How do you create effective STEM classrooms that energize students, help them grow into creative thinkers and collaborators, and prepare them for their futures? This practical book from expert Anne Jolly has all the answers and tools you need to get started or enhance your current program. Based on the author’s popular MiddleWeb blog of the same name, STEM by Design reveals the secrets to successful lessons in which students use science, math, and technology to solve real-world engineering design problems. You’ll learn how to: Select and adapt quality existing STEM lessons that present authentic problems, allow for creative approaches, and engage students in meaningful teamwork; Create your own student-centered STEM lessons based on the Engineering Design Process; Assess students’ understanding of basic STEM concepts, their problem-solving abilities, and their level of engagement with the material; Teach STEM in after-school programs to further build on concepts covered in class; Empower girls to aspire to careers in STEM and break down the barriers of gender bias; Tap into STEM's project-based learning style to attract and engage all students. Throughout this user-friendly book, you’ll find design tools such as checklists, activities, and assessments to aid you in developing or adapting STEM lessons. These tools, as well as additional teacher resources, are also available as free downloads from the book’s website, http://www.stem-by-design.com.

Responding to the linguistic and cultural diversity of the U.S. K–12 student population and an increasing emphasis on STEM, this book offers a model for professional development that engages teachers in transformative action research projects and explicitly links literacy to mathematics and science curriculum through sociocultural principles. Providing detailed and meaningful demonstrations of participatory action research in the classroom, Razfar and Troiano present an effective, systemic approach that helps preservice teachers support students’ funds of knowledge. By featuring teacher and researcher narratives, this book centers teacher expertise and offers a more holistic and humanistic understanding of authentic and empathetic teaching. Focusing on integrating instructional knowledge from ESL, bilingual, and STEM education, the range of cases and examples will allow readers to implement action research projects in their own classrooms. Chapters include discussion questions and additional resources for students, researchers, and educators.

Want to know how to implement authentic STEM teaching and learning into your classroom? STEM Lesson Essentials provides all the tools and strategies you'll need to design integrated, interdisciplinary STEM lessons and units that are relevant and exciting to your students. With clear definitions of both STEM and STEM literacy, the authors argue that STEM in itself is not a curriculum, but rather a way of organizing and delivering instruction by weaving the four disciplines together in intentional ways. Rather than adding two new subjects to the curriculum, the engineering and technology practices can instead be blended into existing math and science lessons in ways that engage students and help them master 21st century skills.

This book is designed to build educators’ confidence and competence so they can bring STEM to life with young children. The authors encourage pre–K teachers to discover the value of engaging preschoolers in scientific inquiry, technological explorations, engineering challenges, and math experiences based on learning trajectories. They explain the big ideas in STEM, emphasizing teaching strategies that support these activities (such as language-rich STEM interactions), and describe ways to integrate concepts across disciplines. The text features research-based resources, examples of field-tested activities, and highlights from the classroom. Drawing from a professional development model that was developed with funding from the National Science Foundation, this book is an essential resource for anyone who wants to support preschool children to be STEM thinkers and doers. “I have read a lot of really good early childhood science education books over the years, and as far as I am concerned, this is the best one yet.” —From the Foreword by Betty Zan, University of Northern Iowa “This excellent book shows that the important ideas of STEM are within every teacher’s and child’s grasp.” —Douglas Clements, University of Denver “Teaches STEM content while sharing strategies for robust and developmentally appropriate instructional practice. This book is the real deal!” —Beth Graue, University of Wisconsin–Madison

Explore STEM concepts through making and tinkering!

Today's students need to be fully prepared for successful learning and living in the information age. This book provides a practical, flexible framework for designing Guided Inquiry that helps achieve that goal. Guided Inquiry prepares today's learners for an uncertain future by providing the education that enables them to make meaning of myriad sources of information in a rapidly evolving world. The companion book, Guided Inquiry: Learning in the 21st Century, explains what Guided Inquiry is and why it is now essential now. This book, Guided Inquiry Design: A Framework for Inquiry in Your School, explains how to do it. The first three chapters provide an overview of the Guided Inquiry design framework, identify the eight phases of the Guided Inquiry process, summarize the research that grounds Guided Inquiry, and describe the five tools of inquiry that are essential to implementation. The following chapters detail the eight phases in the Guided Inquiry design process, providing examples at all levels from pre-K through 12th grade and concluding with recommendations for building Guided Inquiry in your school. The book is for pre-K–12 teachers, school librarians, and principals who are interested in and actively designing an inquiry approach to curricular learning that incorporates a wide range of resources from the library, the Internet, and the community. Staff of community resources, museum educators, and public librarians will also find the book useful for achieving student learning goals.