November STEM Challenges: Scratch + Tinkercad

What your students do

Your 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders code an animated Veterans Day thank-you card, a Thanksgiving gratitude card, and a saxophone parade in Scratch, then design a medal, a robot turkey, and a fridge with a door that opens in Tinkercad. Every challenge has a clear "Your program must..." checklist, so kids always know when they are done and what to try next.

Why teachers love it

Every challenge has 3 levels, so beginners finish with success and your gifted coders and early finishers have a real Challenge-Up waiting. Hint cards, cheat sheets, and sample solutions mean you are never stuck when a student asks for help, even if you have never coded. Both tools are free and run in a browser, so they work on Chromebooks.

What's included

• 17 challenge pages (8 Scratch, 8 Tinkercad, 1 optional Native American Heritage Month challenge), each with 3 levels
• 2 menu boards for student choice
• Real millimeter measurements on every Tinkercad challenge
• 17 hint cards plus a blank card for a classmate's hint
• Sample solutions for every challenge
• Scratch and Tinkercad vocabulary pages and cheat sheets
• 36 classroom posters in full color and in black and white
• Plan, Build Checklist, Debug Log, Reflect, and Peer Feedback pages
• A 20-point rubric with student self-scoring and 8 exit tickets
• A teacher guide with setup, pacing, and grouping tips
• A 38-slide typeable Student Digital Workbook and 26 projectable slides

Perfect for

• Gifted and talented and enrichment groups
• Early finishers all month long
• Computer lab, STEM, and makerspace classes
• Veterans Day week and the week before Thanksgiving
• Coding clubs and Hour of Code warm-ups

Standards

CSTA 1B-AP-08, 1B-AP-10, 1B-AP-11, 1B-AP-12, 1B-AP-15, and 1B-AP-17, and NGSS 3-5-ETS1-1, 3-5-ETS1-2, and 3-5-ETS1-3. The full wording is in the resource.