apple pie tour, The

Teaching Pre K-8, Feb 1998 by Allen, Tammy, Bauman, Judy

A travel unit that features all the ingredients of an apple pie and a lot of different countries, too

Challenged by the need for multicultural activities in our classroom, we developed a travel unit based on How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World by Marjorie Priceman (Random, 1996), a book that takes a child to various countries to get the ingredients for an apple pie. Our integrated unit focused on geography, language arts, math, various cultures and modes of transportation.

To meet the wide range of developmental levels and abilities in our classroom, we needed a unit that was flexible in both content and time. The class devoted one week to learning about each country mentioned in the book, with activities periodically integrated throughout the week. Our students were excited to have the events occur throughout the week with something special each day.

Local help. We received wonderful help from the local community. For example, a department store donated small dress boxes and restaurants supplied menus and various mementos. While studying the money in each country, a local bank kept us current on the rates of exchange. Other valuable resources were the library, parents of students, friends and travel agencies. All in all, we spent less than 10 dollars from our class budget

Preparations for the trip were almost as exciting for the children as the adventure itself. After reading the book to the class and discussing what the trip would entail, each child received a small dress box for a suitcase, complete with a ribbon handle. Luggage tags were created from an apple-shaped note pad with name and room number.

Each child wrote a list of items he or she would need to pack for the trip and attached it inside the suitcase. For a finishing touch, the student created an original travel sticker representative of the area being visited. These travel stickers were attached to the outside of the suitcase with a clear contact paper.

You cannot leave the country without a passport, of course, so we created small, blue paper booklets. Since real photos were too expensive, each child drew and colored his or her self-portrait on the first page. On the second page was a form that students filled out with personal information.

The remaining six pages were used for each new destination. Each country's name was written across the top of a page; beneath was a stamp or a sticker that validated our visit. We got creative by using stamps or stickers representing plants, animals, literature or authors from the countries. Our visit to the countries included a study of the people, their culture, currency and cuisine. Travel posters displayed around the room depicted famous landmarks and tourist attractions. Books about each country were made available for children to read. Our classroom tourists were also treated to memorabilia from different members of the school community. Children made all the souvenirs during their journey and stored them in their suitcase as they traveled.

First stop. We were ready to embark! Our first stop was Italy for wheat. We made a travel brochure by folding and stapling three sheets of white paper. On the front cover, children drew a gondola and wrote the word Italy across the bottom; on the back cover, they drew the Leaning Tower of Pisa. The brochure featured the following:

A map of Italy drawn by students and labeled with the capital, the mountains, the main rivers, and the surrounding bodies of water.

A simple Italian flag, which made a great geometry lesson about rectangles.

A chart listing the Roman and Arabic numerals and the Italian words for counting to 10.

A simple graph showing the rate of exchange between the lira and the dollar.

A page of pasta names and shapes.

During our stay in France (to pick out a chicken for eggs), everyone purchased a postcard and a T-shirt. The front of the shirt was decorated with drawings of cheese, the French flag, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Off to Sri Lanka to get cinnamon. Here, we pampered our sense of smell with a cinnamon stick and ground cinnamon in a plastic bag to take home. Also, a sample of cinnamon candy spiced up our tastebuds and a construction paper palm tree joined our luggage collage.

Milk was needed from a cow in England and it was here everyone learned about Big Ben. Our travel stickers were made to look like the famous clock. A souvenir magnet in the likeness of the British flag was made from a salt-and-flour dough. After air drying, the children used blue and red markers to decorated their flag. Finally, magnetic strips were attached to the back with a glue gun.

In sunny Jamaica, where we stopped for sugar cane, we needed construction paper visors to protect our eyes. Each child was given a photocopy on white paper of a large crescent shape. Our tourists decorated their visors by either gluing on brightly colored fruit and flowers cut from seed catalogs or by drawing a lovely island scene, complete with sunset. Once these were laminated, yarn ties were attached to hold them securely while being worn. The suitcases were now sporting brightly colored, smiling bananas.