The Transportation Theme: Adding a layer of depth

السلام عليكم ورحمة الله وبركاته

For the topic of transportation, this year I've added a layer of depth to the theme. After reading aloud a few books whose theme (in general) is transportation and getting from place to place, children hear this book read aloud (sample pages below): 

The book specifically talks about how we move from place to place but the book ends by telling students that this is all a mercy from Allaah and then the dua' for alighting means of transport is taught. You can download the text for the book here (with English) and the transportation pictures used here and the planet pictures here insha'Allaah. 

To make the book requires that you cut around the pictures leaving no white showing. To make the scenes I used a combination of construction paper, paint, cardboard, aluminum foil, markers, foam and glitter. To give the space scene an outer space look, I put a thin coating of Mod Podge over it (i.e. the scene). 

Then to add a little more depth to the unit, I made a board that has the same scenes from the book. A discussion follows the read aloud about what types of transportation are used in different places (i.e. air, land, water and space). For the game pieces, I mounted them on thick card board and then covered them with clear contact paper.

After watching a demonstration of how to use the game, students are then invited to work on the board and place the types of transportation in the correct scene. This involves students being able to a). recalling relevant points of the story from memory b). sort the types of transportation based on the concept of where they are used

This allows teacher/parent to assess if the story comprehension was mastered or perhaps another read aloud is needed with a bit more discussion.

This game can be placed in a learning centre or on a low shelf to allow students to play with it when they wish. Additionally, you can record a story that talks about how we get from place to place and leave it in the listening centre for children to listen to. The book can be placed in a book basket or in your classroom library to allow children to re-read it when they would like (before placing homemade books in the classroom library it is recommended that you laminate them to help them survive student handling).

Students can also make mini-books about how we get from place to place. These can either be found on the internet or you can make your own that your child helps out with. Some other transportation material from the past can be found here insha'Allaah.

A math add-in to use is the popular "How Did You Get To School Today?" activity that is done at the beginning of the school year. The children tell how they get to school each day (i.e. which method of transportation they use) and together the class makes a bar graph showing which method of transportation is used by most of the students in the class.

The following books are nice to go with your transportation theme and may be found in your local library insha'Allaah.

 

Clang! Clang! Beep! Beep!

Listening to the City

Big Book of Transportation

Insha'Allaah, there will be a few more posts about adding layers to this theme.

And then there is the Autumn (Fall) theme to get ready insha'Allaah.

Enjoy insha'Allaah!