The following is a guest post from Dr. Jacie Maslyk.

Have you tried STEM menus with your students?

Including STEM menus is a great way to give students choice in their learning. The menus can serve as a starting point, sharing some possible design challenges and STEM or maker activities. Some activities focus on the creative side, while others are more focused on engineering.

Sharing children’s books that prompt curiosity and critical thinking are great ways to engage students in the classroom (or at home). Connecting a read aloud to each menu adds another layer to the learning process and is a great way to incorporate ELA standards. There are many benefits to incorporating literacy with hands-on learning!

Whether engaging in a design challenge or infusing sketching or building into your literacy lesson, students will certainly enjoy these activities. How you decide to incorporate the monthly STEM menus is up to you, but just in case you are needing a little inspiration, here are a few ideas:

4 Ways to Use STEM Menus:

Home Learning
Learning Centers
Choice Boards
Early Finishers

Home Learning

STEM learning in the classroom is great, but when we can extend the learning to home, it is even better!

Sharing activities for home learning will allow parents and families to participate in the learning and give them a glimpse into the types of creative thinking and problem solving we want students to develop.

Send the challenge home with students and have them create an alternate solution. Students can bring their projects back to school to share with their peers or record a quick Flipgrid video to share with the class.

Grab our STEM at Home Menus from our Free STEM Resource Library!

Learning Centers

Classroom learning centers can be filled with great materials and hands-on challenges for students to try with a small group or on their own. Teachers can laminate the read aloud menu and place it in the learning center. Be sure to include a variety of supplies so that students can try some of the challenges. Encourage them to use it as a tic-tac-toe board and complete three in a row or assign one specific activity each time students visit the center.

Choice Board

Do you use a reading workshop approach in your class?

Are students working on independent tasks while you are providing small group instruction?

You might also use the read aloud menus as a way to provide learning options for students through a choice board. Enlarge the menu and post it in your classroom. As students are working on their literacy tasks, encourage them to select something from the choice board to extend their learning. Providing student choice is a great way to keep interests high and ensure that they are engaged in learning.

Early Finishers

We all have those students in class who finish quickly, with a resounding “I’m done!” Provide them with a way to continue their learning in a creative and hands-on way. This can be a simple activity that students can draw or build using available classroom materials.

Early finishers can keep a copy of the menu in their desk or a folder so that they can refer to it any time they are done with an assignment.

Summer STEM Menus Teachers Pay Teachers Carly and Adam

Whatever Works

The menus are meant to be a resource for busy classroom teachers. They provide a handful of ideas that are ready to go with little preparation and minimal materials.

The menus can be used for home learning, classroom centers, early finishers, or whatever way works best for you. They can be a part of your whole class instruction or even as a guide for after school or summer school programming. We know that you have amazing ideas, too. Let us know how you are using the menus to promote STEM and literacy in your school!

For more STEM ideas, inspiration, and collaboration with other STEM teachers be sure to join our FREE Facebook group Elementary STEM Teachers with Carly and Adam!

We hope you have found this blog post helpful. To stay connected with Carly and Adam's teaching tips and classroom freebies be sure to follow us on Facebook, Pinterest, Teachers Pay Teachers, and subscribe to our blog!

4 Ways to Use Read Aloud STEM Menus