Making FUN Class Books. (Tips & Tricks)

Spicing Up Your Writing Lessons:

I like to use a variety of writing activities: 
Journals (daily), 
Guided Writing (weekly), and 
Writing Prompts (monthly).

I use these Writing Prompt templates to create class books written by my students. Or use them to create seasonal bulletin boards displaying their writing.

                                       

Click the image above.

I meet with my students in a small group setting to create a class book. Here are just some of the templates included in my "Monthly Writing" set:

Click the template.

A great one to use at the beginning and the end of the year.
Click the template.

I always used this one AFTER Thanksgiving.
Click the template.

We integrated math by creating a class graph with the results.
Click the template.

Perfect for celebrating Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
Click the template.

Each child gets the same template.  You can do this two ways:

Using the writing prompt on the page, you ask the children to create an illustration that will go with their sentence. 

While they are illustrating, you ask the first child to dictate their  sentence, you write the words they need on lined Post-its, and they copy it.

OR:

You can have them use their inventive spelling to complete the sentence on their own or with guidance from you.

You can grab the entire set of 20 writing prompts, many of them integrate science and social studies, by CLICKING HERE.

Tip:  
-I number the pages with each student's classroom number.  
-I glue a numbered class list inside the front cover of the book.  
-Since that list includes their class number, it becomes an instant Table Of Contents!  Students can quickly find their own page in the book by just looking for their class number.
-At the end of the year, it is easy to take the books apart and organize the pages for each child to take home.  I place all of the pages for each child in a folder and glue a cover to it that says, "If you give a kid a pencil..."