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Tapestry of Grace

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Making Books

(excerpted from Introduction to Writing Scope & Sequence of Tapestry of Grace):

Ecclesiastics 12:12b warns us:

Of making many books there is no end, and much study wearies the body.

However, one of the most valuable teaching techniques I've discovered is requiring my students to make books! J By "books," I mean compilations of small reports (or stories or drawings with captions (Level 1)). The student does a daily or weekly writing assignment on an overarching theme. Each completed assignment adds pages to the book. Pages are kept in a file, or on a computer, until the end of the unit draws near. Toward the end of the unit, the student creates a cover, polishes his work, adds clip art or hand-illustrations, and assembles his work into the book. The reasons this process is so valuable are numerous. Here are some:

1. The pages of the books themselves are little "research & writing" exercises: valuable in the doing, the polishing, and the presenting. Doing the book means doing the in-depth research (and thinking) he wouldn't do by just reading what others have written.

2. He works at a long-term project a little each day, and when the project is finished, he is always amazed at how a little daily/weekly discipline adds up.

3. It's a great example of "drop by drop the bucket is full." SO much in normal life is accomplished only this way. Students gain confidence for the huge jobs of life (like raising a child) by seeing that daily disciplines add up to great works.

4. There's a tremendous sense of satisfaction in a job well done when those books are assembled and displayed. PLEASE FINISH THESE BOOKS IF YOU START THEM! And, finishing them will take several hours of one-on-one polishing, compiling, and creative time (per student) from you each unit. You can do this work week by week, or you can do it in one big push at the end of the unit. That's totally up to you! The total time you invest will be about the same either way. Of course, the older the child is, the more they can do to help.

5. The books are wonderful display cases for your student's studies. They display his hard work in a way that no tests, term papers, or oral reports can.

6. Students remember everything they write, because they keep these books, and delight to re-read them with friends or grandparents. Even when they are grown, they delight to look back at these precious records of their school days, and say, "Remember when we…?"

Throughout this curriculum, various books are suggested in the Weekly Writing Assignments chart, sometimes as books, sometimes as other multi-week projects that can be bound as books (like photo essays, newspapers, or poetry). I feel confident that once you've tried making books, (and finished your first!) you'll include it as a regular portion of your student's educational work from now on!

There are two great resource books that will help you gain vision for book making:

1) Unfortunately, out of print, but use Amazon.com’s used book search to see if you can find this (especially good for moms of K-6’s): How To Make Books With Children Volume 1 by Joy Evans and Jo Ellen Moore. Published by Evan-Moore Corporation. I’ll give you a taste of what’s in this one, in case you can’t find it:

Shape books (making a book about hippopotami? Cut out the entire book to look like a hippopotamus!)

Wheel books (put a wheel behind a cutout window of your Nile Book and when the reader turns the wheel (which slightly protrudes from behind the cover) a barge sails across the “Nile” drawn on the cover. See picture in Writing Scope & Sequence Intro Notes, page 7.)

Pop-up books (you can learn about pop-ups in all kinds of places).

Accordion Books: they fold out like a long greeting card instead of having pages like a regular book.

Pull tab books: you know, you attach the man’s arm to a tab down behind the page, and when the reader pulls on it, the arm moves and works the Egyptian shaduf!

Books with flaps: flaps that lift, flaps that pop up, flaps that are attached to pull tabs—you name it!

2) Still available from Amazon, and probably others, is one of my all-time favorites for students of all ages: Creating Books With Children by Valerie Bendt, published by Common Sense Press. Get it from Amazon: they say, “List Price: ~~$18.00~~. Our Price: $15.30.” This is a wonderful resource that walks you through a step by step process of making a real, bound, hard cover book from scratch, using only things found around your house (computer optional!) We love this book! Great for those of you doing a co-op at the upper elementary level. Create a memory, and a keepsake, you’ll treasure forever!)

Creating lap books:

Instead of fill-in-the-blank, multiple-choice, or matching activities, you may prefer to make “lap books” to verify learning, especially in the Grammar levels of Tapestry of Grace. These easy-to-make books require only paper, scissors, glue, and crayons or markers. They are also an attractive way for children to show mom and dad what they have learned! In addition, fine-motor and critical thinking skills are refined. The author of books using this type of manipulative is Dinah Zike. The book you will find useful is entitled Big Book of Books and Activities, or check out her web site. There is also an email group, similar to TapestryThreads, which you can join. To join, the address is: Zikefans-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

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