A Rover’s Story: STEAM Connections, a guest post by Amy Brownlee

I teach a literature circle class for advanced fifth- and sixth-grade learners, and the time we spend reading and discussing stories is often my favorite part of the day. When choosing the books we’ll read together, I’m always looking for something well written that will give us lots to discuss and provide students with the opportunity to make meaningful connections and demonstrate critical thinking. I am also always looking for a book that lends itself to being interactive and cross curricular. Yes, reading and discussing are at the center of our class, but I want to challenge students to broaden the scope of their learning.

When I discovered A Rover’s Story by Jasmine Warga, I knew it would be an amazing choice for lit circles with lots of options for STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art, math) connections. This story about a Mars rover is told from dual perspectives. The story features short chapters of diary-style narration by the robot interspersed with letters written by Sophie, a young girl who grows up through the course of the book. This story challenges readers to ponder what it means to be human and explore the complexities of friendship and family.

The author expanded the richness of the story by incorporating music as an important element in conveying emotion. I found an excellent lesson on Music and Emotions from Classnotes.org, and we spent two class periods delving into the topic. First, students brainstormed a list of emotions and feelings in small groups. Then we listened to different pieces of music, and they took notes about the emotions they felt matched the music and drew pictures of what the music made them envision. 

We then explored the connection between music and emotion in the context of A Rover’s Story. I challenged students to analyze places in the story where music was mentioned and asked them: What is happening in the story? What is the connection between music and emotion? 

The final activity was asking students to name a song that is significant to them, describe the emotions it sparks, and tell why the song is important. Students shared all kinds of stories about songs that were meaningful to them. We talked about music we listen to when we’re happy or sad along with songs that remind us of specific family members. I told kids that as they grow up, they will connect certain songs with specific events and memories in their lives just like the characters in our book do. It was a meaningful day of sharing, listening, and connecting.

A Rover’s Story is obviously based in science, so I knew we’d want to research the real Mars rovers and learn more about space science, a high-interest topic for middle grade learners. Our library owns a set of Sphero Mini robots, which are small machines that can be controlled and coded through an iPad app. The Sphero Edu platform even includes a Mars rover coding challenge, which was the perfect enrichment project to end our unit.

After some introductory lessons on coding the Sphero Mini, I assigned students the Mars Academy 3 challenge. It involved a map showing a landing site, crater, and three different supply stations. Students were tasked with 1) laying out a scale model of the map on the floor of the library, and 2) coding their robots to start at the landing site, drive to each supply station and pause there as if loading supplies, then drive to the crater and stop.

This proved to be an excellent exercise not just in coding, but in teamwork, problem solving, math and mapping.

In addition to the science, the story is also packed with emotional highs and lows. One student wiped away tears as she finished reading the story. During our final discussion of the book, the students shared how invested they were in the characters. A student who often comments that he does not like to read said, “I almost cried at the end. That was the best book I’ve ever read.” High praise indeed.

Jasmine Warga’s funny and touching story was the perfect addition to our literature circle this year. Incorporating coding, a team robotics challenge, and an exploration of the connection between music and emotion added a rich dimension to our study of A Rover’s Story.

One last thing:  During our study of the book, I was able to share photos of actual Mars rovers I saw during my summer visit to the Smithsonian National Air & Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Seeing the rovers in person made me extra excited to read and discuss A Rover’s Story with students.

Meet the author

Amy Brownlee is a preK-12 librarian and reading teacher in a small district in rural Kansas. During her 25 years in education, she has been awarded the Distinguished Library Media Specialist Award for Kansas, attended a month-long Fulbright study trip to Africa with Ethiopia Reads, served on the William Allen White Children’s Book Award selection committee, and earned over $93,000 in grant funding for her school libraries. She is a frequent presenter having given 10 webinars and over 30 in-person workshops, most recently at the American Association of School Librarians National Conference in Tampa, FL. She blogs at BiblioBrownlee.weebly.com and can be found on Instagram and X @amybrownlee93. Learn more about her work at about.me/amybrownlee.

Filed under: Guest Post