Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Tied 2 Teaching Review

 
I have always read about STEM projects, but never actually used them in a classroom setting. When Tied 2 Teaching offered their STEM Activities, Full Year of Challenges with Close Reading  for review, I was happy to see what they had. At first I was a little hesitant, but when I realized how thoroughly these were put together and how simple they were to implement, I dove right in. By the way, purchasing bundles on Teachers Pay Teachers is a great way to gain access to a ton of materials for either a classroom or for your own homeschool. Most authors on Teachers Pay Teachers massively discount their bundles for incredible savings. If you are looking to save money, a bundle is definitely a great way to go! Furthermore, if you are looking to add some fun, hands-on STEM learning to your curriculum, then these challenges are right for you!

These are technically made to be used in a classroom setting, but that doesn't mean they couldn't be used individually in a homeschool setting. In fact, if you choose to use them in your homeschool, then it will be a lovely time of discussion and learning together as your student reads the reading passage, answers questions about the reading, and then completes a design challenge. Each challenge lists suggested materials, but you can offer any supplies that you have. It would also be a great idea to look through the different material lists a month or so before hand so you can collect these items throughout the month. If you are in a classroom setting, this is a great time to get parents involved with collecting some of the necessary supplies.

I work at an afterschool program, so I chose to use one of these projects in the afterschool setting with a small group of students. We used the included QR code to bring up the reading passage on the center's iPads. As each student went around reading one paragraph, I helped with unknown words and led some discussion. After the passage was read, I issued the challenge to the students. The particular project we were working on was themed around civil rights, which was perfect timing since it was black history month.

These projects say they are appropriate for grades 3-6. I had a second grader, a few third graders, and a fourth grader. The reading passage was a tad challenging for the second and third graders. Be prepared to assist as much as needed. For this particular passage, there were several new vocabulary words and unfamiliar names. I simply told the students the words and then had them continue reading. If they had a question about what a word meant, then I explained it.

The close reading activity had a variety of short answer questions. We answered the questions as a group. Some questions were more challenging for the younger students, and honestly they were so ready to get into the building challenge because I had the tote of supplies sitting right there. I decided that for the next project, I will break the project into several work sessions. One session to read and answer the questions. Another session to explore the building materials and make a plan to complete the challenge, and then a third session to complete the challenge. The final session would be a reflection over the process as students make any necessary changes to their project.

Students loved being issues a challenge and then using their problem solving skills to complete it. Sadly we ran out of the time, so they had to come back a second day to finish their designs. I found that the delay in creating the project, left them in a rush to finish the project. Looking back, it would be best to have the building session all on one day so they can complete the project and then reflect on it in the next session.

One important aspect that I wanted to be sure to discuss is that all of these projects really follow a similar format. This is great because it allows the students to become familiar with the process, and that in turn makes each project that much simpler to introduce and implement. I also think it is helpful if the students have some prior knowledge before diving into the reading passage. There are several versions of the STEM design challenge pages available. You can pick and choose which ones and how in depth you want your students to go. They follow a similar format of "ask, imagine, plan, create, improve". This is becoming more common in any STEM curriculum and so it is helpful to the students as a guide in helping them both think through what works and what doesn't work and then encourages them to make improvements on their design. That is something we don't ask students to do often enough. But I feel that it is important and gives them a nice, finished work they can be proud of.

There is a great variety of projects available. Many of them are themed around different holidays. Some are broad, general high interest topics for a larger age range. All of the included STEM activities include some sort of hands-on aspect to them. My personal favorite projects are the building block challenges. Those simply require building blocks. What an easy way to incorporate STEM and reading into your day, by pulling out the building blocks, your STEM project pages, and the reading passage!

What other challenges are included in this bundle? There is quite an extensive list, but I'll mention a few of my favorites here:

  • Index card skyscraper: Using only index cards, students construct the tallest tower that they can. So many possibilities here where you can change the challenge by giving the kids a time limit or a specific amount of index cards that they have to build with.
  • Design a wooden airplane: I've always been fascinated with flying. I think kids are too. This would be a fun challenge--just be sure to collect lots of wooden things like popsicle sticks, clothespins, and small dowels to insure success.
  • Construct the Eiffel Tower: Going back to Paris is definitely on my bucket list. This project would be a great addition to a study about France. Bonus that it only requires building blocks to accomplish!
  • Design a paper table: Students design a table using only paper! Again this is a great project to see a lot of variety in student's thinking.
Some projects can be more involved that others or require more specialty supplies that you'd need to gather ahead of time. But MANY of these projects really use basic supplies that you likely already have around your home or your classroom: paper, index cards, pencils, building blocks, paper towel tubes, etc. There are projects based on holidays and special events, but there are also plenty of high interest projects not related to holidays.


Since hearing about Tied 2 Teaching, I have since followed them on Teachers Pay Teachers and Facebook. I have also purchased a few products from them. I really love the collaborative coloring posters that they have. Did you know that when a new product is first released it is on sale for 50% off in the first 24 hours that it are listed? That is honestly the BEST time to purchase because...Hello! Save money! I'm excited to see what this company dreams up for teachers to use in their classrooms in the next few months! I am currently drooling over the Country Research Project Bundle.

I'm also excited to read about any projects that other reviewers completed. What do you think? Which project would you choose to complete first if you had this bundle?

Curious what other reviewers had to say about this product? Head on over to the Homeschool Review Crew blog to read all the reviews.



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