Teacher’s Brain

Tag: STEM

If YOU Give A Mouse A Cookie STEM Challenge | Build a MOUSE HOUSE

STEM

Laura Numberoff’s book are my FAVORITE of all-time books series. I was so lucky to meet her years ago when I first began my teaching journey in Orlando, FL. Her and Tomie DePaolo were speaking at a teacher conference. I bought all of their books, got my autographs and read them every year religiously to my class during author studies.

In 1985, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie was finally published after she received nine rejections. Her story inspired me to teach students how they should never give up on their dreams. I had a lot of fun using her books as companions for other lessons in my classroom.

One of my favorite lessons was for students to build a mouse house the character. It had to have all the rooms that were in the story. I tied in counting square tiles for the little ones while they created a floor plan with square or tissue paper tiles. They used lincoln logs or blocks to build the walls of the room and I would challenge them to complete the task in a certain amount of time. Students also had to make sure their paper mouse would fit inside the house they built. During centers, student made up their own adventures about the mouse with the house they built while writing stories. The students loved it! Of course we ended our unit with COOKIES!

This year I added a way for older students to get in on the fun! They use grid paper to make a blueprint of the floor plan. Then, they have to solve the area in square units and measure the walls with rulers. Here is an example of a mouse house for 2nd-4th graders:

Kindergarten and First Grade

Don’t worry, I added all the printable to this unit to keep it simple for the little ones and still tie in math elements. Teachers who teach multiple grade levels love the ease of differentiating the material with their students!

Animated Series

Not only can you explore all of Laura Numeroff’s books, she has a new Amazon prime animated video series that is amazing to share with students. Check out #IfYouGiveaMouse Videos to see all the characters in her most popular books!

Apollo 11 Moon Landing Activities

Science

This summer you can discover fantastic space-themed events, as the nation celebrates the 50th anniversary of America’s first steps on the moon. Neil A. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin took those first steps on the moon as the rest of the world watched and cheered in amazement.

The moon landing marked the day American positioned itself as a global leader in science. Fifty years later, we remember this mission. So how do we get our students to feel the awe of this moment? If you visit NASA’s website, you will find events all over American to attend celebrating Apollo’s 50th Anniversary.

As a teacher, I wanted to give students the opportunity to learn about the first time man walked on the moon. So I created a 2-week lesson plan that would dive into the event while hitting standards. I wanted parents to be involved, so I added a “HOME CONNECTION” project, which included them making a rocket ship.

They also:

  • Wrote About Themselves Going to the Moon
  • Made Books
  • Created Lunar Lander for a STEM Challenge
  • Studied Vocabulary
Lunar Lander Apollo 11 STEM Challenge

Young students love pretending, so how much fun is it for them to pretend to be an astronaut who wants a job by filling out an application! Students love making little “spacemen” finger space holders on craft sticks for them to use during writing activities.

Apollo 11 Activities

Moon phases are easily displayed on an “iPad” printable during science. The best way to really get your students to understand the event is to share videos with them from NASA. It will help them understand how long ago it was when we visited the moon. You can talk about the importance of teamwork to get to the moon.

What are you going to do with your students to celebrate The Eagle landing?

 

 

 

 

First Man: Apollo 11 Lessons for Kids

Teacher's Pay Teachers, Teaching Tips

3… 2… 1… BLAST OFF! Apollo 11 was the first manned space flight to the moon where the first man walked on the moon.  It is the moment the whole world watched with wonder.  What was it like to walk on the moon?  What was it made of?  Would they be able to return back to Earth?  NASA has just started to mark the 50th Anniversary of the Apollo’s Space Program which landed a dozen Americans on the moon. So, I think now is a great time to teach your students about the Apollo 11 mission.  The movie First Man also comes out October 12th, 2018.

Lunar Module STEM Activity

To really get students to engage in your amazing moon landing lesson, let them do a STEM activity.  The astronauts used a lunar module during Apollo 11 called the Eagle to land on the moon.

 Give students supplies and have them create their own lunar lander.  Some supplies to give the students can be plates, cups, packing tape, rubber bands, paper clips, tin foil, card stock and marshmallows.

The marshmallows could be used as shock absorbers or astronauts in the space craft.  They would have to create a module to safely get their astronauts home.  The space craft would have to have 4 shock absorbers, and two astronauts.  To test their craft, they would drop it from 4 feet.  If it didn’t land upright, they have to re-design and re-test their space craft. 

Free SPACEMAN for Writing

Read a book about Apollo 11.  Have students summarize it during writing.  For young students you can use these FREE “Space” man word spacers.  Just attach a Popsicle stick or pencil to the back of the spaceman.  Students can place it as a spacer between words, if they struggle with spacing skills.  Students can share their summaries with each other.

I am a huge supporter of guest speakers in the classroom, so why not ask a someone from NASA to Skype with your class.  They can do a little presentation about their job.  Then, students can ask questions.  Incorporate writing skills by having your students write good old fashion thank you cards.

Our solar system is so amazing.  The fact that we landed on the moon 50 years ago revolutionized our thinking about Earth, and it’s peers. Bring the excitement into your classroom this year by teaching about Apollo 11.  Who knows what the lesson may lead your students to discover!

Related Teaching Resource:

MOON LANDING APOLLO 11 K-2 Unit