As our culture moves further away from the “worksheet era”, we as teachers need to think of creative ways to broaden students’ perspectives in a hands-on environment.  We say ditch pencil & paper morning work; instead, ramp up student engagement by implementing STEM Bins! Our goal is to provide morning work/early finisher work that will prepare students for a long day of learning, all the while cultivating divergent thinkers and little engineers.  Early finishers will have a meaningful and creative outlet that keeps them engaged and excited as opposed to using traditional worksheets.  Ultimately, through play and discovery, our students will get to explore the world of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Each bin will have pictures of structures or task cards to flip through, as well as various materials.  Students work collaboratively or independently to design, create, and build.  They may discuss ideas with others, sketch out ideas, and build their structure.  Materials in the bins will change periodically to maintain student excitement and engagement.  Extension activities might include building structures with specific measurements, structures that can perform a task, or literacy extensions.

Materials Needed for STEM Bins:

• Sturdy bins with lids for materials to be stored

• Any household items or materials around the classroom (toothpicks, unifix cubes, base ten blocks, straws, cups, foil, paper clips, popsicle sticks, pattern blocks, geoboards, 3D shapes, cereal boxes, egg cartons, pipe cleaners, water bottles … etc etc)

• Legos

• Geometric shape templates

• Stencils

• Foam shapes

• Playdough

• Goobi Construction Set 

• Pictures of real structures/structure riddles

• Cuisiniere rods

• Jenga blocks

• Magnetic letters/letter tiles

• Whiteboards/markers for sketching out drawings before building

• Playing cards

• Dominos

Back Up Plan