phase 2 1. Print, cut out, and laminate student vocabulary cards. 2. Distribute the cards to the group and tell them they’re going to play “I Spy.” 3. Ask a child to find their word in the poem. 4. Once they’ve located their word, ask the rest of the group to say the letters in the word. 5. After they have identified all the letters in the word, clap out the number of syllables in the word. 6. Repeat for all the cards! Activity Phase 3 1. Print and fold teacher vocabulary cards. 2. Lay the cards out on a table with the word facing up. Have the group sit around the table so they can see the cards and the poem sheet. 3. Read the poem once, tracking the text with your finger as you go. 4. Explain that this time as you read it through again, the group should be looking and listening for “golden words”: explore, zoom, crew, and discover. Whenever they hear a “golden word” they should say, “Stop!” 5. Once they say, “Stop!” ask the children to say the word with you. Pick up the teacher vocabulary card and share the definition on the back and use the discussion question to explore the word. 6. After all the “golden words” have been read, read the poem one more time and invite the children to say the “golden word” with you. Activity Phase 4 1. Print out and laminate the five rocket cards. 2. Ask the children to identify each numeral on the rocket cards. Ask them to place the cards in sequential order. 3. See how many parts of the rocket match the rocket’s number. Example: The fifth rocket has five windows, five legs, and five orbs on its antennae. 4. Ask the children which rocket they would like to ride in and why?
Test Items
Did it Roll? Yes No
“Radical Ramps” T-Chart Reference Page © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
Time
Rank
Notes
explore FOLD
Explore is a word that can mean two different things! It can mean to look at something very carefully to learn more about it, or it can mean to travel to somewhere new. Optional Discussion Questions: 1. Look at this picture of a rocket. What do you see? What is the rocket going to explore? 2. Have you been exploring recently? Where did you go?
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #1
zoom FOLD
Zoom means that something is moving so fast that it makes a hum or a buzzing sound! Teacher Action: Make a zoom sound and ask the children to make their own zoom noises. Read the poem again and ask the children to make zoom noises when they hear the word. Suggested Discussion Question: 1. Zoom means to move very fast. What things do you know move fast? (Rocket, airplane, cars, etc.)
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #2
crew FOLD
When we use the word crew, we are describing something very specific. A crew is a group of people who work on a boat, an airplane, a spaceship or a train. Suggested Discussion Questions: 1. What kind of jobs do you think the robot crew does on the rocket? 2. Would you like to be in the robot crew on this spaceship? Why or why not? What jobs would you do? 3. There are many different types of crews. A crew on a ship are called sailors. Another name for a spaceship crew is astronauts. What is the name for the crew on an airplane? “Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #3
discover FOLD
When we discover something we visit, find, or learn something for the first time. Suggested Discussion Questions: 1. What will the robot crew discover during their space trip? What will they see? 2. In the poem, we discovered how to count backwards. Let’s count backwards now! 5, 4, 3, 2, 1!
“Five Little Rockets” Vocabulary Card #4
zoom
crew
explore discover “Five Little Rockets” Student Vocabulary Cards © 2013 Hatch Early Learning
