Lesson Five: Constructing Our Own Cartoneras
Grade: 4th/5th Time Needed: 1 hour and 15 minutes Unit: From Trash to Treasure
Essential Questions addressed in this lesson:
· How can we adjust our habits and lifestyles to help save our planet?
· What recycling programs do other countries have?
Standards addressed in this lesson:
NCSS Standards-
· III. People, Places and the Environment.
· VII. Production, Distribution and Consumption.
· IX. Global Connections.
MMSD Standards-
· B.4.9 (History) Describe examples of cooperation and interdependence among individuals, groups, and nations.
· D.4.7 (Economics) Describe how personal economic decisions, such as deciding what to buy, what to recycle, or how much to contribute to people in need, can affect the lives of people in Wisconsin, the United States, and the world.
· E.4.12 (Behavioral Science) Give examples of important contributions made by Wisconsin citizens, United States citizens, and world citizens.
UW-Madison Teacher/School of Education Standards-
· Standard 9: Manages learning environment. During this lesson, I will engage students in learning while providing for their physical and socio-emotional well-being through supervising and enlisting parent volunteers during the construction of the cartoneras.
· Standard 12: Accommodates for all students. If there are students in my class that are unable to use the materials and supplies at hand, I will spend extra time or prepare items in advance for them to use in order to assure that they can successfully complete their cartonera.
Materials Needed:
· Cardboard (enough for each student to have a book cover and back)
· Glue
· Construction paper/Wrapping paper
· Paint
· Paintbrushes
· Scissors/Exacto knives
· Pre-written and edited stories written by each student
· Pre-made cartonera to use as an example
Objectives:
· Students will publish their own original stories by making cartoneras.
· Students will be careful when constructing their cartoneras.
· Students will understand that they are engaging in an act of recycling that is used in South American countries, including Argentina, Peru and Mexico.
Lesson Context:
This is the last lesson in the unit “From Trash to Treasure”. In the most recent lessons, we talked about the various recycling programs that are in place in our city of Madison, WI as well as Argentina. We learned that, in Argentina, there is no formal recycling program but instead citizens set up small programs to make books out of recycled materials. In this lesson, students will have the opportunity to make their own cartoneras, or fully recycled books. In language arts and writing, students would have been preparing and finalizing their own stories so the cartonera will be their final, published copy.
Lesson Opening:
Yesterday, we learned about Argentina and how there is a movement there created by the citizens to make cartoneras, or books made fully out of recycled materials. Today, we will each be making our own cartoneras to publish our books that we have written during writing time.
Procedures:
1. Have the students describe what a cartonera book is (from the video and previous lesson).
2. Present the materials that will be used during the construction of cartoneras.
-Cardboard- students are to cut this using scissors or exacto knives (with supervision) to make a cover, spine, and back of their cartoneras to fit the size of the pages they wish to use to write their books (if needed, the teacher can pre-cut the cardboard if they are worried about time or safety for their own class).
-Construction paper/Wrapping paper- this will be used to cover the outside cover, spine, and back of their cardboard
-Glue- this will be used to connect the paper to the cardboard and the paper to the spine
-Paper- this will be cut and used for the inside pages of the book
-Paint and Stencils- this will be used to decorate the cover of the book and write a title and author’s name on the front cover of the cartoneras.
3. Show students an example of each stage of the cartonera and how it is put together, followed by a final example that is pre-made by the teacher. Explicitly tell students your expectations and directions on how to make each stage of the cartonera.
-First, decide what size you want your pages to be. This is to be determined by the length of your book and how much writing will be on each page.
-Next, cut the paper down to the correct size using scissors.
-After that, cut the cardboard to be slightly larger than the inside paper. Use scissors to do this, or use an exacto knife only if the teacher is watching you do so.
-Then, cut the wrapping paper or construction paper to be the right size to cover the front cardboard for the front cover, spine, and back of your book. Glue this on so it makes one complete outside of the book.
-Next, glue in your paper to the inside of your spine. These will be the pages of your cartonera.
-Finally, once that is all constructed, you will write your final draft of your book on the inside pages of your cartonera.
-Lastly, once your entire book is written and your cartonera is constructed, you will use paint and stencils to decorate the outside of your cartonera. This must include a title and the author’s name.
4. Circulate the room while students are constructing their cartoneras.
5. After students have finished, invite them to share their cartoneras with the class. Display their cartoneras in the classroom library before sending them home.
Lesson Closing:
Today, we got to make our own cartoneras to see what the process is like for those who make them in Argentina. Throughout this unit, we learned about different ways to protect our world from the trash and waste that is produced through the 3 R’s, reduce, reuse and recycle. I hope that you all remember the strategies and concepts that we talked about so you can be responsible members of our community and help protect our world in the future.
Assessment:
· Students will be formally assessed on the completeness of their cartonera.
· Students will be formally assessed on their story and the accuracy of its content/grammar/punctuation.
· Students will be informally assessed based on their effort and participation during the making of the cartoneras.
Special Considerations:
· Have some pre-cut pieces of cardboard in case students are not able to do it themselves.
· Make sure that all students have finished their drafts and stories before starting on their cartonera.
· Make sure to have enough supplies so each student can do each stage of the cartonera.
· Invite parent volunteers to help if the teacher is worried about not being able to supervise all students during the making of the cartoneras.
