Do you want to learn how to integrate children’s literature into your elementary science block? This workshop will walk you through some children’s books that not only engage students and help build literacy skills but also provide a foundation for NGSS-focused STEM-related projects.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. gain an understanding of developing science literacy in their young students through literature; 2. walk away with resources (ideas and activities) to strengthen literacy and science skills; and 3. use children's literature as a way to enhance STEM learning in their classrooms through hands-on activities.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Pearcy (Jefferson Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Jayna Ashlock (Logan Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Kendra Robinson-Harding (Jefferson Elementary School: Spokane, WA)

Attendees will actively engage with innovative, technology-rich tools, learning strategies to teach data collection and analysis, engineering design processes, coding, and robotics, and engaging ways to apply coding to make devices “work,” adding rigor and complexity as learners gain skills and understanding.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will learn how to: 1. design accessible, equitable, hands-on learning experiences, in which ALL students actively participate and engage with innovative technology tools, helping students learn essential science concepts, engineering processes, and learn how to collaborate with peers to increase understanding; 2. teach authentic data collection and analysis, so that students can learn how to explore and test variables and measure and analyze their effects; and 3. use programmable technology tools and devices as effective teaching tools, helping students learn how to input code to achieve a desirable outcome, and how to analyze, diagnose, and correct the code when the device doesn’t perform as intended.

SPEAKERS:
Donna Knoell (Educational and Technology Consultant: Prairie Village, KS)

Come "tinker" with a classic fairy tale and then practice detecting STEM opportunities within any piece of children's literature.

TAKEAWAYS:
Attendees will: 1. recognize that science is all around us and can be found in any storyline; 2. use tips to hone in on identifying science phenomena or concepts in literature; and 3. develop a draft of a three-dimensional STEM lesson of their own.

SPEAKERS:
Emily Owens (Southern Arkansas University: Magnolia, AR), Angela Stanford (Southern Arkansas University: Magnolia, AR), Allye Wright (Barton Junior High School: El Dorado, AR), Lisa Oden (Southern Arkansas University: Magnolia, AR)

Explore ways to integrate science and ELA with picture books to help students master science concepts, while at the same time enforcing literacy standards!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Using picture books will help bring the science to life while enforcing ELA National and State Standards; 2. Inquiry can be embedded and implemented with the use of interactive picture books; and 3. You can use any picture book to engage and help students practice crosscutting concepts and engineering skills.

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Hunnings (Elkhart Community Schools: Elkhart, IN), John Taylor (Marvin Ridge High School: No City, No State)

I will showcase and demonstrate hands-on, low-cost activities using amateur radio, including speaking with astronauts on the ISS, and tracking transmitters that orbit Earth.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. What amateur radio truly is (and isn’t); 2. Ways to use amateur radio in the classroom; and 3. Hands-on activities using radio, regardless of if you have a radio license .

SPEAKERS:
Joanne Michael (Wiseburn Unified School District: El Segundo, CA)

Take the engineering design process to the next level with invention education. Encourage diverse perspectives, teamwork, and empathy…while engaging in NGSS practices!

TAKEAWAYS:
1. What is invention education and how does it relate to science and engineering?; 2. Where can I find resources for teaching invention education?; and 3. Why is invention education more welcoming to girls and other historically excluded populations than typical engineering lessons?

SPEAKERS:
Roxanne Moore (Georgia Institute of Technology: Atlanta, GA)

It is easy to get students interested in science, but how do you extend interest to engagement and learning? This workshop will show you how.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Changing interest to engagement; 2. Using process to teach content; and 3. Using a unique approach to discrepant events.

SPEAKERS:
Mary Jean Lynch (North Central College: Naperville, IL), John Zenchak (North Central College: Naperville, IL)

Introducing Dream2B, an innovative, integrated curriculum designed to bolster math performance and interest in STEM /information communication technology (ICT) careers.

Note: Laptop/mobile device and head phones/ear pods are necessary to fully engage in this workshop.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Accessible and supportive learning environments are needed to bolster STEM performance and address unique learning abilities; 2. Collaborative challenges embedded in universally designed virtual worlds have the potential to bolster both conceptual knowledge and engagement in relevant STEM workforce skills (aligns with NGSS https://www.nextgenscience.org/pe/3-5-ets1-2-engineering-design); and 3. A proactive curriculum designed with the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework addresses diversity in the student population and act as tools teachers can use to ground instruction.

SPEAKERS:
Michelle Patterson (University of Central Florida: Orlando, FL), Rohana Swihart (University of Central Florida: Orlando, FL)

Elementary teachers can become comfortable teaching science without "adding to their plate." Our training sessions have led to a natural approach to cross-curricular instruction.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will learn: 1. an approach to decrease the load or stress for elementary teachers to help them feel more comfortable implementing inquiry; 2. how literacy is foundational to a robust cross-curricular science inquiry approach; and 3. an approach to help students "think like a scientist."

SPEAKERS:
Douglas Hunnings (Elkhart Community Schools: Elkhart, IN), John Taylor (Marvin Ridge High School: No City, No State)

Learn how to integrate the cultural resources your students bring to class with your science teaching and learning. Come explore equity-based cultural formative assessments.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Resources for instructional leaders and educators to support and create meaningful connections between classroom science concepts and the application of those ideas in everyday situations; 2. -Discuss the implementation of these tools and resources in dynamic school environments; and 3. The strategies presented in this workshop can be used with any curricula, at any grade level, and in all subjects of science and engineering.

SPEAKERS:
Lauren Thompson Allen (D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education: Washington, DC), Philip Bell (University of Washington: Seattle, WA)

Come take a dive into STEM/STEAM with a fun selection of children’s literature that inspires young learners to engage as architects, engineers, and makers while they plan, construct, and iterate with a variety craft materials.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Participants will dive into hands-on learning experiences that illustrate the interactive nature of the Engineering Design Process (EDP) with NGSS Science and Engineering Practices; 2. Teachers will leave with STEM/STEAM prompts (open-ended questions, verbal encouragement) to use with students while they are working on design challenges; and 3. Teachers will deepen their content with cross-curricular connections in a communities theme that pairs children’s literature with real-life communities (Hey, Wall Story of Art & Community, Maybe Something Beautiful: How Art Transformed a Neighborhood (San Diego, CA), Harlem Grown: How One Big Idea Transformed a Neighborhood, The Curious Garden (NYC), Kamala and Maya's Big Idea (Oakland, CA) through art, gardens, and playgrounds.

SPEAKERS:
Belle Akers (Convent & Stuart Hall's Schools of the Sacred Heart: San Francisco, CA)

Learn more about FREE curriculum modules from the SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention that promote the engagement of all students in science and engineering! Modules were co-developed in partnership with Western Washington University and the Bellingham School District.

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn more about: 1. the world-class collection of electrical engineering artifacts, such as Edison's first light bulb and early prototype electrical devices, available to educators (including virtual collections) at the SPARK Museum; 2. abut FREE curriculum modules aligned to the NGSS that engage students in the engineering design process while learning about energy; and 3. ways that engineering can be made relevant to students from diverse backgrounds, interests, and abilities.

SPEAKERS:
Abby Russell (SPARK Museum of Electrical Invention: Bellingham, WA), Paola Sanchez (Western Washington University: Bellingham, WA), Bridget Dahlman-Oeth (Western Washington University: Bellingham, WA), Dan Savage (Western Washington University: Bellingham, WA), Ben Dixon (Western Washington University: Bellingham, WA)

This session introduces a way to create learning experiences that will give students opportunities to talk, read, and write in the service of sensemaking as they use the DCIs, CCs, and SEPs to explain natural phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. How to ensure students have access to science by designing investigations that promote and support the use of literacy skills; 2. How literacy can be used to be used in the service of sensemaking; and 3. How to embed formative assessment of science practices and literacy skills into an investigation in a meaningful and informative way.

SPEAKERS:
Victor Sampson (The University of Texas at Austin: Austin, TX)

Learn how Next Time You See books can connect students with nature and inspire them to write their own books about natural objects and phenomena.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Explore research about the positive effects of time in nature on children and adults; 2. Learn how literacy and science can be connected through writing activities; and 3. Receive classroom-ready resources (videos and graphic organizers) to guide your students through a Mentor Text Study.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Stilwell (BIOZONE Corp.: Parker, CO)

Learn how to integrate STEM and literacy through the use of high-quality STEM-related picture books

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Strategies for integrating STEM and literacy in K–5; 2. Suggested picture books that integrate STEM and literacy; and 3. A STEM lesson you can use right away.

SPEAKERS:
Kim Stilwell (BIOZONE Corp.: Parker, CO)

The National WWII Museum has developed a set of activities that connect stories from WWII to investigations that K–3 students can conduct to learn 3-D science.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Get access to the free Little Engineers lessons; 2. Practice one or more of the activities; and 3. Find out about teacher workshops, student webinars, and other resources from The National WWII Museum.

SPEAKERS:
Rob Wallace (NSTA: Kenner, LA)

Link computer science and SEL through computational thinking! Make a classroom procedure integrating CS and SEL through coding and leave with resources for classroom routines.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. A classroom-ready procedure integrating CS and SEL to immediately use with students; 2. An expanded knowledge of coding in Scratch and for those new to the tool, a baseline for its and other similar tools' uses and instructional integration; and 3. A model for coaching students through interpersonal communication using computational thinking concepts in social-emotional situations.

SPEAKERS:
Erin Lark (Kognity: Stockholm, 0), Katherine Livick (Educational Service District 112: Vancouver, WA)

Literacy has used “Text to…”connections  to help students make authentic connections. Strategies/examples of expanded “text to…” connections for science and math are modeled.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. explore how to expand a common literacy strategy of “text to” connections when using picture books in the elementary science classroom; 2. engage in investigations that model the use of “text to” connections that help students connect their own authentic experiences and help them understand and make sense; and 3. consider how the criteria for the selection of books, identification of phenomena, and selection of investigations can be a powerful experience for students.

SPEAKERS:
Christine Anne Royce (Shippensburg University: Shippensburg, PA)

Join me as I share eight short stories about the most significant fossil discoveries in Washington and Oregon combined with a hands-on experience that connects to each story.

TAKEAWAYS:
1. Use storytelling to engage students in the NGSS Earth Science Standards that include fossil evidence; 2. Utilize prehistoric animals as motivation to read and research about the place that you live; and 3. Make connections to the John Day Fossil Beds in Oregon and the Burke Museum and Stonerose fossils in Washington.

SPEAKERS:
Mark Watrin (WSTA: Olympia, WA)

Universal Design for Learning (UDL) provides a framework for reducing barriers and increasing access for all students in science. Learn how elementary teachers are applying this framework in science!

TAKEAWAYS:
Learn: 1. about the UDL Framework; 2. how curriculum and teaching methods create barriers for students; and 3. how to reduce barriers through intentional planning with UDL.

SPEAKERS:
Debi Hanuscin (Western Washington University: Bellingham, WA)

Have you ever wondered how using a single picture or object can spark any student’s curiosity about science? Get the tools to help all your students embrace science with open arms and excitement.

TAKEAWAYS:
Teachers will: 1. learn how to use pictures to spark interest in science phenomena; 2. experience a Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS) lesson incorporated with science; and 3. experience how using objects can spark students' interests and leads to students asking their own questions.

SPEAKERS:
Melissa Pearcy (Jefferson Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Carrie Ryan Walls (Woodridge Elementary School: Spokane, WA), Emily O'Halloran (Linwood Elementary School: Spokane, WA)

Learn how to reach the three-dimensional science standards in your classroom through hands-on coding with the BBC micro:bit and free online Microsoft MakeCode simulator.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. gain personal hands-on experience using a BBC micro:bit to teach the Next Generation Science Standards; 2. learn how to teach problem solving through coding at an age-approprite level with tips and pointers from presenters who each have over 10 years' experience in the elementary classroom; and 3. walk away with a free sample lesson from CYBER.ORG, which includes the corresponding Next Generation Science Standards for their upper elementary classroom.

SPEAKERS:
Laurie Salvail (CYBER.ORG: Bossier City, LA), Brittany Pike (CYBER.ORG: Bossier City, LA)

Learn how Mid-Columbia Ballet, LIGO, and teachers created an exciting unit combining art and science to engage students. Participants will engage in activities and discussions.

TAKEAWAYS:
Participants will: 1. understand how multiple informal and formal educators can work together to achieve their goals; 2. be able to identify possible partners in their region; and 3. learn how informal and formal partnerships can teach content standards, crosscutting concepts, and engineering practices in a unique way.

SPEAKERS:
Renee Kollman (Adams) (Mid-Columbia Ballet: Richland, WA), McKenzie Munn (Marcus Whitman Elementary School: Richland, WA), Amber Strunk (LIGO Hanford Observatory: Richland, WA)