With the arrival of ‘World Earth Day’ on 22nd April 2019, the PYP 4 learners launched themselves into a STEAM inspired learning engagement during their Information Literacy lessons. We made Tunnel Books based on “The Great Kapok Tree” by Lynne Cherry using Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM).
Tunnel B
ooks are unique books that represent stories/books using three-dimensional art. They give an effect of a tunnel or depth to a book. The sides of Tunnel Books look similar to an accordion. Tunnel Books can be simple or complex and can be easily adapted for different grade levels.
We read the book “The Great Kapok Tree” as this book exemplifies the importance of trees and the need for rainforest conservation. We watched a few videos to gain an understanding of how Tunnel Books are made. Initially, we brainstormed the idea of designing slides to tell the story, however by giving the students agency, we allowed them to choose an option of representing animals from the story through art.
The learners then grouped themselves into different tasks such as making the sides of the accordion, drawing various animals, cutting the front and back panels, writing the text. The learners exercised their voice and choice while 
deciding what to include in the writing of the text for the Tunnel Books, and writing the blurb of the story using an acrostic poem was one of the different examples.
This learning engagement involved lots of creativity, measurement, drawing, cutting and online research. We worked on this project for several weeks and, this is how our Tunnel Books turned out!
By Devaki Shahagadkar
