Accordion Books. Education Resource Kit. School Visits Programme Grades 1 8

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1 Accordion Books Education Resource Kit School Visits Programme Grades 1 8

2 Accordion Books Grades 1-8 Year Round WELCOME TO HARBOURFRONT CENTRE! Thank you for choosing to visit Harbourfront Centre! We offer programmes that are interactive and fun, and that appeal to a variety of learning styles. Harbourfront Centre is an innovative, nonprofit cultural organization which provides internationally renowned programming in the arts, culture, education and recreation, all within a collection of distinctive venues in the heart of Toronto's downtown waterfront. MAIN THEMES Themes that can be discussed in the classroom before your visit that are addressed in the Accordion Books programme are: stories, writing, functional art, voice, identity, specific to a unit in class. Curriculum Connections: Social Studies: Heritage and Citizenship The Arts: Visual Arts Language: Writing HOW TO USE THIS KIT AND STRUCTURE YOUR VISIT This kit is intended for teachers of grades 1-8 although you do not need to be a teacher to enjoy it. Our aim is to provide a useful resource beyond the life of the programme and to support varied classroom projects. The Resource Kit is ideal for cross-curricular work, touching on issues in language, literacy, social studies and humanities as well as art. Introductions to each section are grouped together, explaining the themes we have chosen to highlight in that area. Kits include both pre and post visit activities, in hopes that teachers will prepare students for their Harbourfront Centre experience, and follow up in the classroom afterward to get the most out of their visit to Harbourfront Centre. This kit includes: Pre-Visit Activities: The pre-visit activities are useful for activating your students prior knowledge about the topic of your visit. They will introduce your class to some of the topics that will be covered and as a result will make some of the discussions even richer. Post-Visit Activities: These activities will give you the opportunity to capitalize on the excitement that your students will feel towards the topics explored during their visit to Harbourfront Centre. The activities will make a number of cross-curricular connections. Teacher s Notes: This section will provide a lot of the research materials covered during your visit. This information will be useful both before and after your visit. Links to Learning: This section will provide you with a variety of resources that will be helpful to you should you decide to continue exploring the topics covered during your visit. FURTHER RESOURCES AVAILABLE If you have questions, or require further resources to support your visit or any education programme at Harbourfront Centre, please contact our School Visits department at or registrar@harbourfrontcentre.com Page 2 of 9

3 About the Programme During this visit, your students will learn various techniques (suitable per grade) and use creative materials to design and execute a unique book to use for art, writing or craft. Students will experience group discussions, will learn the tools and terminology of book making, and will also learn a variety of techniques that can be used when working with this medium. Each student will leave with their very own unique accordion book. Pre-Visit Activities The following lessons are for use before your visit to Harbourfront Centre. The intention of these lessons is to activate the prior knowledge of your students and to briefly introduce some of the ideas that will be covered during your session. These activities, of course, are not mandatory, but will enrich the discussions that your students will engage in with our instructors, and the overall Harbourfront Centre School Visits experience. Activity #1: Anticipation Guide Overview Students will complete a short anticipation guide to determine what they already know about the topic of books. They will begin to discuss what they think their uses and functions are and can be. Curriculum Links Language Reading Comprehension Strategies Language Reading Making Inferences Materials needed Copy of Anticipation Guide for each student Copy of a book you are reading in class (for subject matter) Chart Paper Activation 1. Explain to the class that you will be taking a field trip to Harbourfront Centre and participating in a program called Accordion Books. On their trip they will learn about different types of books, the history of books and different forms of communication, and will create their own accordion books using a variety of materials (suitable for each grade level). 2. Introduce the anticipation guide. Explain that it is a fun quiz to see what they might already know about the subject. Make sure they know that it is not for assessment purposes. 3. Hand out the anticipation guide and have students complete the quiz. You may wish to go one question at a time together, allow them to work in pairs or groups, or have them complete it independently. Building Knowledge 4. Have students share their responses and take up the answers. Page 3 of 9

4 5. Choose a book to read in class. As you read the story, stop after a few pages and ask the students if they have any ideas as to what kind of books exist and what they would like to use a book that they create for. Record their answers on chart paper (ex. decoration, to record things, to tell a story, to draw or sketch in). Stop throughout the story as you see necessary. Extension 6. Ask students to keep their eyes open and to let you know if they see different uses for books and what they would like to create on their trip to Harbourfront Centre. Page 4 of 9

5 Activity #1: Anticipation Guide Name: Date: 1. What are the kinds of things you might find in a book? (Draw or Write) 2. How many types of books can you think of? (Draw or Write) 3. What are some of your favourite kinds of books? 4. What do you think an accordion book might look like? Sketch a picture. Page 5 of 9

6 Post-Visit Activities The purpose of these activities is to extend on the learning that took place during your visit to Harbourfront Centre. This is a great opportunity to capitalize on the excitement and passion that your students are likely feeling about the topics they have experienced. Here you will find some structured activities, as well as extension ideas. Activity #1: Uses for your Accordion Books We made the accordion books now what? Here are some ideas to extend the learning back into the classroom and use the accordion books your class has made to further explore creativity: Artist Books: Artist books are works of art realized in the form of a book. They are often published in small editions, though sometimes they are produced as one-of-a-kind objects referred to as "uniques". Artists' books have employed a wide range of forms, including scrolls, fold-outs, concertinas or loose items contained in a box as well as bound printed sheet. Artists have been active in printing and book production for centuries, but the artist's book is primarily a late 20th century form. "Artists' books are books or book-like objects over the final appearance of which an artist has had a high degree of control; where the book is intended as a work of art in itself." -Stephen Bury The students have already made creative and individual accordion books, and these can be further developed by using them as a sketchbook for art class, or a place to creatively record/reflect on activities in the classroom. Journal/Diary: This is a record (originally in written book format) with discreet entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. Diaries undertaken for institutional purposes play a role in many aspects of human civilization, including government records, business ledgers and military records. Schools or parents may teach or require children to keep diaries in order to encourage the expression of feelings and to promote thought. Story/Poetry Books: Books that house stories or poetry are a great way for students to express their creativity, and for the learning to continue by using the books made at Harbourfront Centre for creative writing exercises. Students can write and enter their stories into their accordion books (perhaps writing a rough copy and then copying it neatly into their book), or use the accordion book for ongoing poetry or short story writing. Scrapbooks: Scrap booking is a method for preserving personal and family history in the form of photographs, printed media, and memorabilia contained in decorated albums, or scrapbooks. The idea of keeping printed materials of personal interest probably dates to shortly after the invention of printing. This form of art is becoming very popular and is a great way to express creativity through other subjects being studied in class. Students can take photos of their family or photo s of themselves growing up; their books then become their own personal scrap book. Page 6 of 9

7 Activity #2: Write About Your Visit Students can write journal entries or stories about their visit to Harbourfront Centre. Writing about their experiences and how the workshop made them feel is an excellent way to express creatively and begin a dialogue about themes and methods they participated in. Having the students write an evaluation of the visit is a good way of relating the themes explored in the performance to their everyday life, as well as being an effective tool for us at Harbourfront Centre to gage how our programmes are being received by students! Feel free to send us any feedback! Evaluation Template Ask your students to evaluate their experience at Harbourfront Centre through narrative writing exercises. These can be instigated by the following questions: 1. What did you like best about the trip to Harbourfront Centre? 2. What did you like least about the trip to Harbourfront Centre? 3. What did you learn about art, books or bookmaking that you didn t already know? 4. What have you decided to use your accordion book for? Teacher s Notes Book Making Bookbinding is the process of physically assembling a book from a number of folded or unfolded sheets of paper or other material. It also usually involves attaching covers to the resulting text-block. Handmade books can be made as: photo albums, journals, scrap books, guest registers, and much more. One of the goals of this program is to inspire interest in reading and writing for kids. Making books gives young children a creative way to learn subject matter while developing basic skills. They gain fine motor control as they fold paper and use scissors, hole punches, and glue. By taking part in a sequential activity, they learn to follow directions and pay attention to details. History of Book Binding The craft of bookbinding originated in India, where religious sutra were copied onto palm leaves (cut into two, lengthwise) with a metal stylus. The leaf was then dried and rubbed with ink, which would form a stain in the wound. The finished leaves were given numbers, and two long twines were threaded through each end through wooden boards. When closed, the excess twine would be wrapped around the boards to protect the leaves of the book. Buddhist monks took the idea through modern Persia, Afghanistan, and Iran, to China in the first century BC. With the arrival (from the East) of rag paper manufacturing in Europe in the late Middle Ages and the use of the printing press beginning in the mid-15th century, bookbinding began to standardize. Historical forms of binding include the following: Ethiopian binding Coptic binding Page 7 of 9

8 Long-stitch bookbinding Wooden board Limp vellum Calf-binding ("leather-bound") Paper case In-board cloth Cased cloth binding Secret Belgian binding Traditional Chinese bookbinding and Japanese stab binding Links to Learning Books about Book Making: Johnson, Arthur W. The Practical Guide to Craft Bookbinding. London: Thames and Hudson, ISBN X Lewis, A.W. Basic Bookbinding. New York: Dover Publications, ISBN (Originally published by B.T. Batsford, 1952) Smith, Keith A. Non-adhesive Binding: Books Without Paste or Glue. Fairport, NY: Sigma Foundation, ISBN X Zeier, Franz. Books, Boxes and Portfolios: Binding Construction, and Design Step-by-Step. New York: Design Press, ISBN Author: Ahlberg, Alan and Janet. The Jolly Postman: 2001 ISBN - 10: ISBN - 13: This book offers a delightful postbag of real letters for you to open up and read. Great book to read to your students. Websites Artists' Books CBBAG This website includes a short summary describing artists books. ZYbooks Artists Books online The site features artists books from around the world. Students can review these different types of artists books (as a post activity) and choose a book that is their favourite and write why this artists and book stood out to them. Videos Page 8 of 9

9 Title: Artists Books from the Herron Art Library part 1 U-Tube Video: 9 min - 1 Aug 2008, Uploaded by herronlib This video shows a variety of artists books; it lists the artists and the time in which the book was made. Extended Learning If you or your students are interested in continuing to work with accordion books and the idea of book arts check out the camps, courses and workshops and family programmes that are offered right here at Harbourfront Centre! Courses & Workshops: Camps: HarbourKIDS Family Programming: Page 9 of 9