Playful STEM

This product is inspired by one of the classroom expectations in Black Ants and Buddhists by Mary Cowhey: “Don’t step on other people’s words.” My young students lacked awareness of just how much they were interrupting each other (and sometimes their teacher), so I decided to create a visual tracker so we would have some data to discuss at our classroom meetings, where we talk about resolving challenges in our classroom. Along the way, I also added the expectations that we don’t step on people’s

I do not assign spots on the rug to my second graders, and I have noticed that they always sit next to the same people, no matter how much I encourage them to do otherwise. So, I came up with “rug buds” to add a little variety to rug time. Rug Buds has worked well in my classroom because my students feel like they chose their seatmates, but it still forces them to mix up their regularly-chosen seats. Here’s how it works: 1. Have students fill out their “Rug Buds” cards. There are many different