My New Favourite: Lapbooks

I came across the idea for lapbooks when I was searching for portfolio ideas. Basically, lapbooks are a way to organize overarching ideas or topics. They are easy to make, look really professional when they are completed and store nicely for presenting at the end of a unit or the end of the year. There are tons of resources and templates available, so you don’t necessarily have to start from scratch.

You can make these as easy or complicated as you like, as pre-fab or as “students, do it yourself” as you like. One advantage of having some of the materials ready to cut and paste is that students aren’t spending the majority of time drawing. However, the writing components I would leave to the students, as well as any research necessary. Materials for lapbooks can be really inexpensive if you look at second hand stores for leftover file-folders and scrapbook materials.

For me, I wanted to do a Canada lapbook for my first try, as resources for a Canada unit are far and few between.

Materials:

• file folder
• glue
• scissors
• travel magazines, magazines
• PDF: canada lapbook

Here is the process of putting together my first lapbook:

1. Open a file folder (insert) and fold the outer edges together to create a “door“.

2. Attach a second piece of file folder to the top of the inside fold to create a “window” that can be flipped up when book is open.

3. Attach cover image and cut along “door” so that cover image becomes two panels that match up when the book is closed.

4. Cut out 10 6″ x 8″ cards. Fold them in half to create a mini book and glue them into place, creating your “Province” mini books. Create a 8″ x 8″ mini book for the three “Territories”(measurements may need to be adjusted for the size of your folder).

5. Attach several pieces of paper to create a “tiered” book to attach to the underside of the flip-up panel. These can be used for your trivia and facts. Students can write a question on one side and flip up the panel to reveal the answer…

6. Attach map of Canada to the top side of the flip-up panel.

7. Cut out individual maps of each Province (see PDF). Paste on the outside of each minibook.

8. Cut up pictures from travel magazines that will give clues about each province. Glue images onto the border of the map of Canada. Students can draw arrows from the images to the correct Province, add the capitol of each Province and label the map’s Oceans,lakes, rivers, Provinces and Territories.

  

10. Attach an “envelope” to the back side of the lapbook for the Canada Card Game. Tip: use gluedots for tricky attachments like this one.

11. To create Canada trivia cards, use cue cards or make your own. Cut out images from travel brochures or magazines that reveal clues about a Province. For example, for this Saskatchewan card, I cut out images of bison, polar bears and so forth.

For this Saskatchewan card I cut out images of the RCMP, which is a reference to the Regina RCMP Heritage Centre.

 

Students mat wish to conduct research on the internet, draw their own images or copy them from a book from the library.

12. On the inside of the Province booklets, have students paste the Info Card (see PDF) and flag. Students can fill in the information and colour the flag with the colours shown on the handout.

13. The completed lapbook will have information about each Province and Territory, as well as Canada stats. Students can colour the flags and maps and personalize their lapbooks with their own ideas.

Be sure to send your examples of this lapbook and more to my email (zoeisberg@shaw.ca), post to Facebook or Pinterest.

“offline” Facebook Project Template

I have come across so many teachers who want to use social media to engage their students. Some teachers are using Twitter as a daily feedback forum- students are given a question for homework and asked to comment on each others replies. Other teachers use blogs to encourage student communication about assignments, homework, projects, etc. or they publish stories and essays for peer review. Facebook is used to create historical figures profiles and simulate a “what they would say” scene.

These are just a few of the ideas that are attracting teachers. The goal: to engage students, of course! But is the use of social media fulfilling its goals? At what point does the learning become a distraction, the medium become more significant than the message?

The pros:

– most students are familiar with the platform, so the curriculum becomes the focus. Take twitter or facebook, for example. Most students have their own accounts, or are at least familiar on some level with the platform. It is therefore, only a small stretch of to use these mediums to extend the classroom.

– it encourages communication amongst peers. Students who might otherwise feel shy to participate in class discussions may feel uninhibited behind the screen. Perhaps the medium even encourages conversations beyond the topic, connecting students who would not otherwise find the opportunity to do so.

– it encourages 21st century technology for learning. Computers and personal devices WILL become apart of the classroom, if they are not already doing so. Whether students are researching, writing, or communicating, why not enlist the energy and interest students have for these mediums to deepen learning?

The cons:

– privacy issues around creating  profiles (fake or real are problematic). Many teachers express a concern for introducing students to social media without simultaneously educating them on the importance of online safety.

– not everyone has access to a computer or personal device.

– the encouragement of “screen time” detracts from opportunities for face-to-face time.

These are just SOME of the issues and benefits of social media in the classroom. I, personally, use a closed website with my students. In other words, they can only access the site if invited. The website invites students to post videos and pictures, ask questions and make comments.

Here is a lesson I adapted as an alternative to “online” social media. Students create fake facebook profiles, using PowerPoint as the medium. Slide are created and hyper-linked, as if they were online. The process is certainly not the same as using an actual facebook account, but at least provides many of the benefits of “social media” without many of the concerns around privacy and fraudulent accounts.

FACEBOOK POWERPOINT TEMPLATE:FB Project Template

I welcome you feedback, as well as your own successful lesson around social media!