Booksource exhibited at NSTA’s national conference for the first time this year, and we had a blast! (NSTA is the National Science Teachers Association, for those of you who can’t keep up with all the education conferences and their acronyms.) We spend a lot of time talking literacy with the ELA crowd, so this was a great opportunity for us to show off our nonfiction STEM/STEAM titles to science teachers and brainstorm new ways we can help teachers use books in content area classrooms. Here are our top 5 takeaways from the conference:

1. Science nerds can be book nerds too!

Exhibiting at any new conference can be a gamble: Will we fit in? Will attendees pick up what we’re putting down? Is there a place for Booksource here? We were so excited to experience a resounding YES to all these questions! We loved talking with science teachers around the country and hearing about how they use books in their classroom—from read alouds to research projects to Drop Everything And Read (D.E.A.R.) time. If you want to incorporate books into your science classroom and aren’t sure where to start, try NSTA’s recommended trade book list and our curated science collections.

2. Graphic novels have universal appeal.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: Students like comics and graphic novels. You probably already knew that, right? But did you know that we have graphic novels for science classrooms? In our booth at NSTA 2019 this year, we showcased several STEM/STEAM-themed graphic novel series: Max Axiom, Science Comics, Secret Coders, Manga Math Mysteries and Graphic History: Inventions & Discovery Through Time. These proved to be our most popular books on display! Not only are they engaging for students, but the illustrations also help inform the science content in each title—win-win!

3. Happy hour has universal appeal.

As much as students love graphic novels, educators love a happy hour, and so do we! Since NSTA was in our hometown of St. Louis this year, we treated attendees to a happy hour at one of our favorite spots–the National Blues Museum! Attendees were invited to eat some great appetizers, enjoy our signature cocktail (the Mendeleev Mule) and decompress after a day of conference sessions. Educators work so hard—even while they’re away at a conference—so we were happy to give them a break!

4. Growth Mindset concepts are appropriate for students of all ages.

As part of our booth, we included a few books with Growth Mindset themes, knowing how important they can be in teaching skills like perseverance and creative problem solving. While most of these titles are picture books written as read alouds for a younger audience, we were excited to hear that middle and high school teachers are using these in their science classrooms as well. Titles like Rosie Revere, Engineer and What Do You Do With An Idea? can inspire students of all ages to embrace the unexpected and turn problems into solutions.

5. If you build NGSS science kits, they will come.

NSTA 2019 was a great opportunity to gather information on an exciting product we have in development: NGSS Science Kits! While we already carry some great curated NGSS collections, we suspected that science teachers might want some resources to help them incorporate those books in their classrooms. The NSTA conference was a great place for us to collaborate with teachers to make sure we’re meeting their needs. We loved all your ideas, so stay tuned for more information about NGSS Science Kits in the coming months!