What do you see?

This is the result of the book my preschool class and I made this past month. I am so proud! It is the best class book I've ever made, I think.

I started reading the Eric Carle illustrated book,Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do You See? , authored by Bill Martin, Jr. to my class. They, of course, knew this book already. One or two days we made our own paper, with sponges, roller paintbrushes, combs, or anything else. Ididn't at this point tell them that they were making an animal. I just had them make the paper. I know from experience that if you tell them you're going to make their paper into a rabbit, for example, they will paint a rabbit. But this isn't the point of the experence. I want them to make the book in the Eric Carle style---cut paper to make shapes, when put together, will make the animal.

Another day we discuss what their favorite animals are. I made them each pick a different one, which was distressing to some since lots of boys wanted "fierce animals," as one student put it! I tried my best to get something for each of them that they would like. At this point the book is in my hands, and the kids don't really have a lot to do with it. Unfortunate! At this point in our school year, though, most don't have the skills to cut something so precise. I found templates everywhere---Internet coloring pages, mostly. I actually had a parent cut the animals out for me. I made lily pads and water and land mass out of the scraps of paper. I typed up and order for the book, and---ta-daa!----I have a book I'm really proud of.

I think anyone could make a book like this. And what I love is being able to teach kids about how things are made. To make kids notice things they haven't noticed before, that's a teacher's job. And Eric Carle's artwork is really simple, and i hope now that we've done this, I can inspire them to make things on their own with scraps of beautiful paper.