Don't Hesitate, Collaborate, by Sandy Meagher
When classroom and art teachers work together on a project, a beautiful cross-curricular quilt can result
As the school year progresses, I become very aware of how the collaboration among teachers is an integral part of the learning process. Recently our fourth grade teachers asked me to help them with their Pennsylvania state study, which is the curriculum for social studies for two semesters. The seven teachers, reading specialist, instructional support teacher, technology teacher, art teacher and I collaborated. We had a variety of topics including biographies of famous residents, products, tourist attractions, famous places, geographical features and historical events. What a gold mine for a librarian!
In comes the art teacher
Students were introduced to the research strategies and partnered with people their teachers had listed as good working friends. Our art teacher, Jack Burcher, was going to help each student design a quilt square about their research and then each class would have its own Pennsylvania quilt. Everyone involved was really excited; the quilts were going to be beautiful. We could display them at Open House and ask the Historical Society or local businesses to hang them for all to see. Projects like this allow so much involvement and creativity in the learning process.
This project can be adapted in so many ways. Remember, we don't have to reinvent the wheel but we can certainly apply some of the spokes of that wheel to other subject areas.
Teamwork-inspiring texts
Here are some books that lend themselves especially well to cross-curricular projects between classroom and art teachers:
Any social studies lesson involving travel will be enhanced by the book Tour America: A Journey Through Poems and Art by Diane Siebert (Chronicle Books, 2006, ISBN: 0-811-85056-0). Each page includes a different city in the United States, a poem and beautiful art by Stephen Johnson to complement. The book is a great model for students; have them find or write their own poem for a city, town or their state, and create an accompanying piece of art.
Science was always presented in a plain textbook when I was an elementary school student. Well, no longer: Try introducing butterflies with the excellent book A Place For Butterflies by Melissa Stewart (Peachtree Publishers, 2006, ISBN: 1-561-45357-9). The artwork is outstanding. I plan to introduce this book during Earth Day because the thrust of the information explains that we must protect the ecosystems that support the survival of butterflies. One of our teachers had her students start a butterfly garden similar to the one presented in the book.
Science and art also combine in the beautiful book On Earth by G. Brian Karas (Putnam, 2005, ISBN: 0-399-24025-X). How the seasons evolve, months of the year, hemispheres, the equator and the north and south poles are introduced with simple explanations.
A book that has fun mathematical puzzles and marvelous artwork is Imagine by Norman Messenger (Candlewick Press, 2005, ISBN: 0-763-62757-7). On each page there is a mathematical puzzle to trace and complete, with answers in the back. This book can be used in so many different ways. Use it as a writing prompt by showing one of the pictures. Then, by utilizing the fold-out features, try the same writing prompt but with a different part of the picture.
Children never stop loving to learn by doing activities with their hands. Even I keep my knitting needles close by because the soothing clacking of the needles settles me at the end of a day. I haven't tried weaving lately, but the book Kids Weaving by Sarah Swett (Melanie Falick Books, 2005, ISBN: 1-584-79467-4) would inspire children and adults to give it a try. Some of the projects adapt themselves to reading a story, then creating a weaving to tell one's story.
Sandy Meagher is the Library Department Chairperson and School Librarian in the Wayne Highlands School District, Honesdale, PA.
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