Today’s post is about one of my favorite products — STEM Sheets! I love using these with younger students because of their flexibility. As teachers, we have always known the importance of flexibility, but the past year has driven home its importance, both in terms of personality and product usability! You will find STEM Sheets a resource that you will go back to again and again, and be able to use them differently throughout the school year.
What Are STEM Sheets?
STEM Sheets are very engaging multi-sensory task sheets that can be used to reinforce number and sight word recognition with a STEM building component.
Each Number STEM Sheet comes with seven activities (Read It, Trace It, Write It, Color It, Show It, Draw It, and Build It) while each Sight Word STEM Sheet has six activities (Say It, Trace It, Write It, Color It, Draw It, and Build It).
The Number STEM Sheets feature numbers 1-10, while the Sight Word STEM Sheets include 100 sight words.
Who Are STEM Sheets For?
These are perfect for students in Pre-school, Kindergarten, First Grade and Special Education who need practice and support with sight words and numbers. They are a great source of additional fine motor practice as well!
How Do They Work?
All Number and All Sight Word STEM Sheets follow the same format so students can quickly learn to use them independently. Both the Building Blocks Number Edition and the Play Dough Number Edition have seven task boxes for students to read, trace, write, color, show, draw and build numbers 1-10 using either Legos or play dough (or clay). The Sight Word Editions follow a similar format with the tasks being say, color, trace, write, build.
How Can I Use Them?
STEM Sheets can be printed and used as is, or laminated and used with erasable markers. They can be used in the classroom or library Makerspace.
Because students quickly learn to use them independently, they are perfect for morning work, centers or early finisher activities.
They are also great, easy but engaging activities to put in your Sub Tub or Sub Folder. Your sub and your students will love you!
Many teachers also like to send STEM Sheets home for homework or enrichment. STEM Sheets are also just right for end of the year/summer take home packets.
If you have access to a binding machine, you can also make each student their own bound copy to use over and over again with dry erase markers.
Another thing that makes this STEM resource so versatile is that students can all be working on the same activity, but it is super easy to differentiate for each child’s individual needs. If colored copy paper is available, you can even color code assignments!
Are There More Ways to Use the Playdough Editions?
The play dough editions can be used so many different ways!
Use glitter to jazz them up.
Use pom poms for added texture.
Use cotton swabs and paint for variety and more fine motor control.
Try washable stamp pad and tiny stampers or fingertip.
Or tiny scrunched up pieces of colored tissue paper and glue.
Use oversized push pins to poke holes through the paper in the shape of the letters.
Use tiny star, dot or happy face stickers.
Colored pipe cleaners (or Wikki Sticks) can be bent to form letter shapes.
Reward Your Students for a Job Well Done
Who doesn’t like receiving an award when they have completed a task? Each STEM Sheet packet includes four different award certificates you can bestow on your students when they have completed the assigned tasks.
Related: 6 Classroom Management Strategies to Try in the STEM or Science Classroom
The Only Question Left
Now the only question left is which STEM Sheets will you get? Numbers? Building Blocks or Play Dough? Sight Words? Building Blocks or Flexible?
Why not get them all as well as tons more STEM lessons that are engaging, rich in standards and fun?
How? Join Jewel’s School Gems Club Today!
Updates: Letter, Number, Shapes, and Seasonal STEM Sheets were added under this post. The Letter STEM Sheets encourage kids to build the uppercase and lowercase versions of each letter; the Number STEM Sheets allow students to build numbers 1-25, 50, 75, and 100; and the Shape STEM Sheets encourage students to build 10 shapes. All three sets prompt students to count the the number of building blocks used. Each of the Seasonal STEM sheets has five activities (Say It, Trace It, Write It, Color It, and Build It).
