Transportania

Ways

to

Move

written and illustrated by Ms. May’s

First and Second Grade Class

Stony Point School May 2005

We dedicate

this book

to

Ms. May

because she taught us how to write and how to read, how to spell Mississippi, where Virginia is on the map, word study, math, science, multiplication and

respect for each other.

Ms. Williams because she helped us think of ideas for our book, taught us how to extract

information, math, helps us read and she listens to us.

Donna because she helped us use the computer, how to find websites, how to research,

use Read Please and how to draw on the Appleworks.

Mary Lou because she helped us with our craypa pictures, helped start the book, she showed

us how to sketch and label, how to make the best art and draw better pictures.

The Process

In Virginia, the Standards of Learning require the study of economics, community helpers, math problem solving and basic geometric shapes. In an effort to teach these broad ideas within a context that our students will find meaningful, this project, A Community on Wheels, was conceived. It was our class’ connection to our school-wide study of community. In our National Geographic Explorer Salon groups, we started to develop an enduring understanding of community.

As we began our study of community, many other subjects and ideas emerged. We wanted to understand what community members do that help the community be successful and keep it functioning. In economics, we learned about the interdependence of community helpers, the difference between wants and needs, and supply and demand. In civics, we learned about social conscience and good citizenship. We researched different community occupations and how they contribute to the overall success of the community. The very first thing we did was to brainstorm a list of community occupations. We thought about bus drivers, postal workers, garbage truck drivers, ambulance drivers, astronauts and the police. We made a graph of many different occupations and what we might like to do someday. Next we sorted a collection of toy vehicles and chose one to research. We began our research by finding books in our school library about our topics. We learned the difference between note-taking (taking facts) and note-making (making connections to ourselves). We learned how to find interesting information on the internet and sometimes used a computer reading program, Read Please. We practiced sketch-making and labeling. We each drew our vehicle adding as many details as we could. Using craypas, we experimented with patterns, shapes and color to add to the aesthetic of our piece. We made a border around our artwork and displayed them in the hallway. We even wrote a song about transportation with the help of Kate’s mom, Cathy Bollinger. We talked about rhyming, rhythm and rap music and created a song which dealt with different types of transportation in the air, on the land and on the sea. We used Appleworks Draw to create computer images of our vehicles. We learned about double clicking the eraser to get a new piece of paper. We used the large paint brush and dumped paint into closed areas. Some of us thought the computer drawing was harder than using a pencil.

We continued to research and write down facts. After all this work, the poem was easy. We used rhymes, facts, and ideas. We read them over and changed them and created a poem to accompany our craypas and computer graphic drawings. With all of these research skills in our repertoire including observing, sketching, labeling, note-taking and note-making, we then continued to conduct research using the National Geographic Explorers as one of our major resources. An ABC theme started to emerge. For each letter of the alphabet, we used our research facts and our knowledge of rhythm and rhyme to create a rap, which intermittently, on certain letters, becomes a full length song. We used songs such as Staying Alive by the Bee Gees and changed the words to reflect our research. We created our own version of these songs. We also write original songs with Cathy Bollinger playing the guitar as the students sing the vocals. We now have an ABC show which will incorporate our research with singing, piano, drums and dancing. We’ll be performing it for Quest Fest. We look forward to bringing down the house!

School bus Devon When a kid gets on a bus I cannot read, I cannot concentrate I cannot hear myself When the lights are on, the kids are quiet but they still whisper so I tell them to be Quiet so I can drive to Stony Point! So they can learn lots of things like math, drawing, music and being nice to each other.

Rocket Alexandra A rocket does not need wings to fly Because there’s no air in the spacey sky Oh cool, it landed on Mars Now it’s all ours Parts of the rocket that fall in the ocean I wonder if they do some pollution

Maserati Brayden I have to do suicide for making a fire in the middle of the city for no reason at all And it ain’t pretty I like to ride in my maserati in the city and I pass the Statue of Liberty

Ambulance

Garrett I am the driver red light, green light, pull over We’re going to save a life going to the emergency room When the siren is on, I wear ear muffs so it does not hurt my ears and I can save a life!

Racing bikes, dirt bikes, trick bikes Hogan When you ride up the ramp You feel like you’re flying in the air The bike goes faster when you try harder When you ride up a ramp, You feel like a champ

The Wright Brothers Plane Ashlie Planes are white and sometimes blue

And even green

They fly so fast… you better watch out

It will land on you.

The people who invented the plane were Wilbur and Orville they were in the Outer Banks flying in the air Where the water is

Firetruck

Brea Fire makes smoke smoke makes people die dangerous Firefighters help make you breathe Knock doors down Leah, Jim, Jeanne and I are out of the burning house cold, sad take the phone outside to call the firefighters big loud noise get the hose ready for smoke and fire

Ambulance Helicopter Damian The blades are spinning The helicopter can fly forward and backward The helicopter can make noise The helicopter can go in the night in the sky The helicopter blade can move 450 mph

Buckboard Kate

Made a long time ago way after the indians came there were no cars Gallup, gallup, going to the farm Pull back the reins to stop Get the hay out of the back and put the hay in the horse pen So the horse can lay on it and go to sleep

Unicycle Kelly There is a man on a trapeze bar and he is flying. There is a man with balloons in his hand and a fat lady marrying a skinny man. I am riding a unicycle on a tight rope

Canoe Madeline I’m on a canoe on the river When I touch the water, it makes me shiver The only sounds I hear are the birds and water flowing past me. The Indians made canoes out of bark to them the whole world was a park The sun is hot on my hair shining gold I’m exploring the river I feel like the Indians

Hummer Limousine Nyesha Hummer limousine with big plasma flat screen rolling through Hollywood all day long Hey, let’s stay out all night long picking up superstars taking them everywhere taking them to the mall picking up clothes picking out shoes taking you home after you can have a little fun

Dirt trick bike Sean S On the dirt and over the dirt In the air and amazing tricks In the air, doing cool tricks Everytime Hands off the handlebars It seems you are as far as the stars

Submarine Sean F

S is for submarine that touched water They go down the sea to summon me They find some treasure that is shivering Torpedoes for war Control room 125 people working on the submarine propellers spin take people home so they rest to see their family.

Mail Truck Taylor I got packages for you It could be anything I’ve got to go so don’t ask me what it is I better hurry up because I want to go to bed. I better hurry up I’ve got more mail to do tomorrow So I better hurry up

Train Train Thomas I am the engineer I pass the Boston harbor There are no passengers I pass Fenway Park There is a baseball game on I leave the train at the station The cow gets scared shaking Pulling the whistle to get the cow off the track Train train Rolling down the tracks Blew his whistle And never came back Oh no, the coal is burning And the wheels are turning In my brain, like on the train It’s dark in here I can’t see a thing I might crash Bing Bang Bing

Motorcycle William motorcycle, motorcycle vroom, vroom, vroom do your thing do your thing do your thing on the motorcycle do your tricks do your tricks I’m going to do some tricks

Blackbird

Zach Blackbirds are the fastest planes It flies faster than the speed of sound Blue Angel, Blue Angle, help me now You got to help our country before it goes! Military, military, help our nation and country! My brother rides the jets really well

Police Car Ben Arrest people put handcuffs on so they can’t move their hands Red lights reminds the bad guys that they’ll get caught circle lights or square lights Cop cars have to have lights they can be white, white and black, white and blue talking to their buddies on what they need to do “you need to go arrest a person” siren –la la la la la State police

Schooner Abby

Sometimes I feel like I’m on a schooner I can hear the waves splashing over the shore I feel the schooner going side to side When I’m in the schooner, I feel like I’m flying

Covered Wagon Allison Carried people, weak and old for many nights and days on to California parked in a circle to be safe from indians and outlaws slept in the wagon to be safe afraid to run out of food and water