Member Web Seminar

Join us on Wednesday, February 3, 2027, from 7:00 PM to 8:15 PM ET, for another installment of Book Beat Live!

Reading STEM trade books is more than a literacy experience. It is an invitation into authentic problem-solving, creative thinking, and real-world innovation! In this dynamic Book Beat Live! session, led by members of the NSTA–CBC Best STEM Books review committee and the NSTA Early Childhood–Elementary Science Committee, participants will explore how the 2027 Best STEM Book selections, alongside standout titles from the past decade of the program, can serve as powerful instructional anchors in early childhood and elementary classrooms.

As we celebrate 10 years of the Best STEM Books program, this session will highlight the evolution of STEM trade books and their growing impact on teaching and learning. Educators will examine how award-winning titles across the years reflect high-quality STEM integration—blending science, engineering, mathematics, and technology with literacy and communication in meaningful, student-centered ways.

Rooted in the rigorous criteria developed by the Best STEM Book Committee, this session will unpack what makes a book truly “Best STEM.” Participants will explore how these titles:

• Model real-world design and innovation
• Embrace divergent thinking and creativity
• Highlight collaboration and teamwork
• Illuminate engineering habits of mind, including systems thinking, optimization, and persistence

Through classroom-ready examples and student-tested strategies, participants will discover how to transform high-quality STEM literature into engaging design challenges, inquiry-based investigations, and engineering experiences. The session will also explore how Best STEM Books support:

• Interdisciplinary learning across content areas
• Ethical decision-making and real-world connections
• Communication and collaboration skills
• The normalization of productive failure, redesign, and perseverance

By drawing from both the 2027 list and curated titles from the past 10 years, educators will gain a broader perspective on how STEM storytelling has evolved and how it can continue to inspire the next generation of innovators.

Participants will leave with practical tools, implementation strategies, and a curated collection of Best STEM Book titles that can be used immediately to help students see themselves as scientists, engineers, and problem-solvers—one story at a time.

Key Takeaways:

• What makes a book truly “Best STEM”and how the NSTA–CBC Best STEM Books criteria support authentic STEM learning
• Insights from the 2027 Best STEM Book list and trends across the first 10 years of the program
• How award-winning STEM books model real-world innovation, engineering design, and problem-solving
• Ways to use STEM literature as a launch point for hands-on design challenges and inquiry investigations
• How Best STEM Books develop Engineering Habits of Mind such as creativity, collaboration, systems thinking, and optimization
• Strategies for integrating science, engineering, math, technology, and communication through a single high-quality text
• How to use books to normalize productive failure, redesign, and perseverance in young learners
• Classroom-ready examples for early childhood and elementary settings
• Curated Best STEM Book titles (2027 + legacy selections) with ready-to-use implementation ideas
• How to design and implement curated text sets that support differentiation, provide multiple entry points for diverse learners, and deepen understanding of STEM concepts through varied perspectives, reading levels, and modalities

All individuals receive a certificate of participation and 100 NSTA activity points for attending the live seminar and completing the end-of-program survey. A certificate of participation is not awarded for watching the recorded version of the program.

We invite you to register for upcoming web seminars at NSTA.