Tag Archives: STEAM

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist

Winter Edition: What Are We Doing Today? Virtual Activity Ideas from CMLE

Since so many of us are once again learning and working from home, CMLE has decided to resume sharing weekly online activity ideas!

Back in the spring of 2020, we created pages full of STEAM projects, art, daily exercise routines, scavenger hunts inside and outside, history lessons, virtual visits to museums and national parks, and so much more.

And we’re at it again!
To keep up with our weekly virtual activity inspiration, you can follow us on social media, sign up for our newsletter, or just keep an eye on our blog.
We will once again provide links to all our featured activities on our page in one spot for easy access.

CMLE is here to support our library members, especially during this challenging time. Always feel free to contact us at admin (at) cmle.org.

Here are a few activity ideas to get us started:

To start the day, try one of these four activities to get students excited about the day ahead! A scavenger hunt, beat the teacher game, and work on language using questions and clues! Check it out here.

Get those STEAM skills to work and make your own frost! It’s an easy experiment that doesn’t require too many materials, and if you’re in Minnesota like us, you can compare your homemade frost to the stuff outside!

The Walker Art Center in Minneapolis has this great page with FREE virtual workshops, storytime, short films, and instructions to make art at your home! Check it out and create away!

We’ll have more posts like this next week, with lots of ideas to keep you busy and learning from home. In the meantime, stay safe and healthy!

Check it Out:, School Media Specialist, Tech

CMLE Has VR Kits For You! Apply Today!

The grant is funded in part with a grant from the Minnesota Department of Education using federal funding, CFDA 45.310 – Library Services and Technology Act, Grants to States Program (LS-00-19-0024-19).

This year, we are so excited about our Year of STEAM at CMLE! And we’re especially excited because we received a grant  LSTA grant from the MN Department of Education, the State Library Services, with money from the Institute for Museum and Library Services (IMLS), we were able to buy VR/AR kits we will be sharing across our member school libraries!! These headsets are sturdy and meant to be used in schools. When you receive the headsets in your school you will also be given access to an online Portal that contains hundreds of curriculum-aligned lesson plans that incorporates the VR/AR technology.

We will have an application ready soon, but for now, if you would like to request a kit, just email admin @ cmle.org. We’ll have some questions for you and will work out the details! (Please keep in mind these kits must be coordinated through your school library).

We are holding a Fall Welcome Back Event on Thursday, Sept. 26th from 4-7 at the St. Cloud Public Library and will be happy to bring kits along to distribute to members that have contacted us and applied ahead of time.

Otherwise, we’ll have signup sheets and more information available at the event. Plus, you can try the VR headsets for yourselves! (They are seriously cool).

We are working with the vendor to schedule formal in-person training sessions and will announce them when we know more. In the meantime, you can get started on our vendor’s website – browsing around to get some ideas you might want to try when your kit arrives.

Also, browse this document! It’s the setup and user’s guide. You also NEED to show this to your IT people before your kit arrives, so they have time to make any modifications. (Show them page 27: Technical Guidelines.)

Watch this video to see what the headsets look like, and watch our website all year for updates from schools that are using the headsets in their libraries and classrooms! Of course, email admin @ cmle.org with any questions.