Mrs. Kirchmann & Mrs. Ferrari
St. Barnabas Elementary School
Bronx, New York

In autumn I could play in the leaves. The leaves change colors in autumn. The colors are gold, dark red, green, brown, dark gold and bright orange, all around me!

Free verse poem from students at table 1 class 2-2

The leaves fall and we rake and then we jump in the leaves. The wind blows and it gets cold.

Sample from students at table 1 class 2-2

Birds fly south because it gets too cold in the winter.
Sample from students at table 2 class 2-2

We celebrate Halloween. At Halloween we get candy. We dress up.
Sample from students at table 3 class 2-2

I love to go apple picking. I like picking apples with my mom and dad and my two brothers.

Sample from students at table 4. class 2-2

Apples are good for you. They are nice and red. And they fall off trees.

Sample from students at table 5. class 2-2

The objective of our project was to integrate Science, Math and Art to create our "Awesome Autumn Graphs". We brainstormed ideas regarding autumn as a means of equalizing students background knowledge and experience. Each table then had to vote on which topic they would discuss further to create graphs. The topics are as follows:

(table 1) Awesome Autumn Nature Happenings

(table 2) Awesome Autumn Animal Activities

(table 3) Awesome Autumn Holiday

(table 4) Awesome Autumn Activities

(table 5) Awesome Autumn Edibles

Assessment:

Assessment includes how children can discuss ideas in a cooperative group setting, with one child acting as a captain in leading the discussion.

Within the groups the children had to focus on decision-making, while choosing three categories for their autumn favorites. For example, Awesome Autumn Nature Happenings was later divided into Blowing Wind, Leaves Falling, Acorns Appear.

Assessment again, included interaction in a democratic setting while voting, and sometimes experiencing disappointment when an idea was not chosen.

Within their groups, children were responsible to draw their favorite category. Math played a role in this artistic activity, as assessment included a child’s ability to choose the correct color pattern for a particular category; place the paper in the proper direction, and draw a picture in a limited space without interfering with the background color pattern.

The groups then had to work together to build their graphs. Each table was responsible for attaching their titles, category headings and numbers in the appropriate places. Assessment included observation of a child’s involvement in the process (one should not be excluded, while another should not assume all the responsibility). A bit of peer-tutoring was encouraged throughout the groups.

The children created pictographs that also followed a color pattern.

During the final step, children had to look at their graphs and assess their results. They had to write a fraction for each category in their graph. For example, 3 out of 6 children’s favorite Nature Happening was Falling Leaves, 1/6 preferred Blowing Wind and 2/6 preferred Acorns Appear. Assessment was based on their knowledge of fractions.

Follow-Up:

Some children have already begun to write stories or poems regarding their "Awesome Autumn Graphs." They will also transfer the information onto Cruncher 2000 to see what their graphs will look like as a computer printout.