Showing posts with label #Creative Writing. Show all posts

Sunday, March 26, 2023

STEM and Language Arts - Perfect Together

by Renee Heiss

Combine STEM and Language Arts in one lesson? Sound impossible? Not really! Just follow these simple guidelines:
Target the STEM area you want to emphasize for this week or month. Examples include: Famous computer scientists, innovators from history, the different kinds of bridges – the list could be endless. Look at your curriculum and pull the pertinent topics for your students to research.
Make sure the topics your students choose are different from each other. For example, if one student choses how the Brooklyn Bridge was built, you could allow another to research the San Francisco Bay bridge. Then have a comparison discussion after your students present their research. Having your students choose different, but related topics eliminates the boredom of reading 25 papers on the same subject.
Allow students to work in groups only if you give them guidelines for dividing up the work. Consider these ideas:

Assign a specific goal to each student, such as creating a poster, performing research, editing the final report, and presenting to the class (may be combined with another goal).
Provide interim deadlines for each aspect of your assignment.
Create a completion chart on your bulletin board so groups can see if they are falling behind.
Give students a group grade rubric, such as this free resource: Project Based Learning Grading Rubric so they can see what you expect from them.

With older students, cooperate with the other teacher (STEM with language arts and vice versa). Students may earn a grade in each subject for the same project. The STEM teacher might grade on content, while the language arts teacher would grade on grammar. Or have them perform experiments in science class then work on the research paper and presentation in language arts class.
· Give students visual and verbal prompts to help them focus their research, essay, and presentation in a creative yet organized manner. Try this resource for your 4^th-8^th grade classes: STEM Stories - A cooperative classroom writing activity for 5 groups grades 4-8
Encourage innovative ways to present their topic. Going back to the bridge concept, your student might come in with a model of the Brooklyn Bridge to add interest to their presentation.
Middle and High School students can have a more comprehensive exploration of a STEM/Language Arts linked assignment. Try offering comparison papers like linking ancient pyramid builders with modern architectural buildings. Once they understand that they have to research two separate topics and link them together, they will be less likely to copy a paper they found online!

Creativity! STEM! Research! Language Arts! What an amazing combination of resources in one assignment that will liven up any curriculum.

For daily STEM prompts, click HERE. Have stimulating discussions every day and use these as the basis for research projects.

Wednesday, November 17, 2021

Mix it up - STEM and Language Arts

The arts community has successfully combined STEM with art to create the STEAM movement. But what about Language Arts? Consider STREAM! That is the link between STEM, Arts, and Reading (and writing)! Certainly children need to learn STEM concepts but they also need to be able to communicate these concepts to others. This is especially true when they grow up and find themselves in a STEM-related career.

It is estimated by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, that as many as nine million occupations will be added in STEM between the decade of 2012 and 2022. Today's learners need to be able to understand the vocabulary of their STEM careers in addition to being able to communicate their ideas to others at their place of employment. Communication skills are just as important as STEM skills.

Some Language Arts teachers have included STEM in their curricula in several ways:

Design a house for the main character using that character's personality traits
Find the STEM in a guided reading passage and discuss what would happen if...
Design a game based on a book, to be used as a presentation method to share the book
Find the STEM in the daily news report and comment on the issue presented

Some Science teachers have included Language Arts in their classrooms in other ways:

Write a summary of a STEM article in a magazine or newspaper
Design a structure, and then write a verbal description of the process used to build it
Describe step-by-step instructions for another student to follow
Compare and contrast two STEM items from a list

A merger of the two curricula is essential to success as an adult in modern employment. In 2011, The National Writing Project published "Turning STEM into STREAM: Writing as an Essential Component of Science Education" by Robert and Michele Root-Bernstein. In that paper, the authors feel that science teachers also need to add the thinking skills embodied in reading and writing. They also reveal that the average science course requires a student to learn the same number of new vocabulary words he or she would learn in a foreign-language course.

How do children learn that STEM vocabulary when they are overloaded with other vocabulary in their language arts classes? STEM vocabulary words probably are not included in the weekly lesson. Consider things like the difference between "rotor" and "motor" or the meanings of "lever" and "wedge." These are simple enough words to read but a little more difficult to understand. When STEM is integrated with art and language arts, students learn STEM vocabulary and creative writing in one neat STREAM of knowledge.

To add cooperation and respect to the mix, check out my STEM Stories activity for a whole-class effort that includes 160 STEM-related vocabulary words, 50 different settings for stories, and 40 literary devices to use in those stories. This is a whole-class activity for grades 4-8 where 5 small groups each contribute a paragraph to the whole story. What fun! Picture Friday afternoon STEM day where your students work cooperatively and creatively while they learn about STEM vocabulary, literary devices, and the components of a mini-story.

Renee Heiss

All-American Teacher Tools

Saturday, October 2, 2021

FREE Fun with Short Stories - a new comparison chart

I have found that when students make comparisons using the short stories in their anthologies, four things happen:

1. The temptation to copy another student’s work (either in class or on the Internet!) is eliminated.

2. Students enjoy the amusing images that some of the comparisons bring into the assignment.

3. Learning increases because minds become stretched to the limits of their imagination.

4. Students may need to research the characteristics of the comparison item before beginning the assignment – a bonus objective met!

This comparison chart activity can be used with any grade, but is optimum for grades 3-8.

This is more than a comparison between two short stories - it forces the comparison between a character and a giraffe or a refrigerator! You'll be amazed at the creativity you'll see in your students' writing!

Check out my other writing assists: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/All-american-Teacher-Tools/Category/Writing-507317

Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Wednesday Weekly 5 under $5 - August 18, 2021

Every week I put together a list of 5 great products from members of The Best of Teacher Entrepreneurs Marketing Cooperative (TBOTEMC) with the requirement that each product must be less than $5. With a variety of subjects and a wide range of grades, there just might be something that you can use, so continue to read below and see!

In addition, if you're a seller on Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT) who would like to get more information about joining TBOTEMC, contact me via email at ReneeHeiss@gmail.com or simply by leaving a comment on this blog post.

Figurative Language with Figgy - $2.50

by All-American Teacher Tools
3rd - 7th grades
Activities, PowerPoint

Here is a fun PowerPoint to teach figurative language during your creative writing unit. This PowerPoint presentation covers the following topics: Similes, Metaphors, Alliteration, Onomatopoeia, Personification, Hyperbole, Idioms, Adages, Oxymorons, and Allusion. Each slide provides a definition, examples, and a mini-quiz for discussion.

Watermelon and Seed Ideas - $3.00

by Sunshine and Laughter by Deno
1st - 3rd grades
Minilessons, Printables, Posters

This product is ideal for teaching students how to write about small moments in their lives. Often, when students are asked to write a personal narrative, they will write about a big "watermelon" experience. This resource will help them narrow down their ideas into smaller "seed" experiences.

How to Interview Techniques, Tips, & Tricks Boom Cards for Grades 9-12, SPED - $2.00

by History at Home
9th - 12th grades
Homeschool Curricula, Task Cards

Interview Techniques, Tips, & Tricks for Grades 9-12, homeschool, SPED, and distance learning. Teach your students how to act and prepare before, during, and after a job interview through this 15 no-prep pack of BOOM CARDS! ⭐Perfect for differentiation and use in SPED classes!

Your students will practice: good communication skills in an interview; common mistakes; what to do (& not do) before, during, & after an interview; ins & outs of phone interviews; and the 10 most asked questions in an interview!

Grammar Review: History of Sports - $4.99

By Reading Spotlight

All grades

Worksheets, Fun Stuff

So much better than another set of boring language exercises, this set of 10 grammar stories is fun, effective, motivating, and easy to use. Students can read interesting stories about the history of sports while reviewing fundamental grammar skills. Perfect for the beginning of an English, writing, or ESL class, an additional two Teacher Worksheets provide error analysis and interpret strengths and weaknesses (both Individual and Class) to help focus instruction and/or group students. Answer Keys and explanations for each correction are included. Grades 6-12