Lesson 6: Building Blocks & Boilerplates: Tools for Creating Unit Studies Part II

6-4 A Plethora of Pretty Papers

Whether brainstorming or brainbusting, the challenge as a teacher is generating creative thinking and a passion for learning. I started out with a large array of workbooks and activity packages which looked like it might get Jen's attention. In fact, we often visited educational sections at large toy and discount stores as well as an educational store when we lived in a large enough city for one. Jen would join in the search through workbooks and readers, letting me know what looked like "fun". It gave me a feel for what kind of pages would pique her interest. So, after a year or two, I spent more time creating my own pages keyed to her interests. I'd often let her check a draft page, make changes to it herself and then use that basic format for many different questions and subject matter. A few basic forms will be added here as we go. Any you have created please send for inclusion so we can all enjoy them. Here are some guidelines to help you develop your own lively materials to inspire your children . . . along with a few pointers:

1. Don't crowd your sheet -- especially for younger students. Allow wide margins and a lot of white space.
2. If appropriate add a few images but don't get carried away. Experiment with color-able vs. color images. Simple B&W may be very effective, too.
3. Make sure you leave plenty of room for filling in answers.
4. If your child is still learning basic personal data, add lines for address, phone number, social security number, whatever you would like them to master. This would also be a good time to stress the importance of NOT giving out that information to other people.
5. For younger students font style of Arial is a most popular font for educational uses. Font size should decrease towards 10 point as your child grows. Experiment with large sizes to start like 14 point.
6. As they grow older, allow more creativity in answers where possible. We preferred large open spaces or boxes for written answers instead of ruled lines. Break out of the patterns and pre-defined molds as much as possible to inspire creative and imaginative thinking.

  1  2  3  4  5   

Print this page