Novel Engineering! A teacher must-have tool!

I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to attend a 2 week long workshop revolving around STEM.  It's called STEM Teacher Quality.  It has truly opened my eyes to new possibilities with my students.  It not only has given me some new tools for teaching science, technology, engineering, art, and math, but it has inspired me to go into this teaching year with a big,  full heart!  I am so ready to meet my class and to inspire them to be learners just as I have been this summer!  Sometimes teachers really need a pick-me-up you know?!  This has done that for me.  I am opening up my eyes to the possibilities in my classroom.  I have such high expectations for my first graders, and they will be challenged, questioned, cared for, loved, and inspired as well - I just know it!

Novel Engineering

One of the classes I took this week was called Novel Engineering.  I can't say enough about this!  It literally BLEW MY MIND.  I am a huge supporter of "hands on learning" and approaches. "Hand on learning" is such a buzz word that teachers use, but I've noticed that sometimes "hands on learning" still means worksheets in some classrooms --- BUT NOT WITH NOVEL ENGINEERING!  NO WORKSHEETS WILL BE FOUND! :)
Anyway, so here's how novel engineering looked:  First we got ourselves into groups of about 3 or 4.  Then we were told to read the book The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats
                                                                                                                 

We were told to find as many problems as we could from the book.  You wouldn't think that a small book like this had many problems, but it does!

For first grade, I envision myself doing a read aloud, then charting together the problems as a class before sending them to groups.  Teachers could even have one problem chosen for the entire class to solve, then sending groups to come up with solutions to that problem.  Once our group brainstormed ideas on the problem of the book, we then chose 1 problem to work on.  Our job was to come up with a solution to the problem  We were to invent something that the main character could use in order to fix his problem.  Our group decided to choose the problem that Peter's feet sank in the snow and his socks got all wet.  We decided to invent a snow boot protector for his boots that would keep his boots from sinking in the snow.  There was a table with supplies that can be found in just about any classroom: Popsicle sticks, tape, cardboard, folders, rubber bands, pipe cleaners, felt, buttons, etc.  Then our group sketched a possible product before getting our supplies.  We then started putting together our product.   We stopped when the time was up and shared our design.  We were then posed with questions and feedback from our peers and teachers which helped us to improve our design.  We were then sent back to improve our designs.

Novel Engineering Activity Arc

I thought it was interesting how we got feedback in the middle of the process, not the end!  It gave us the time and motivation to make our design better!  <3

Here's our final product!  

 We used Popsicle sticks, tape, and pipe cleaners!
Here's some other photos from other groups & teachers:

So my conclusion is:  EVERYONE SHOULD TRY NOVEL ENGINEERING.  You have the books, you have the supplies,  Make it work for you.  This activity integrates reading, critical thinking, team work, engineering, science, speaking & listening, math, and art skills all together!  Plus it's super fun, so you can't go wrong with that!  If you have any questions, comment below.  I am certainly not an expert, but if you want to try this in your classroom, I would love to help!  

Thanks for reading!  

~PEACE!

Shelly