[January 13, 2015]

LEGO® Education Enhances StoryStarter Offerings with Three Expansion Sets

Today, LEGO^® Education announced three new StoryStarter Expansion Sets to enable students to create rich, detailed stories and reports. The Expansion Sets are to be combined with the StoryStarter Core Set, Curriculum Pack, and StoryVisualizer software, providing many additional lessons and opportunities for exploring a variety of writing styles. All three of the StoryStarter Expansion Sets have curriculum packs that invite students to delve deeper into the specific genre or theme. The curriculum includes:

• An introduction to the materials and teacher notes that include tips for student assessment.
• A curriculum grid aligning each activity to Common Core standards and specific learning objectives.
• Six complete StoryStarter activities designed around the specific Expansion Set theme.
• An additional ideas section with prompts for even more activity suggestions.
• A constructopedia displaying a variety of unique models to inspire students.

"The benefits of StoryStarter go beyond writing. Students are able to develop their understanding of vocabulary, identify the meaning of idioms, use models to summarize text, and display sequential order," said Jaime Williams, fourth-grade teacher at Emilie Elementary in Bastrop, Texas. "With the Expansion Sets, the students enjoy having a new purpose for writing. We are able to use the set in more units and other subject areas. The students can now writ expository essays as well as fantasies."

• StoryStarter Fairy Tale Expansion Set: The StoryStarter Fairy Tale Expansion Set, which includes 185 unique bricks and elements, enables students to engage with fairy tale characteristics, famous authors, character traits, and cultural influences on fairy tales. The curriculum pack aids in teaching a variety of writing styles, including articles, interviews, short biographies, and scripts.
• StoryStarter Space Expansion Set: The StoryStarter Space Expansion Set, which includes 185 unique bricks and elements, enables students to discover the science fiction genre while also exploring social studies, recounting historical events, or exploring related natural science topics. The curriculum pack teaches a variety of writing styles, including diary entries, scripts, letters, articles, and instructions.
• StoryStarter Community Expansion Set: The StoryStarter Community Expansion Set, which includes 200 unique bricks and elements, enables students to explore a variety of social studies topics related to communities and their needs. The curriculum pack focuses on teaching a variety of writing styles, including news reports, short biographies, letters, advertisements, and information graphics.

Each Expansion Set of LEGO bricks and elements with curriculum packs is priced individually at $39.95 USD. To help with classroom management, special stickers that align to each Expansion Set can be placed on the StoryStarter Core Set storage box, indicating the Expansion Set elements have been added. More information can be found at www.legoeducation.us/storystarter.

About LEGO Education Since 1980, LEGO Education (LEGOeducation.us) has delivered hands-on, curriculum-based resources for teachers and students worldwide. LEGO Education believes a hands-on, minds-on approach helps students actively take ownership of the learning process and develop 21st-century skills such as creative thinking and problem solving through real-life, engaging experiences.

LEGO and the LEGO logo are trademarks of the LEGO Group. ©2015 The LEGO Group.

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