Tunnel Book - 4th and 5th Grade

For this lesson I began by discussing how we tell stories and how we use books to tell those stories. I then begin a demo using a video that I made to walk the students through how to make a book utilizing the pants fold method. Once they have their pants fold in front of them I begin to teach them about how to create the tunnel potion. This step requires me to slow down the lesson and really move one step at a time. I first have the students draw out their three holes, then once I double check that they have drawn them in the correct spot they can begin to cut them out. Once the holes have been cut I show them how to fold the book so the tunnel pops up and is stored between the 'covers' of the book. this usually takes up the time of one class so I then pick up the books and store them until the next time they come to art.

The next art day I have them decided what story they want their book to tell and how they can use the tunnel in telling that story. This is where students can get really creative and add lots of fun details to their book. I have them start with pencil outlines and then add color using crayons, colored pencils, and markers. Once the books are done I pick them up and store them so I have a chance to look at them, grade them, and take pictures to share with the community. Because of the format these are really hard to display, but super fun to make and they help teach students about bookmaking and story telling!

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