Primary teachers, did you know play is a research-based best practice? Children grow and learn in all developmental areas through their engagement in centers: language and literacy, cognitive, social emotional, and physical. Child initiated, hands-on experiences provide standards-based practice in a risk-free environment. In this recorded webinar, tips for setting up center and actionable steps for implementation are shared. Teachers will leave with an understanding of how children learn through play. Research will be shared on why play is an integral part of the learning process for primary grades. Not only is this best for children, it allows teachers to target standards, differentiate instruction, and personalize learning. Participants will delve into the Office of Early Learning’s new Play to Learn Planning Guides and Posters. Both the Play to Learn Planning Guides and Posters are share on #GoOpenNC.

Using Sphero robots in the classroom to enforce mathematical concepts and connections related to geometry, trigonometry, and basic algebra and introduce students to basic programming concepts. Students can explore through different tasks that deal with rate of change, distance formula (Pythagorean Theorem), angle of rotation (basic trigonometry), and related topics while applying those concepts to a physical activity. The Sphero tools also allow students with different programming experiences to tailor their work to fit their skill level from basic (block programming) to advanced (Java). The tasks also promote collaboration between students to problem solve issues on the fly as they work to reach a common goal or compete to outdo other groups.

Links to session materials:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17LHTsbq4DhLGNCMUO-GCbyHt_woYpLW1hn4Ul1tLx7Q/edit#gid=0

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SpLaxtrlk_4ASU2dwxay3sQgo0CITgufwUJlSMgacEo/edit

https://www.desmos.com/calculator/dld4f1cbgm

This document helps students think about what they did in the project and how well the project went.

STEM can be added to any lesson to expand knowledge. As a STEM teacher in a standards based lab it is important that I can incorporate and embed state standards into every lesson or project I do. in the session I will walk through designing a lesson across curriculums and grades using your standards and incorporating engineering and problem solving.

This article for elementary teachers focuses on why and how to use rubrics to assess student work and how to use online tools like Rubistar and PBL Projects Checklists to construct your own rubrics.

Your team at the (create a name for your ad agency) has been hired as a travel   consultant to design a luxury tour through one of the Human Body Systems. Before you can collect your fee from the Holistic Body Tour, you must produce a brochure. The owner of the travel bureau, Ms. Image, has informed you that in order to win the contract you must highlight the trendy spots, the exciting activities, and the imports and exports of the areas. For insurance considerations, you must also discreetly mention any possible dangers or special precautions that tourists might encounter in visiting this system. Your 

This assignment activity is designed to be used as a culminating Proof of Practice in a professional learning on finding, creating, and using infographics in instruction. Learners should first know what Infographics are, how to create them, and how they can be used effectively in teaching and learning. NOTE: The links to the Google Docs in Step 2 (Infographic Table and Infographic Rubric) will ask you to make a copy. You can then replace the links with your copy of those Google Docs.

This is a blog post by Geoff Krall, who is a math instructional coach for the New Tech Network and writes a blog called Emergent Math. In it, using math as the context, Geoff distinguishes between Project Based Learning (PBL) and Problem Based Learning (PrBL).