Language Arts, Writing, Writing Process, Journaling

Grade 1- 3

Objective

Students create memory books of what they have learned and experienced to use throughout the school year.

Directions

Photographs are a great way to get students actively involved in the writing process.
Let parents know that you need film for a special project.Many parents would be more than willing to donate several rolls of film to the class.(Some might even want to pay for the developing costs. It does not hurt to ask!)

Throughout the school year, take pictures of the students as they are involved in different types of activities such as art projects, reading groups, seat work, plays, etc.

Directions for preparing each memory book:
Photocopy the cover (page 54) onto cardstock and write the child's name on the cover. Use cardstock for the back cover also. Take a picture of the student at the beginning of the year, and paste it to the center of the cover. Place 12-15 blank pages and copies of pages 55 and 56 in the book. Staple the book together. At the beginning of the school year, have each student write his or her name and the letters of the alphabet (see page 55). Towards the end of the school year, have the student finish filling in the rest of the information on pages 55 and 56.

About every six weeks (or whenever you have several new rolls of film developed) place photographs in baskets and give each group a basket. Let the students pick out several pictures each that they are in. On 2" x 7" (5 cm x 18 cm) strips of paper, have the students write sentences that tell about what was happening when the pictures were taken. (At the beginning of the school year, some students might need help with writing their sentences.)

Have the students bring the completed strips and their pictures to you. Check to make sure that the pictures are not already in their memory books. Go over the sentences with the students.
Then glue the pictures and the sentences into their memory books.

Towards the end of the school year, take several pictures of the whole class. These pictures can be glued to the inside of the back cover of each student's memory book.

At Open House, place the memory books on the students' desks. The students and their parents will be thrilled to see the school year through the students' eyes. (Parents who are unable to volunteer in the classroom will be especially appreciative of the pictures.)

Resources

• My School Memory Book cover (page 54)
• My School Memory Book pages (pages 55 and 56)
• cardstock
• paper cut into 2" x 7" (5 cm x 18 cm) strips
• drawing materials
• photographs
• glue