The StarrMatica Blog

Meet Tricia (PJ) Hoover

Posted by Emily Starr on May 19, 2020 Behind the Scenes of StarrMatica No Responses »

May 192020

Hi! My name is Tricia (PJ) Hoover and I’m one of the writers here at StarrMatica. Growing up, I never wanted to be a writer. I actually wanted to be a Jedi. After all, who wouldn’t want to be able to travel in space, use telekinesis, and do cool mind tricks? But seeing as how that wasn’t going to happen, I instead spent my summers reading science fiction and fantasy books (some of my favorites were J. R. R. Tolkien, Roger Zelazny and Isaac Asimov) and teaching myself to program in BASIC on my Commodore 64. I also fell in → read more

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 2-LS2-2

Posted by Emily Starr on May 6, 2020 Phenomenon Ideas Comments Off

May 062020

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 2-LS2-2

2-LS2-2 Develop a simple model that mimics the function of an animal in dispersing seeds or pollinating plants. If you are teaching the Next Generation Science Standards and are looking for phenomena ideas, you’ve come to the right place! I like to think about phenomena as lesson starters. They are photos or videos showing an observable event in the universe and are used to get kids thinking, asking questions, and discussing their prior knowledge. For more information about using phenomena, there is a handy printable guide and video here: https://www.nextgenscience.org/resources/phenomena And now, on to our pollinator phenomenon! When we think → read more

Engineering Resources

Posted by Emily Starr on April 27, 2020 Science Resources Comments Off

Apr 272020

Right now, I am safe at home with my three-year-old and five-year-old. Like many of you, I feel the challenge of balancing at-home work with full-time parenting. I know many of your school districts are doing an amazing job of providing distance learning resources. Yet, I wanted to share a few STEM resources you can put in your own personal toolbox for those times when you just need to get something done and your kids seem to be bouncing off the walls! The resources below can make you feel good about allowing your kids to use their devices, because they → read more

Elizabeth Baldwin

Posted by Emily Starr on April 20, 2020 Behind the Scenes of StarrMatica Comments Off

Apr 202020

Hello! My name is Elizabeth Baldwin and I am a life-long learner! I love to read and research things that happened in the past, things happening right now and things that might happen in the future! Whether it is in the field of history, science, fiction or nonfiction, I find our world very engaging. At this moment, I have 5 books stacked on my night-stand next to my bed! One is a fictional story set in the early 1800’s, one is a memoir, one is a biography, one is inspirational, one is to practice Spanish and I usually have a → read more

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 3-PS2-2

Posted by Emily Starr on April 7, 2020 Phenomenon Ideas Comments Off

Apr 072020

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 3-PS2-2

3-PS2-2 Make observations and/or measurements of an object’s motion to provide evidence that a pattern can be used to predict future motion. If you are teaching the Next Generation Science Standards and are looking for phenomena ideas, you’ve come to the right place! I like to think about phenomena as lesson starters. They are photos or videos showing an observable event in the universe and are used to get kids thinking, asking questions, and discussing their prior knowledge. For more information about using phenomena, there is a handy printable guide and video here: https://www.nextgenscience.org/resources/phenomena When you look at the stone → read more

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 1-LS3-1

Posted by Emily Starr on March 10, 2020 Phenomenon Ideas Comments Off

Mar 102020

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) 1-LS3-1

1-LS3-1 Use materials to design a solution to a human problem by mimicking how plants and/or animals use their external parts to help them survive, grow, and meet their needs. If you are teaching the Next Generation Science Standards and are looking for phenomena ideas, you’ve come to the right place! I like to think about phenomena as lesson starters. They are photos or videos showing an observable event in the universe and are used to get kids thinking, asking questions, and discussing their prior knowledge. For more information about using phenomena, there is a handy printable guide and video → read more

Leveled Texts

Posted by Emily Starr on February 26, 2020 Reading Resources, Science Resources Comments Off

Feb 262020

In my second year of teaching fourth grade, my science curriculum had a unit on plants. In an effort to integrate my English Language Arts and Science instruction, I wanted my students to read an informational text about plants during our small group guided reading time (In our district, guided reading was a time when students with similar reading abilities met in small groups to read and discuss a leveled book and receive more individualized reading instruction.) So, I headed down to our guided reading library intent on finding a leveled text about plants for each of my guided reading → read more

Get to Know the StarrMatica Team: Sarah Wassner Flynn

Posted by Emily Starr on February 26, 2020 Behind the Scenes of StarrMatica Comments Off

Feb 262020

Get to Know the StarrMatica Team: Sarah Wassner Flynn

Hi! I’m Sarah and I am a writer for StarrMatica. Writing for kids is a passion of mine I developed at my first job out of college with National Geographic KIDS magazine. Prior to that point, I had visions of working for a fashion magazine. But I soon realized writing for a younger audience and sharing stories about the world with them is really fulfilling. I soon forgot my fashion dreams. After National Geographic, I did a stint at a couple of magazines in NYC, including CosmoGirl!, a spin-off of the (much more) grown up Cosmopolitan magazine. Transitioning from writing → read more

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) – 4-PS3-1

Posted by Emily Starr on February 12, 2020 Phenomenon Ideas Comments Off

Feb 122020

Phenomenon for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) - 4-PS3-1

4-PS3-1 Use evidence to construct an explanation relating the speed of an object to the energy of that object. If you are teaching the Next Generation Science Standards and are looking for phenomena ideas, you’ve come to the right place! I like to think about phenomena as lesson starters. They are photos or videos showing an observable event in the universe and are used to get kids thinking, asking questions, and discussing their prior knowledge. For more information about using phenomena, there is a handy printable guide and video here: https://www.nextgenscience.org/resources/phenomena And now, on to our penguin phenomenon! Did you → read more

Get to Know the StarrMatica Team: Shannon Mc Elroy

Posted by Emily Starr on January 24, 2020 Behind the Scenes of StarrMatica Comments Off

Jan 242020

Get to Know the StarrMatica Team: Shannon Mc Elroy

Since StarrMatica is a teacher-owned company, we would like to introduce one of our team members whose commitment to educational texts helps to make us who we are today. Shannon McElroy is one of our writers who creates comprehension supports and Common Core aligned questions for StarrMatica Texts: Science Your Way and for StarrMatica Texts: Social Studies Your Way. Shannon has a history of writing stories, informational texts, assessment items and learning support materials for kindergarten through college-level students. She loves it all. Creating content for a wide age range keeps her engaged year after year, as well as toggling between Language Arts → read more

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