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Three Little Pig Houses

Incorporating STEM in Program Planning

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Lesson plan developed by Aurora Tollestrup, BS Ed

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Activity:  

Three Little Pig Houses

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Age Group:

• Preschool/Early Childhood

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Objectives:  

• Students will create houses out of toothpicks, straws, and Lego-type building bricks

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CDA Competency Standard:

II.5.2a

• Materials and equipment stimulate children’s thinking and problem-solving.

c)    Materials and equipment provide a variety of opportunities for cognitive development.

Online Courses

Teaching Preschool Math Using Manipulatives  
(3 hours / .3 CEU) 
Tuition: $31.50

Use of Puppetry and Plays 
(3 hours / .3 CEU) 
Tuition: $31.50

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Materials: 

• The Three Little Pigs Book (available from Amazon)
  
• Lego type building bricks
• Popsicle sticks
• Straws cut in half

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Anticipatory Set:

Read The Three Little Pigs to the class during circle or story time. After reading the book, ask students which house they would want to be in and why. Allow for some discussion. Next, ask students if they think they could build a pig house strong enough to withstand the huff and puff of a wolf.

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Procedure: 

1. Divide students into groups of three.
2. Give students about 10 minutes to discuss and plan the house that they will build.
3. Allow students ample time to build a small pig house out of the Popsicle sticks, straws, and Lego bricks. They may use a combination of all three building materials if they’d like, or stick with one material.
4. When students are done building have a volunteer (or the teacher) huff and puff and try to blow the houses down just like the wolf in the story.
5. After the huffing and puffing, end the lesson with a class discussion asking which house the students would want to be in when the wolf came around. Also ask students what they would do differently next time.

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Assessment: 

• Observe and record the group’s collaboration skills and problem solving skills

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Preschool Lesson Plans

STEM Lesson Plans

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What is STEM?

The STEM craze is sweeping the nation’s classrooms, but it is much more than a passing fad within the educational community. STEM (curriculum focusing on science, technology, engineering, and math) focused classrooms intertwine the subjects of STEM curriculum with other disciplines such as literacy and art. The goal of STEM instruction is to give students the tools to understand and explore the disciplines of science, technology, engineering, and math. Ideally, this familiarization and understanding of STEM elements will lead to careers in STEM-related fields. Even if this ideal goal is not realized, having students become comfortable and more knowledgeable with science, technology, engineering, and math concepts will benefit them and the world that they are a part of greatly.

Engineering in the Early Childhood Classroom

Engineering is the study of the design and creation of products as a result of solving problems. Engineering encompasses math, science, and technology as well as other skills. It is a valuable subject to learn and experience. Teaching engineering is teaching the process of designing and building something that is needed. You can also think of it as the process of creating those pieces of technology that are critical to serving a purpose or meeting a need.Imagine taking a group of students-of any age-and giving them some specific materials along with a problem to solve and being able to watch them collaborate, problem solve, hypothesize, explore, and come to a consensus on what the collective opinion of success is. Along with this process comes failure, which, in STEM terms, is not seen as failure at all, but instead as an opportunity to learn and grow. 

How to include engineering lessons in your program:

• Encourage teamwork and problem-solving in all things-not just STEM activities.
• Give students the opportunities to struggle enough to hopefully overcome the challenge that they are faced with. Offer suggestions if they become frustrated.
• Encourage critical thinking skills in every aspect of your program.

 

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