Cruising through
the City – A Beginner’s Guide
HOW IT WORKS
Cruising through the City –
A Beginner’s Guide! is an interdisciplinary study that
focuses on learning about the means of transportation
available in New York City and the Red Hook Community in
Brooklyn. The students tour the Panorama of the City of New
York, a permanent exhibit at the Queens Museum of Art, and
sketch drawings of the boroughs; the Atlantic Ocean; the
Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Verrazano Narrows Bridges; landmark
buildings; subway trains; and ferries. Throughout the study,
the children read poems about transportation and are exposed
to fiction and nonfiction literature through read-alouds and
partner reading. The students use the Internet to research
specific information about bridges (type, when construction
started, when opened to the public, etc.) and the subway
(why it was needed, when it was constructed, etc.). They
compile facts about transportation in New York City and the
Red Hook Community in a newsletter and word search. As a
culminating project, the students construct a relief map of
the five boroughs using clay and tempura paints. They design
bridges using visual aides from the Internet, Popsicle
sticks, and yarn, and subway trains are made from milk
cartons, aluminum foil, and buttons. The students create 3-D
sculptures of landmarks, buses, and ferries using
papier-mâché. The relief map of New York City is added to
the school’s museum, where the students act as curators for
visiting classes that are provided with a transportation
newsletter and word search to reinforce learning.
THE STUDENTS
Second grade students of various learning abilities
participate in this study for six weeks. This unit can
easily be adapted to meet the needs of younger or older
students.
THE STAFF
Lisa Aldrich and Amy Gomes have been teaching second grade
at P.S. 15 for three years. In November 2002, Lisa joined
the Community School District 15 Teacher Leader Group. Lisa
also presented a math workshop at the 79th Annual Meeting of
the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics Conference
in Orlando, Florida. Amy recently completed her Master’s
Degree in Early Childhood Education from Brooklyn College.
WHAT YOU NEED
This program requires a six-week duration with classes
meeting four times a week (many lessons can be integrated
into the reading writing and math workshops). The necessary
resources include poems and books related to the theme of
transportation; poetry notebooks; teacher-made activity
sheets; AppleWorks and Student Writing Center software; a
computer with Internet access; an overhead projector; an LCD
projector (optional); papier-mâché, Popsicle sticks, black
yarn, milk, cartons, tempura paints, clay, craft glue,
buttons, fluorescent sticky notes, tri-fold presentation
board, poster-board-size foam board, and paper.
OVERALL VALUE
Cruising through the City – A Beginner’s Guide! makes
learning meaningful and enhances the students’ oral and
written communication skills. The children work together as
a team while taking pride in sharing their knowledge about
transportation in New York City with the school community. |