The write start - Jennifer Hallissy 2010
Inventor’s Logbook
Guidelines for the Activities
CHILDREN ARE BORN INVENTORS. Sometimes they even seem to be bubbling over with innovative ideas. Some are hits, some are near misses, and some are even big messes. But no matter what, kids’ inventions all share one thing in common: an inspired ability to create something out of nothing.
This irrepressible urge to create is the trademark of an inventor (and the hallmark of a writer). The inventor’s logbook is a perfect example of how inventing and writing go hand in hand. Real inventors are required to keep a log of all the ideas and activities leading up to any of their inventions in order to prove that they “own” their creation. Kids can do the same, and, in the process, can claim ownership of all their little ingenious ideas that are just demanding to be documented.
MATERIALS
∗ graph-paper notebook
∗ pencil
∗ colored pencils
∗ date stamp (available at office supply stores)
∗ stamp pad
∗ camera (optional)
HOW-TO
1. Encourage your kids to document their bright ideas in their inventors’ logbooks. They can use words, drawings, diagrams, lists, or charts to record their various brainstorms.
2. Show them how to write or stamp the date onto each entry (just for fun, or in case the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office wants to verify their invention’s timeline down the road).
Variations
For Scribblers: When your pre-writer does something especially inventive (like using your lint brush to clean up little pieces of dried play dough from the floor), take a picture, date it, and tuck it into a mini album that you can look at together. This will help them get the idea that bright ideas are just begging to be recorded.
For Spellers: Show emerging writers how to draw pictures of their bright ideas, and then label their drawings with arrows and a few words.
For Storytellers: Every inventor wants to be the one to design a better mousetrap. Explain this concept to your Storyteller, see what kind of mousetrap they can come up with, and encourage them to describe their ideas in their logbook.
For Scholars: Scholars may be inspired to design a robot to solve a problem, a widget that makes life easier, or a new and improved version of a familiar gadget. Encourage any and all inventive ideas, and remind them to pull out their logbooks when inspiration strikes. Tell them it’s the perfect spot for all of their plans, diagrams, specifications, and instructions.