STEM and The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Billy Goats Gruff meets STEM in the Pre-K classroom!

 

Our objective was to construct a bridge as a class using the children's engineering skills.
 

 

Before the lesson: I tore pages out of an old magazine, rolled them up and secured them with tape. That was our material that we would be building with for this lesson.

 

We began the lesson by posing the question: How could we construct a bridge (like the one in the story) using our building materials and what else would we need to meet our goal?

Our steps to building the bridge:

First, I had the children brainstorm and shout out ideas which I listed on a piece of paper.

Second, it was time to do some research. I had copies of many of the local bridges in our area as well famous bridges around the world. We also used an iPad to look up other bridges which we did not have pictures of.

 

Third, it was time to put our research into practice and sketch out a picture. We sketched one as a group where we took into account the children's favorite bridges and ideas. The children were encouraged to make their own sketches after and try out their bridge idea in the block area.

 

Fourth, we discussed what we would need to put the bridge together. The children decided on staples and tape. A few wanted to use glue but the other children reminded them of how long glue takes to dry so they consented to tape as well. I just love when they learn and problem solve with their peers.

 

Fifth, I had the children go to their learning centers and called the children over two at a time to work on the construction of the bridge. Every child in the class had a chance to help build the bridge.

 

Sixth, it was time to test out the final product by a story retelling with our puppets. I love to mix STEM with storytelling to make sure I'm reaching all of my young learners.

 

Extension activities: The children were encouraged to use the bridge for the rest of the week throughout the various learning centers in the classroom.

 

In the block center children were invited to add blocks, cars, and make their own bridges. In the library area children were invited to use puppets and conduct their own story retellings in small groups or independently. In the dramatic play center children used it to put themselves into the story and cross the bridge just like the goats. In the art center children were encouraged to draw a picture of the bridge. In the science center the children were invited to test the weight and durability of the bridge and in the math area children were invited to count how many pieces were needed to put our bridge together.

 



 

Trip trap, trip trap went the bridge...

happy learning! : )

 

Check out our Three Little Pigs meets STEM here or more Three Billy Goats Gruff activities here.



STEM and The 3 Little Pigs

The Three Little Pigs meets STEM in the classroom!

 

I decided to put the children's engineering and problem solving skills to the test by having them build houses to help us with a story retell of, The Three Little Pigs.

 

The children were put into teams and given different building materials to construct the houses.

The first team had drinking straws and tape.

The next team had popsicle sticks and playdoh.

The last team were given large legos.

 

I then began the story using our puppets to move along the houses. The children all helped to be the wolf and blow down the houses until we came to the last one. The children really loved this project and they did such a great job working together to build the houses!

We also made a yummy 3 Little Pigs snack using potato sticks for the straw, pretzel sticks for the wooden sticks and small cut pieces of a twizzler for the bricks. The children each had to measure out the potato sticks and twizzlers and had to count out 5 pretzel sticks to add to our trail mix. A fun and yummy way to add a little math into our day!

 

Click here to see my other 3 Little Pig activities : )

The Three Little Pigs

What are homes made out of?

After acting out the story of the, Three Little Pigs with stick puppets we had the children make their own houses using the three materials that the pigs used straw, sticks and "bricks". 

We left it up to each child to decided if they wanted to use one, two or all three of the different materials. 

The children did a great job! 

The next day we read a story called, Three Pigs and A Wolf which tells the same story but from the wolf's perspective. 

We made a Venn Diagram to compare the two stories.

We also discussed the properties of air and how air can sometimes be used to move things, just like the big bad wolf used his air to blow down the first two houses in the story.

We used our air to make paint blown houses.

First we used eye droppers to drip some of the food coloring onto the paper then we used a straw to move the liquid all around the paper.

We huffed and we puffed just like the big bad wolf!

They came out great and taught the children a fabulous science lesson at the same time.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

The Three Billy Goats Gruff

 A Norwegian Folktale. 

We first discussed the difference between a fairy tale and a folk tale.

I then told the children that today they were each going to get the chance to be an actor / actress if they wanted to.

I flipped over the rocky boat so that it resembled a bridge. I than took the big book version of the story and I narrated to the children and helped them with their lines. 

The children especially loved playing the part of the troll under the bridge! 

We read and re-read and re-read the story and the children still wanted more!!! I then put the bridge into our library area for one of our learning centers for the children to explore the characters on their own. 

I then asked the children if they could have changed something about the story what would it have been. 

"Trip trap, trip trap went the bridge."

Jack and the Beanstalk

Jack and the Beanstalk!

 I read the story to the children and at the part where the mother throws the beans out the window I threw our "magic beans" across the classroom! Well, while the children were outside a beanstalk grew in our dramatic play area of the classroom!

The children each decorated a leaf for the beanstalk.

They each traced and cut a leaf! 

I then showed them my royal  crayon coloring rings and invited them to decorate their leaf and add some glitter!

We then discussed our favorite parts of the story!

Fairy Tales

"If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be even more intelligent, read them more fairy tales." 

~Albert Einstein

What will you find in a fairy tale? 

Pocket chart idea.

We wrote our own fairy tales! 

First, I glued on various chipboard animals/plants so the children would have a story starter to inspire them. From there they were asked to illustrate and tell a fairy tale story. They did such a wonderful job and each story was so unique and creative!

Our dramatic play area was turned into a castle and we added some fairy tale costumes and props!

We also made our own crowns, wands and armor!

For the armor we cut toilet paper tubes down the side, painted them silver and gold and wrapped them around our wrists!