Materials
Rope or tape
Instructions
1. Take photos of the children as they perform daily duties, such as setting upmats for nap or cleaning up after meals or playtime, and as they work invarious centers, such as building structures in the block area or working withclay or painting in the art area. Also take photos of them as they achievecertain milestones, such as going across the monkey bars or pedaling atricycle.2. After the film is developed, choose one photo of each child that clearly showshim involved in an activity, such as those listed above.3. Show each child his own photo and ask, "What are you doing in the photo?"Record what the child says on a separate piece of paper.4. Mount each photo on a piece of oaktag.5. Create a title page, such as "Children, Children What Can You Do?" (It's a nicetouch to include a small photo of each child in the book on the cover.)6. Put a blank page after the title page and on the back, print "Children,children what can you do?"7. On the pages with the photos, print a simple text that describes the child'sactions. Paraphrase what the child told you. For example, if the photo showsa child putting sheets on her mat for nap, then write "Kathryn can put herown sheets on her mat. Can you?"8. On the back of each photo page, print "Children, children what can you do?"again. This page should face the next photo page.9. Continue doing this on every page. Remember to keep the text simple andrepetitive and always include the "Can you?" part.10. On the last page, write "Children, children what can you do? We can doanything! Can you?"11. Laminate the pages for durability. Punch holes along the left edge and bindthem using yarn or jump rings.More to doChildren often state that they can't do something that seems hard to them.Encourage them to say, "I can try" instead of "I can't."General Tips: If you have a classroom Camcorder, make short movies of thechildren involved in activities similar to ones in the book. Show the moviesduring pick-up time. The parents will enjoy seeing what their children do duringthe day.
