Every Thursday on the blog we bring you teaching tips or news about resources you can use in your classroom

Every Engineering is Elementary (EiE) unit starts with a storybook that sets the context for the hands-on engineering design challenge. And every storybook has 15 or more illustrations. During a read-aloud, you can show pictures to your students the conventional way, by holding up the book for everyone to see, or by having students follow along in their own copies. Did you know that storybook illustrations are ALSO available to download on our website? You can use a computer/projector or Smart Board to show illustrations on the big screen as you read the story.

Beyond the convenience and excitement of this approach, storybook illustrations are a terrific teaching tool for English Language Arts, and especially for the English Language Learners in your class. Stories appeal to all kids, regardless of cultural background, interests, or learning style. Instead of reading a storybook word for word, project the illustrations while you retell the story at a language level that’s appropriate for your students. Or, print them out to use in classroom activities.

The stated ambition of the STEM Task Force of the California Department of Education is the opposite of modest. Leaders want to see a future where the state “leads the word in STEM education.” No wonder California was a lead state partner in the development of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and an early adopter of the standards once they were released in 2013.

Statewide implementation of the new standards is a multi-year effort; right now, the state is moving from the “Awareness” phase, involving public education and planning, to the “Transition” Phase, which includes (among other steps) making teacher professional development on NGSS implementation more widely available. With this need in mind, the 2015 California Science Teachers Association conference (slated for October 4 – 5^th in Sacramento) includes a “conference within a conference” on this theme: “Primary Pathway to Next Generation Science Standards through Language and Literacy Development.” EiE director Christine Cunningham will be one of the featured presenters.

Every Thursday on the EiE blog, we share tips or resources for classroom teachers.

Do you teach the Engineering is Elementary unit “No Bones About It: Designing Knee Braces”? Great news: We’ve just added a complete set of Classroom Videos for this unit to our online EiE video library!

Whether you’re new to teaching EiE, or an experienced elementary engineering teacher who wants to brush up on the unit before you teach it this semester, our online videos are a great resource. They let you what see what each lesson looks like in a real classroom.

On a sunny day this past August, the Engineering is Elementary (EiE) classroom at the Museum of Science, Boston was filled with laughter as elementary teachers from schools across Massachusetts tested the tabletop towers they'd built from index cards. Could such lightweight constructions support a small stuffed animal?

The exercise was one component of “Everyone Engineers,” a workshop that introduces educators to the EiE curriculum. We host similar workshops all year round, but this one was special: All of the participants were here as scholarship recipients, selected through a competitive process to receive everything they needed to implement EiE in their classrooms . . . including this professional development experience.

The 20 scholarships awarded this summer were made possible thanks to a grant from the technology company Oracle to the Museum’s National Center for Technological Literacy® (NCTL®), where EiE is based. [For a complete list of Oracle - EiE scholarship recipients, click HERE.]

The popular 1980s TV show “MacGyver” featured a spy who was also an engineer. Facing mortal danger, he’d save the day by creatively repurposing everyday objects, making a sling shot from a bicycle inner tube, or a signal parachute from a ski pole and a handkerchief.

Recently on the blog, we shared the news that a MacGyver for the new millennium is in the works—a TV show loosely based on the original, but featuring a woman engineer.  

But you don’t have to wait for the show! In the world of engineering education, there are quite a few MacGyvers. Today, meet Belinda Kinney, an instructional specialist with the Plano Independent School District (PISD) in Texas.