Turning Pages into Projects — Why I’m Excited About STEM Through Literature

As educators, we know how powerful a great story can be: it can spark curiosity, build empathy, and open minds. What if those stories could also lead students into the worlds of science, technology, engineering, and math? That’s exactly what the Promoting STEM Through Literature (PSTL) initiative from REMC makes possible. The program uses children’s books and narrative to introduce design thinking — having students read, reflect, and then design or build something based on what they learned.

Every book in PSTL comes with a full lesson plan: pre-reading questions, “during” and “after” prompts, and a hands-on design challenge that connects back to STEM. It’s a wonderful blend of literacy and creative, maker-style learning.

How I Plan to Use This in My Classroom

• Bring stories to life through design challenges. I’m excited to pick several of the PSTL titles (think inventions, problem-solving stories, inventors’ biographies) and pair them with hands-on maker/STEM tasks. After reading, my students will dig into “What’s the problem? How would you solve it? What materials would you use?” — then build or prototype something of their own.
  
  

• Blend literacy with real-world thinking. Rather than separating ELA and STEM, this approach lets them flow together: reading a meaningful story, discussing themes or challenges, and then diving into engineering and creativity.
  
  

• Support inquiry, collaboration, and empathy. Because many PSTL books show characters inventing to solve real problems — sometimes socially conscious, sometimes practical — students get the chance to think about how design and STEM can serve people and communities. That makes learning relevant, inspiring, and rooted in empathy.
  
  

What This Means for My Classroom & Students

• Deeper engagement and ownership. When students pick up a book and end up building something because of it — that sense of ownership and pride is different. I believe this will ignite curiosity as well as creativity and persistence.
  
  

• Access for all learners. PSTL can be used across K–12 (and beyond), and lesson plans can be adapted. This flexibility helps me reach diverse learners — whether they love reading, building, writing, or exploring — and meet their needs in different ways.
  
  

• Bridging disciplines in meaningful ways. Students often see reading and STEM as separate. This tells them — hey, science and engineering are story too; math and technology live in narrative and creation. It helps create a learning environment where literacy and STEM reinforce each other.
  
  

My Professional Goals — How This Pushes Me Forward

• Grow as a designer-teacher. I aspire to be more than just a teacher who delivers content — I want to be a teacher-designer who builds experiences. Using PSTL gives me ready-made frameworks to experiment with design-thinking pedagogy in my own classroom.
  
  

• Model integration and innovation. As I build literacy + STEM + maker culture together, I hope to model for my colleagues how cross-discipline learning can happen — and share what works.
  
  

• Cultivate lifelong learners and problem-solvers. Ultimately, I want students to see themselves as creators, innovators, thinkers. If a story can spark that identity — and lead to hands-on creation — I believe we’re doing powerful work.
  
  

• Advocate for inclusive, engaging learning.” Using programs like PSTL reinforces my commitment to providing diverse, accessible, and meaningful learning for every student — whether they’re artists, readers, tinkerers, scientists, or dreamers.
  
  

Looking Forward

I’m thrilled to bring CRT (curiosity, reflection, transformation) into my classroom with Promoting STEM Through Literature. I can’t wait to see students’ faces when they read a story — then build what they imagine: a new prototype from “The Most Magnificent Thing,” a community-giving invention from “One Plastic Bag,” or a mini-engineering project inspired by “The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.”

Stay tuned — I’ll be sharing updates, student creations, and reflections as we turn pages into projects, stories into science, and imagination into action.