Scrap Happy - Guidelines for the Activities

The write start - Jennifer Hallissy 2010

Scrap Happy
Guidelines for the Activities

A WRITER’S SCRAPBOOK is a place to collect random bits andpieces of writing, and any other art and artifacts that help to tell a young writer’s story. A scrapbook is like a big, bound collage of writing and the memories that go along with it. It’s a playful cut-and-paste collection with serious keepsake potential.

The thing to remember about scrapbooks is that they don’t call them “scrap” for nothing. Keep it fun, not fussy. Forgo fancy layouts in favor of letting the scraps speak for themselves. Like a snapshot of a moment in time, a young writer’s words require very little embellishment.

Make sure you flip through the scrapbook with your children; it’s a perfect opportunity to show them how valued their writing is and how much it has progressed. Looking back inspires young writers to move forward. It inspires them to get working on the next chapter of their life story.

MATERIALS

∗ blank scrapbook

∗ writing “scraps”

∗ photos, drawings, and other memorabilia

∗ tape

∗ glue stick

HOW-TO

Together, you and your children can cut, tape, and paste pieces of their writing into a large scrapbook. Include any relevant associated objects, such as photos, drawings, play programs, ticket stubs, or pieces of nature.

Variations

For Scribblers: Put Scribblers’ messy masterpieces in the scrapbook in chronological order, and you’ll not only have a keepsake, you’ll also have a chronicle of an emerging writer.

For Spellers: Save the pages where your Spellers wrote their names for the first time, of course. Tell them how valuable their first signature will be when they’re rich and famous one day!

For Storytellers: Oh, the stories. Save as many as you can. You’ll be so glad you did!

For Scholars: To document the development of your growing child, include some of the everyday stuff in their writer’s scrapbook: a spelling test, a book report, a note to Mom, an IOU to Dad, a letter to Santa, a toy-store shopping list. It’s all part of the history of a young writer.