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This year, Illinois celebrates its bicentennial. As a partner in the state’s celebration, ISBE has provided educational resources to help Illinois students learn about the history of their state. Resources include activities, ideas, and lesson plans, as well as a timeline of Illinois history. ISBE will update its bicentennial site as more resources and activities are available, so be sure to visit the site throughout the year.

This research brief from ExpandED Schools reports on findings from the organization's STEM Educators Academy. Piloted in 2013-14, the initiative included joint professional development at premiere science institutions for school teachers and afterschool instructors. After returning to their schools, participants team-taught STEM activities that connected school day and afterschool learning. Recommendations in the brief include encouraging collaborative teaching, using data to drive professional development, and allowing time for teaching teams to plan.

The PBS Kids’ environmental science website Plum Landing offers activities and tools for students ages 6 to 9 to help build science skills. The site includes videos, activities, games, and standards-based tools for educators.

This webinar recording from Click2Science explores coaching as a professional development strategy. Although the website focuses on STEM, the coaching activities and resources can be applied to a range of afterschool programming activities.

NASA Space Place is a science website that provides upper-elementary-aged students with opportunities to learn about space and Earth science through interactive games, hands-on activities, articles, and short videos. Students may also move between English and Spanish text on the website with just one click.

The Wild Bird Club website features informative articles, Bird Brains Bird Identification Quizzes, a bird of the month feature-and several live bird cams! Supported by the Cornell University Lab of Ornithology and the Pennington bird food company, the site’s offerings include activities for beginner, intermediate, and advanced bird lovers, as well as free newsletters from the Wild Bird Club and the Cornell Lab.

A successful STEM program requires specific facilitation skills that enable educators to replace teacher-led models with open-ended, student-driven inquiries that promote critical thinking. The National AfterSchool Alliance presents tips and resources to help afterschool staff grow their STEM facilitation skills to the superstar level by creating the right atmosphere of discovery and support for STEM learning and success.

Afterschool mathematics experiences can help students develop mathematical competencies and a positive attitude toward math.Yikes, math! is a blog post from the National AfterSchool Association that provides afterschool practitioners with tips for extending math learning beyond the school day.

Relationships with families and schools are key components to a successful afterschool program. This brief presented by the National Afterschool Association focuses specifically on how to engage families and school staff to increase their understanding of your STEM program highlights and happenings. Resources include conversation starters, newsletter content, and social media strategies.

Presented by the Afterschool Alliance, this webinar recording dives into the topic of measuring the impact of afterschool STEM experiences. Webinar presenters also discuss the role such programs have in the larger STEM education ecosystem and the important contribution they are making in students’ learning and development outcomes (free registration required).