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Rafe Esquith: Five Tips to Help Children Develop Their Natural Gifts

#2912. My School-Making a Book About your school for your students

Reading/Writing, level: Kindergarten
Posted Tue Aug 12 20:28:08 PDT 2003 by Laura Cervantes (lcervantes@elp.rr.com).
Scotsdale Elementary School- Y.I.S.D., El Paso, TX USA
Materials Required: Digi-cam/ laminating machine, binding machine,and a friendly staff!
Activity Time: may vary
Concepts Taught: Getting Familiar with a New School

This lesson will requires some "craftiness" with a digital camera, but I suppose it can be done by cutting and pasting using pictures produced with a "good ole'fashioned" 35 mm camera as well. What you'll need to do, prior to school starting, is go around to your colleagues and take pictures of everyone you work with. Think of all the people that make your school run so smoothly. Make sure to include, your a picture of the front of the school for your cover, administrators,librarians, attendance clerks, secretaries in the office, nurse, custodial staff, cafeteria staff, your co-workers, friends...etc. Then when you print out your pictures, make sure to include a valuable piece of information about each person, and why they are so helpful to your campus. Perhaps, you can include rules; such as "This is ___(your librarian's name)__, she tells the greatest stories. She's in the library, that's the great big QUIET room full of LOTS OF STORIES!" Have fun with it! Don't forget to include yourself on the last page, include something about your self, and why they are going to love your class!! Print out each page, laminate each page if available, order the pages as you wish, but save the last page for a picture of yourself, and finally bind the book. Then when your book is done. Read the book on the first day of school before you go on your "orientation walk." As you read the book have the children notice all the people, and you can make a list on the side with a chart tablet, of all the people you have to go and meet. When you are done you can come back and list all the new "school words" that you have learned and then you can post these words on a-"Beginning of School-word wall." (not to be part of your sight word wall. Hopefully, as the year goes by, they'll slowly will learn everyone's names, and eventually be able to read the book all on their own!!