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Photo:
Susan Bonthron
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This month . . .
Making Field Journals
A Binding Experience
An
illustrated tale of flower/pollinator courtship . . . data from
a life cycle study . . . "wonderings" about people and
plants . . . a record of seasonal changes. Field journals can
be ideal tools for prompting students to document, reflect on,
and otherwise extend their schoolyard experiences. And when kids
create the books from scratch themselves, they are even more
inspired to dig in.
As ever-changing
environments, gardens and habitats naturally spark curiosity.
When young scientists, writers, and artists see their journals
as "safe" places to capture observations and data, muse
and speculate, replay experiences, and put forth ideas and opinions,
learning blossoms. These chronicles can be great assessment tools,
to boot; they provide you and your students with windows into
thinking and emerging understanding.
The act of making books also has colorful curriculum connections.
From clay tablets to scrolls, calf skin to paper, hand scribing
to electronic type, the history of books and book arts is a fascinating
one. You might use it as a springboard for exploring cultures
or the social and political changes catalyzed by the advent of
each new technology (particularly moveable type and the printing
press).
This month, we feature a simple, yet classy, bookmaking project
by guest author Susan Bonthron. The
Curriculum Connections section has a host
of suggestions for using these creations to cultivate keen minds,
observers, and communicators.
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Materials
(the
first 6 items are per book)
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1 sheet 8 5/8" x 13 1/4" cover weight or heavier paper (Check
with local printing companies for donations.) Grain should be
parallel with shorter dimension to make it easier to fold.
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8
sheets 8½" by 11" paper (any combination of lined, unlined, or
graph paper; use longer sheets if you want to have fold-out pages)
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32"
waxed linen thread or other strong narrow twine or heavyweight
thread
-
4"
piece of same thread or twine
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A
two-hole button (or a large one-hole bead with a smaller bead
that a needle and thread can pass through)
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A
scrap of decorative paper to glue onto outside cover (e.g., marbled
paper, paste paper, wallpaper). This decorative element is important
for students to make their books unique.
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Cork-back
metal ruler or knitting needle for scoring lines
- Awls (or plastic-handled
needle tool) for poking holes
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Straight
darning or upholstery needles with eyes large enough to fit thread,
and not much larger than width of needle. Stick them through yellow
pieces of felt to help prevent them from getting lost.
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Scissors
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Bee's
wax or thread waxer (check with sewing supply stores)
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Glue
sticks (for adding decorative paper to covers)
Bookmaking
Instructions 
-
Pass
out covers. These should have pre-scored lines to show where
to make the folds for students in grades K-3, or even for older
students if time is limited). The covers are 13¼" by 8 5/8" to accommodate
standard sized 8½" by 11" text paper folded in half, with room for
a fold-over cover flap.
If you plan to pre-score many covers for younger children, create
a "scoring template." This is a piece of cardboard larger than
the size of the cover with lines drawn on it where the score marks
should be made. It also has a glued-on edge against which you can
align the cover to make sure the score marks are in the same place
each time (below, left).
-
Have
students fold 6 to 8 sheets of paper in half. They should carefully
matching corner to corner and top to bottom before creasing them
(below, right).
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fold
paper in half
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Pass
out binding materials: darning needles, awls for poking
holes, pre-cut lengths of linen thread, and bee's wax to coat the
thread (or use pre-waxed thread or twine). Pass out large paper
clips to keep the pages and covers aligned when holes are poked.
Demonstrate how to "jog up" the pages and snug them (centered) inside
the cover, and then clip them together. Have students poke a center
hole through the spine and two more holes, each roughly an inch
in from either end. "Guesstimate" where to put the holes; younger
children may need help with this.
-
Show
students how to wax the pre-cut thread (32" long) by pressing
as they pull it between their fingers and the wax. (Waxing the thread
makes it easier to thread the needle, and also keeps the thread
from fraying and the knots from coming undone.)
-
Show
students how to flatten one end of the thread using a thumbnail
before threading their needle. Do not knot the thread!
-
Sew
the books with a 3-hole pamphlet stitch. (It is a traditional
stitch for binding single-section pamphlets or books). Sew from
the outside in, beginning at the center hole, and leaving at least
8" or 9" of extra thread (which will later wrap around button) outside
the hole.
Moving up and out one end, skip the center hole and come back in
through the other end. Finally, bring the needle out through the
center hole again (you should have a long enough thread to match
the length of thread you left when you began sewing). After making
sure that the two ends of the thread are on either side of the long
stitch, tie them together in a double knot, and trim the ends to
the same length (8" or 9").
-
Sew
on the buttons. Here's how:
Journals bound?
Buttons sewn? Turn to the Curriculum
Connections section for a host of ideas on using field journals
to enrich learning.
Susan Bonthron offers on-site residencies in the book arts as well
as classes at Otter Pond Bindery, her studio bindery in Guilford,
Vermont. She also teaches a summer graduate course for teachers at
Antioch New England Graduate School. She enjoys working with teachers
on projects that integrate book arts with curriculum. Please visit
her Web site: www.otterpondbindery.com.
Copyright©
2003 Susan Bonthron
Growing Ideas Classroom Projects is a benefit for NGA's Members
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Journals
Contents
Pg.
1: Making Journals
Background
Materials
Bookmaking
Instructions
Pg.
2: Curriculum Connections
Cultivate
Keen Observers
Capturing the
Gardening Season
Thematic
Project Journals
Creative
Writing Connections
Science
Inquiry Journals
Bookmaking
Through History
Assessment
Prompts
Pg.
3: Resources
Web Sites We Like
Books
We Like
Journaling
Items from the Gardening with Kids Store
Related
Articles
Close
Encounters: Young Observers Take Note
Catch
Them Thinking: Assessing Students' Learning
Inquiring
into Inquiry:
Grasping Life Cycles
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