Materials
White paper trimmed to 6" x 6" (15 cm x 15 cm) or 5" x 4" (13 cm x 10 cm)
Markers, crayons, or colored pencils
Stamp with the date shown
Folders, store-bought or handmade
Roll of paper such as adding machine or cash register tape
Glue
Instructions
What to do
1. Beginning early in the school year, ask the children to make a "picture of the week" that shows
something special or interesting about the prior week of school. Have the children write or dictate
a few words or a sentence describing their picture. Label the pictures with their names.
2. Stamp each picture with the date.
3. Provide folders where the children can store their pictures throughout the school year.
4. Near the end of the school year, perhaps in time for a spring open house or family day, return
the folders to the children. Ask the children to choose their favorite picture from each month.
(In a more ambitious alternative, the children use all their pictures, placing them on a timeline
or assembling them in a booklet.)
5. When they are ready, invite the children in turn to glue their cards in chronological order to the
roll of paper. The edges of the cards should touch so paper is not wasted. When one child has
finished pasting his cards to the paper, cut the timeline from the rest of the roll and have the
next child begin.
6. Hang the timelines around the classroom, then send them home as a keepsake at year's end.
More to do
Math: Ask the children about a milestone, such as choosing and raising a pet or learning to ride a
bike; record the process on a timeline. Ask the children to put their morning or evening rituals in
sequential order.
