#WorldReadAloudDay
World Read Aloud Day was last week, as it falls on the first Wednesday of February every year. We hope you had a chance to share some stories with the people you care for in your life, and continue to do so for the rest of the year!
How is #WorldReadAloudDay important to your STEM students? When it comes to STEM and literacy, one can’t (or shouldn’t) exist without the other. STEM teachers emphasize engineering design and computational thinking, as well as technology tools, but the work of engineers goes much further than the traditional STEM subjects of science, technology, engineering, and math. Engineers are also communicators, collaborators, writers, readers, and global citizens. These are all examples of literacy skills.
“The work of engineers also involves collaboration, communication, global citizenship, and literacy skills.” – Jorge Valenzuela, education coach and author.
How to Integrate Literacy and STEM
The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) indicate for K-5 students, there should be a 50-50 balance between nonfiction information texts and fiction. It is essential for STEM teachers to have familiarity with the ELA standards and intentionally and purposefully implement them into their teaching.
Regardless of which strategies you choose, integrating literacy and STEM will strengthen your curriculum and improve teaching and learning.