Display Student Work that Turns into a Memory Book

Oh my word?  Have you ever spent hours at the end of the school year sorting through student work to put into memory books.  Have you ever lost your mind trying to figure out who stole the binding machine to put together books while you so desperately need to begin yours.  Were you that teacher who took the binding machine?  Oh geez, this is stressing me out just hearing about this!

What you Need

If you hate putting memory books together, then I've got the solution for you! All you'll need are file folders with the prongs and a two hole punch.  I've got a weekly show on organization and I periscoped about his on the iteachtvnetwork and thought it would be helpful for you to see it in action.

Where to Hang a Memory Book

I can't suggest enough that you should place your file folders turned memory books somewhere low and have students be in charge of hanging up their work.  I've got mine trained-if they see hole punches at the top, they  know it's going on their memory book.

Side note: I hung mine on a high wall and dreaded hanging up work...lesson learned!

What Do you Display?

It's totally up to you to display what you want.  In my class, we add art work {that includes craftivities, directed drawings, seasonal art...} and monthly reflection writing and seasonal writing.

At the end of the year, my kids go crazy looking back at all of their work.  They especially get a good laugh at their first day of school portrait. 

As a teacher, I love going back and realizing that we had a pretty awesome year.  I also give myself a little pat on the back for giving my kids the opportunity to create art on a pretty consistent basis.

Every month, I create a color photo collage of the awesome things we did that month.  I send it home in our monthly newsletter so parents can have a peek.  But at the end of the year, I take all of those collages up to the copy machine, and copy them, back-to-back in black and white, and attach them to the front of the memory books.  The kids think it's like their own little yearbook.  I'm a huge advocate for students doing things for themselves, by themselves.  So, each kiddo is in charge of adding these photos to their own memory book.  Since they are already in order, the kids just plop them into the book.  Super easy!

To finish off the memory book, I print off enough cover pages for the whole class.  It has my name, our school name, and the year.  I take a photo of each child with a cap {it's a table center piece from the Dollar Tree), print it on photo paper, and laminate it.  I recruit a trusted kiddo to be in charge of laminating with my personal laminator.  Not comfortable with that, have a parent do it or you can do it at home in front of some good reality tv!

Here's a side view of the memory book that YOU DIDN'T have to put together.  Now you can use that time to do all of that other end of the year stuff that needs your attention.

Want your very own editable copy of the memory book cover? Click on the photo! 

It's completely editable so you can add your class name, grade, school name, and year. 

You'll need to download KG Shake it Off, KG Drops of Jupiter, and KG Wake Me Up if you want it to look like mine!