- Read the book From Here to There, by Margery Cuyler, to the students. While reading, have students identify in the story parts of a room, street, town, country, continent, hemisphere, planet, solar system, galaxy, and, finally, the universe.
- After reading, ask students to answer questions based on reading in a discussion format: Do you have a favorite room where you live? What city do you live in? Which is bigger: a state or a country? What state do we live in? What country are you from? Write answers on the board.
- Direct students to look at Bireline’s Matisse Window. Make a list of everything they see, focusing on different shapes. Ask what room students think this window might be in and what other objects might be in or around the room and/or outside the window.
- Ask students to examine their classroom and make a list of all the objects they see, both big and small.
- Instruct students to work in small groups to create a cut-paper collage of a section of the classroom. Have students focus on the relationship of the size of objects and where they are placed on the paper. Instruct students to use simple shapes, similar in style to Bireline’s.
- When work is completed, hang student work together. Discuss how all of the objects make up a room in one collage and how many collages make up a classroom mural.
Written by Jessica LeCrone, ESL Educator, and Kristin Smith, NCMA Educator
Vocabulary
living room
kitchen
bedroom
front
hall
bathroom
city
state
country
“paint with scissors”
technique
Materials
construction paper, scissors, glue, From Here to There, by Margery Cuyler
