Recycled mini-books for student stories

Okay, this isn't a new idea at all.

However, motivating students to write sometimes means you have to create a forum for their imagination. Holding up a book that you actually put together can be quite satisfying.

I teach middle school so many of my projects are student-driven. That means I don't do the cut and paste; I just make a model which is hopefully easy to follow. I sometimes include printed instructions.

For some students, if the end-product appears fun or cool, they'll buy into the "whole writing thing".  For others, physically creative projects intimidate them. Therefore, for this type of work - creative writing + hands-on crafting - I utilize small groups or pairs.  

Here are pictures of what for me has been the simplest way to create a "free" mini-book.

Scissors

Three hole punch

Plain white paper

Duct tape or painters take

Ribbon 

Assorted other paper (optional)

One box side (A cereal box can make two half-size books. This is good for trial and error groups.)

Hole punch it

Flip it over 

Stick paper in it and draw lines. This will help you to cut the paper to size.

See?

I forgot to take a picture of hole-punching the paper. Here it is, hole-punched. 

I used about five sheets.

Line up the holes and tie a ribbon through each. 

The inside will be odd-looking until you cover the printed section. 

Glue down one of the white papers. 

I chose to also tape the edges down, too, folding the tape over the edge to really get rid of the printed words.

Here's the finished product.

It's cute and it's easy for an eighth grader to put together.

Since we don't have regular access to computers and printers, my plan is to have students print their stories onto 1/4 of their page, using a  4x4 table as a guideline. Yes, I'm going to show them. Those without any access will have worksheets of 4x4 tables with lines to carefully print or write their story sentences. 

I should mention that these stories are very short - anywhere from ten to twenty sentences. Before you think this is baby work, the students have to align their story to the ten steps of the Heroic Journey Archetype. That is no small feat. 

I also don't plan on devoting more than two weeks to the crafting AND creation of their "novels". If I don't set a limit, I will have students (bless them!) who will proudly present a glorious volume of work, ignoring all else in the classroom, like tests or other work.

I have ideas to photograph my student groups and have them create an author's bio, maybe as enrichment or extension work for the more advanced students.

There must be a cover. That's the only required illustration. They can always add more. The cover is small, which is great, because it's a smaller space to finish. I have had students who will overburden themselves with giant posters and not finish because they are so overwhelmed.

That's it.

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