AJ School News

March 10, 2010

It’s a small world

Adriane Heine Abington Journal Correspondent

WAVERLY - The gymnasium at Waverly Elementary School was transformed into a three-dimensional landscape of America recently. Families and students walked among three -foot -high trees which formed a forest. There was a city, complete with roads, apartment buildings and a train station. In the suburban area, people were invited to walk around the charming cottages to better view the backyard gardens and pet the domestic animals. The rural area was bustling with farm animals, a farmers’ market and a farm house. All of the buildings, scenery and characters in the display were designed and created by the three first grade classes, led by teachers Ruth Fried, Amanda Kunkel, Sara Kasper and student-teacher Allison Miller.

“The students learned about the three types of communities and the characteristics of each,” Fried said. “After learning about these concepts, each class was assigned a community to create. The students first brainstormed necessary places and buildings to include. Then they designed a landscape backdrop and finally built the buildings out of boxes, cardboard and paper. On the third day the students created other items to include like trees, automobiles and animals.”

“We decided to let the children take the activity to another level, to really get creative,” Kunkel explained. “It was important that they work in groups, not individually, focusing on cooperation, as is necessary in all successful communities.”

The results were extraordinary, with the display resembling something out of a children’s museum. “The other teachers and I were so very impressed with the students’ work. They are never at a loss for a creative idea,” Fried said.

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