At VEX Robotics, we strive to provide you with all structure and support that you need to plan and implement V5 Learn Practice Compete STEM Labs with your students. STEM Labs are supplemental educational resources that enable you to facilitate engaging, hands-on STEM activities with your students. V5 Learn Practice Compete STEM Labs are centered around games, to harness the motivation, creativity, and collaboration of competition robotics in your setting. All V5 Learn Practice Compete STEM Labs are student-facing, so that students can directly interact with the content.
Each Learn Practice Compete STEM Lab Unit has a Teacher's Portal that is a hub of resources for teaching that particular Unit in your classroom. The Teacher's Portal of each V5 Learn Practice Compete STEM Lab contains resources to support your teaching, including the following features:
Co-creating Learning Targets - To help you get started co-creating learning targets with your students, each Unit links to an article that you can use as a jumping off point with your class.
- Watch the "Getting Started Teaching: V5 Learn Practice STEM Labs" video in the Teacher's Portal to learn more about student-centered instruction in STEM Labs.
- Facilitation Guide for the Unit – The Facilitation Guide gives you guidance and supports for each Lesson in the Unit, including set up checklists, helpful articles, Reminders and Teacher Tips, Be Mindful of Mindset notes, and more.
- Standards Alignment– Learn Practice Compete STEM Lab Units align with Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA), International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), and Common Core Math standards. You can view the standards for a Unit by selecting the 'View Standards' button in the Teacher Portal.
- Debrief Conversation Rubric– To support facilitation of the Debrief Conversation at the end of each Unit, there is a Rubric provided that you can use to ensure that you and your students are set up for success with this student-centered assessment.
- Letter Home – An editable Letter Home is included for each Unit to communicate with your classroom community about what students are doing and learning with V5, so that they can continue the conversation at home.
The Teacher's Portal in a V5 Learn Practice Compete STEM Lab Unit can be accessed by selecting 'Teacher's Portal' at the top of the Lesson Overview, as shown in this example image of the Team Freeze Tag STEM Lab Unit.