STEM
2024-2025

May
Student Book Display
During book checkout weeks, a student is chosen to create their own book display in the library. The student creates a poster on Canva, and then fills the display with their favorite books.
STEM
We are having a blast for our last few weeks of learning in the STEM lab! Students have been finishing up projects, exploring with new materials, and collaborating to build some AMAZING towers!
K: Scratch Jr. & Planks
1: Typing & Towers
2: Dash & Building
3: Dash & Building
4: Walpole Mall redesign for ozobots
5: Mall design to bring in the most consumers (ozobots will then travel around)
April
Students are preparing for our author visit by making adventure helmets for Dash! We are so excited to meet Andy Griffiths on Wednesday!
K: Students were introduced to Evo, a line following robot!
1: First graders were introduced to TypingClub. Students are working on keeping their fingers on the home row! They also started creating their own Evo town for the robot to travel through!
2: Students have been cruising along on TypingClub and learning about Evo's parts and color codes.
3: Third graders are using Ozo Shape Tracer on their chromebooks!
4: Fourth grade students were introduced to Makey-Makey and created their own circuits, and now they are moving on to creating their own OzoBot Malls!
5: Students have just finished their Dashketball tryouts and are moving onto Ozo Shape Tracer!
March
K: Students are working on coding Kubo! They are coding independently with partners and creating their own codes to help him navigate around town!
1: Students are coding with Kubo in first grade! We are focusing on creating sequences!
Students in grades 2-5 have started using Typing Club in STEM class. I am encouraging them to continue to keep their fingers on the home row and remember to have good posture while they are typing.
2: Students are designing Kubo maps for the Kindergarten students, as well as using Kubo play on the iPads. They will continue to work on coding Kubo to navigate around the map.
3: Students are learning Scratch basics and now will begin to design their own stories.
4: Grade 4 was introduced to Makey-Makey this week. We discussed conductive and non-conductive materials, and learned about open/closed circuits. Students used Play-Doh as their conductive object and were able to play Pac-Man with the Play-Doh!
5: Students learned about the Harlem Globetrotters this week and began collecting data using Dash. Students have been changing the launch power and adjusting the distance to determine how far the ball will travel.
February
K-1: Students are coding Indi! They are coding independently with partners and working on understanding their lefts and rights.
2- Students are creating coding independently with Indi.
3-5: Finished lego floats and moved on to Scratch!
Mrs. Ruggiero visited Elm to see her lego float that a fifth grade group made her!
January
In STEM K-1 students have been working on Scratch Jr. to code stories and learn block coding vocabulary. This week students were introduced to a new robot, Indi! Indi is a color sensing robot, which challenges students to create different mazes for it to travel. Second graders finished up their Dash unit, and are now working to re-create their own stories on Scratch Jr. with a partner. Students in grades 3-5 are starting to finish up their lego floats for our parade. They are learning about the Engineering Design Process and just entered the test phase! After they test their lego floats, they will begin to improve their design. Students were tasked with designing floats based on their grade level:
- Grade 3: Book Characters
- Grade 4: Animals
- Grade 5: A staff member to honor at Elm Street School
November
In STEM, students have entered their coding unit! K-1 students have been coding on Scratch Jr. to code stories and learn block coding vocabulary. This week they listened to Balloons Over Broadway and began decorating costumes for Bee-Bot to wear in our parade. Second graders are navigating Dash Driving School and collaborating to solve puzzles and complete levels. Students in grades 3-5 have completed their Scratch projects and animated their name. This week they started their lego float projects. They are learning about the Engineering Design Process and just entered the plan phase! Students were tasked with designing floats based on their grade level:
- Grade 3: Book Characters
- Grade 4: Animals
- Grade 5: A staff member to honor at Elm Street School
October
Hear from our students...
In STEM, students have been working on building magnificent structures using magna tiles, KAPLA blocks, and creating pumpkins using brainflakes. These projects help to build communication skills, as students must collaborate to accomplish their goal. In grade K-2 students we have started our coding unit! Students learned what coding is and how we can communicate with robots. Our coding unit kicked off with unplugged coding activities. Students worked to code their partners to build something by giving them very clear instructions. Kinders were also introduced to their first robot, BeeBot, and worked in teams to code BeeBot through different mazes. This week, students were introduced to Scratch Jr! Second grade students were introduced to Dash and are using blockly to teach Dash how to drive around the wonder workshop!
In Grades 3-5, students participated in unplugged coding activities, building challenges and logged into Scratch. They are now coding the letters to animate their name! Each year they are required to include more blocks of code in their "Animate a Name" project.
Battle of the Books
Students who are participating in the Battle of the Books had their first two meetings and were introduced to their coach. They are doing a nice job reading their books and taking notes to help their group.