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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Kindergarten Memory Books


Do you all create a kindergarten memory book?  Leave your tips and ideas in the comment section.
Here are some of mine:

I bind my memory books before the year begins.
I use black for the cover page and I include one page for each month of the year, Aug. - June.

Each month, I glue some special projects on that month's page (front & back) and I include a photo of the child each month.

Here are some monthly ideas:
(Many of the images are linked to our TPT page where you can download the templates.)

Cover:  Die cut school bus with photo of child on the bus.

August:  1st day photo, Chicka-chicka-boom-boom tree with child's name in fun foam letters, and "My favorite sandwich" writing.

Back of August page:
 

September page:
September fall leaf poem & photo.
Back of Sept. page had the Halloween photo.  Usually there is a Halloween craft here and the bear skin with Native American symbols is on the Nov. page.

October page:  They "bought" the decorations for their cats with 20 cents.  Our receipts for 
                          November page:
Back of Oct. page faces Nov. page
Classic handprint turkey.
We use lace doilies for the pilgrim girl collars.

Back of Nov. page faces Dec. page.
 December page:  Laced stocking with wish list of images clipped from advertisements.
This photo has each child dressed up as their favorite holiday icon:  reindeer, snowman, gingerbread man, or elf.  This goes with our class graph.  The reindeer wins every year because he can fly.  :)
 (Monthly writing is available on TPT.)
Back of Dec. page faces Jan. page.
January page:  Snowman Shop.  Students buy the pieces to decorate their snowman:  
Oh, my!  He lost an eye!  
Back of Jan. page:  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
February page:  Includes photo of their Valentine costume.  The little numbered hearts create a clock.

 This National Symbol Writing template is also on TPT.
Back of Feb. page:  National Symbol writing.
March page:  Photo dressed like a leprechaun & their self portrait doll We used it for a writing prompt.  
Back of March page had their kite writing.  They are still up in our classroom.

April page:  Career writing.  They dressed up looking like what they want to be when they grow up.  This template is on TPT.  We also have lots of career puppets on TPT too.  Click each career to see each puppet:
Fire Fighter,     Police Officer,     Chef or baker,     Ballerina,    Construction Worker,    Baseball Player.
 

 Back of April page has our Earth Day world with helping hands.  


May page:   Life Cycle of a butterfly in pasta:  Eggs = pastina,  Caterpillar = spiral pasta,  Chrysalis = small shell pasta,  Butterfly = bow tie pasta.  Paint with tempra or acrylic paints.  
Our organic, edible raised bed garden.

 And this goes on the June page.  It's their VIP report.  Their graduation photo also goes here.
Back of June page.

This poem goes on the back cover:
What are your great tips for memory books?

6 comments:

  1. Alicia Norling My students have a "I can read" binder that they take home once a month that has poems, songs and chants that we have worked on for the month. Through out the year we collect their art projects and file them. At the end of the year we add in their art projects and writing through the year, put a new cover sheet on the binder that says "My Kindergarten Memories" then we add pictures and that becomes their memory book.

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    1. This idea sounds wonderful! Taking home the binder once a month allows parents to see growth too. Thank you for sharing! :)
      Palma

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  2. How big are the background pages for the memory book? Awesome idea! Thanks so much for sharing!

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    1. The background pages of construction paper are 12X13. The extra inch is for the spiral binding or stapling, so the area for gluing projects and photos to is 12X12. Years ago, we used 12X18, but that was too hard to manage. Thank you for your question. I'm sure others were wondering the same thing. :) Palma

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  3. I put their memory book in a regular 1 inch binder which the parents provide. I use a self portrait at the beginning and end of the year and various worksheets from the different areas of the curriculum showing growth in printing and other concepts. I take photos and print in black and white on the school copier and the children at first copy sentences then as the year progresses.print their own. And they are stuck in the school while I walk the picket line in BC!

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