The Engineering is Elementary team is dedicated to making our engineering curricula accessible to all students, including English Learners—the fastest growing group of public school students in the United States. And because 77% of English Learners speak Spanish at home, we are fully committed to supporting educators in their instruction of Spanish-speaking students. Today, the EiE team is happy to announce two exciting project updates that support our mission to bring engineering education to all learners.

Did you know our curriculum team designed the EiE engineering curriculum to support literacy instruction? We created literacy resources, like our context-setting storybooks, to enhance our units and emphasize the importance of written communication. In honor of National Literacy Month, we wanted to share a few examples of how our curriculum supports literacy instruction and offer fun extension lessons that can help you incorporate creative writing into every EiE unit!

To date, 42 states and the District of Columbia have adopted Common Core State Standards for Math. What does that mean in the classroom? Students still have to learn to add, subtract, measure, and make bar graphs. They're also expected to develop a deep understanding of math concepts and be able to apply math outside the classroom.

Hands-on engineering is ideal for putting math in a real-world context, and Engineering is Elementary's Linking the E & M in STEM (LEMSTEM) professional development workshop is packed with creative strategies for bringing meaningful math and engineering integration to the elementary classroom.

Teachers often tell us that kids gravitate towards engineering when they learn that engineers help people. EiE’s real-world connections are often focused on helping others, and that concept is well illustrated in our life-science engineering units. Introducing students to life-science engineering early on can set them up for success in a changing job market. Across the globe, careers in life-science sectors like biomedical engineering are experiencing rapid growth: the US Department of Labor projects that the demand for biomedical engineers will increase 23% by 2024. These five units can kick-start an interest in life-science engineering for your students, and show them how engineers can help countless people (and animals!).

At the start of a new school year, it may be tempting to dust off a tried-and-true STEM activity, like the egg drop or the spaghetti tower challenge. But this year, we challenge you to refresh your repertoire with our thoughtfully designed, classroom-tested curriculum. EiE units are fun and hands-on like your favorite STEM activities, and they provide students with an even richer learning experience by integrating with a variety of subject areas and offering real-world connections that introduce young learners to real engineering careers. Check out these four engineering activities that put a fresh twist on your old favorites!