Mini-Books
I was first introduced to the concept of making mini-books at a conference in the early 2000’s. I feel really bad that I can’t remember the name of the presenter when all of her ideas had such an impact on me, luckily I have remembered where I can find it. Theresa Zanatta, you had a huge impact on my teaching, and I have continued to use the mini-book idea through my whole teaching and training career.
The easiest way to explain is to follow the link (click on the image) and watch me make one. Listen out to the instructions as they are provide a lot of comprehensible input for the learner.
How to make a mini-book
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Tutor’s Script |
Tutor’s actions |
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Pick up your piece of paper like this |
T holds up A3 paper landscape direction. |
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Now, fold it in half long ways |
T takes bottom corners C and D to line up with top corners A and B. |
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Fold it in half, exactly in half. Not like this. Not like this |
Exaggerate an un-exact fold (where corners are not matched). |
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Exactly in half. |
Match corners C to A and D to B exactly and start to fold. |
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And a nice, crisp fold. Listen! Listen! |
T uses nails to make a noise as she makes a crisp fold – twice. |
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Now, open your piece of paper. |
T opens the paper. |
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Turn it round |
T turns paper to portrait direction. |
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And…Fold it in half, exactly in half. Not like this. Not like this Exactly in half. And a nice, crisp fold. Listen! Listen! |
T takes bottom corners A and C to line up with top corners B and D. Exaggerate an un-exact fold (where corners are not matched) Match corners A to B and C to B exactly and start to fold. T uses nails to make a noise as she makes a crisp fold- twice. |
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Look! |
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Fold this section in half And…Fold it in half, exactly in half. Not like this. Not like this Exactly in half. And a nice, crisp fold. Listen! Listen! |
T demonstrates taking the top corners A and C and lines up with E and F. Exaggerate an un-exact fold (where corners are not matched). Match corners A to E and C to F exactly and start to fold. |
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And now – turn it over and fold the other side in half Fold it in half, exactly in half. Not like this. Not like this Exactly in half. And a nice, crisp fold. Listen! Listen! |
T turns over paper and prepares to fold BD to EF. Exaggerate an un-exact fold (where corners are not matched). Match corners B to E and D to F exactly and start to fold. |
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Look. Hold your piece of paper like this. |
Hold the paper along the fold EF. |
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Now tear from the fold – only half way. Look and do! Tear – cut without scissors. Look. |
Tear the paper along the centre fold from EF to the next fold. |
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Hold your paper like this and open. Can you see a cross? Now fold the pages around. What is it? A b…ook! |
Holding corners where tear was made along EF and pull apart to make a cross. Bring the pages round to one side so the front is at the front (which may only be relevant if you have photocopied it first). |
Once you know how to do it, you will want to try and adapt them to your own teaching situation.
Variations on a theme
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- Use plain paper and your own ideas as to how the learners can use them in class (there are also some suggestion below)
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- Make one. Stick pictures of the vocabulary you are covering on each page. Open the book and photocopy for your learners.
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- Make one. Write sentences or sentence starters on each page. Open the book and photocopy for your learners.
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- Use different size paper for larger/smaller books.
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- Start the initial fold in portrait (the result is a long thin book)
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- Use A3 and cut in half lengthways. The mini-book will then be in landscape
What are the benefits of mini-books
They are a tactile way of introducing books, reading and writing into the YL classroom. The learners I have worked with always have such pride in something they have created. Here are some benefits and ideas you can do with them:
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- They learn how a book works. That there is a cover with an illustration, a title and an author. They learn that page numbers follow a pattern (even numbers are always on the left, and odd on the right)
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- It provides evidence of what they are learning in class. Let them take them home to read to their parents
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- There is reading material in class at their level. Have them available in class to read each other’s books
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- Create an interactive display (add a pocket to the wall and attach with string)
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- Make a book of mini-books (an A3 mini-book with envelopes stuck on each page to hold A4 mini-books)
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- Making books helps consolidate language work, and encourages the learner to get fluent in what they already know
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- They are a motivational tool
How can Mini-Books be used in the Classrooom
In my School Bag
Make a mini-book and then stick in vocabulary pictures of classroom objects (see example) When you open it out it can be photocopied ready to use in class.
Give the instructions to make the book then ask the children to colour each object a different colour.
Children complete the book by writing in the colour of the bag, and then the colour and object on each page. Eg In my brown school bag …there is…a purple pencil…green pencil sharpener etc.
Remember that vocabulary should be presented in a suitable sentence.
My Monster
Make a mini-book and get the children to draw lots of long grass with a couple of eyes peering out and write the title ‘My Monster’ (by-child’s name) .
Page 2 write My monster’s got…. (either on the board for children to copy or printed on) .
Then each child has to write a number between 1 and 10 before you tell them a body part Eg. My monster’s got 6 arms… They then have to draw 6 arms.
Repeat with a different body part eg …4 eyes… (they draw 4 eyes) etc.
On the back page the child has to put their monster together and draw the complete monster with 6 arms, 4 eyes etc. and the caption This is my monster.
My Monster- Part 2
Ask learners to draw a monster (quickly) in the front of their book. Give the monster a long name, such as The kangaroo killing , fire-breathing monster, or The big dog eating, jingle jangle monster. This is the title of the book, the cover also needs an author.
Number the pages, making sure number 2 is on the left hand side (number 1 is the cover). Children are then asked to write the book, including appropriate illustrations.
Page 2 & 3 What it looks like. (a description)
Page 4 & 5 Where it lives (habitat, eg in a school, in the jungle, at the north pole etc)
Page 6 & 7 What it likes to eat (teachers, fruit, little boys, stars etc)
Page 8 What it likes to do/ anything unusual about it (hobbies, etc)
Rui! What are you doing?
Stick pictures of activities in a mini-book before copying it.
The learners compete the title with their name.
Under each picture they write a question. Are you playing football? No. Are you dancing? No… etc . Last page I’m reading.
Use the images from the materials you have been working with, or find them online.
End of Module Mini-Book
Use the language that you have been studying to create a mini-book at the end of each module. Make sure there is a chance for children to personalise it to make them different.
Rather than photocopying a mini-book, you could provide images for them to stick in and write sentences individually.
Creative Stories
I think it’s obvious that the mini-books can be used for writing stories, just remember to support the learners with ideas and language. To create a story picture book, try using finger print characters which can be reproduced quickly.
My Little Book of Calm
With a new academic year comes stresses and anxieties for children. Before making a mini-book, ask the children to scribble and doodle using coloured pencils on one side of A4.
You could ask them to write their fears down on the back so they are inside the book.
When this is made into a mini-book, it’s much less daunting to write in as the pages already have something on. It can be used to just write words or continue with doodling, as long as it calms the children.
Diaries
As true diary writing is very personal, it must be decided in advance if it is written for others to read or not. Writing diaries provides a convenient way into the skills of writing in the first person and provides students with a stimulus for putting experience into words.
As an introduction you could make a collection of different kinds of diaries, and different ways of using them. You could also use published diaries such as Adrian Mole, Ann Frank, Diary of wimpy Kid.
Personal Diaries
Make the diaries short so that students can see the end in sight e.g for the Christmas holidays. Let them choose size, shape and colour to make them as personal as possible. Encourage students to use their eyes and ears and to write through their senses- not just writing down what happened, but also how they felt about it, what they could see and hear.
Tiny Creatures Diaries
Ask students to pretend that they are a small creature (worm, bird, caterpillar, mouse, ladybird), and how they might feel as they work their way through the week. You might like to introduce this with Eric Carle’s A Very Hungry Caterpillar. Lower level sts can start each page, ‘On Monday…’, ‘On Tuesday…’ and so on.
Useful object Diaries
Write a diary by personifying useful objects such as a pen or coloured pencils, a football, a toy, a notebook. Explore how the objects feel and what they are used for.
One Day in the Life of
Record one day in the life of Father Christmas, Batman, Spiderman, etc. Make notes about a typical day as that person, then write as if you were them. Make the diary in a suitable shape Eg pot of honey for Pooh Bear. Write and illustrate all the routine or interesting facts that happened during one day. Tell about the weather, what they had to eat, who they talked to etc.
Fictional Character Diaries
Writing as a character from a story or a book. This could be one entry and each st could choose a different character. They then read each other’s and decide which character is which.
These are just some ideas, there are so many. Any writing activity you have could be used to create a mini book, from stories, to picture books, recipes and poems. The list is endless. My final offering though is a ‘Recipe for an Ode’
An Ode to....(name of object/person
Mini-book
Small, versatile
In my hand
Mini-book
Motivating, inspiring
Determined, ambitious
In my hand
Small, versatile
Exciting, energising
Mini-book
I learned this technic of minibook with Jane. Today I do not teach young learners, but still I use this mini books, with differeent proposes. I love this idea!!! Thank you Jane!!!!
Thank you Jane for spreading the word about minibooks. CLP has been sharing their powerful and playful effect for many years now. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/minibooks.pdf
And the best of luck with your youtube bitesize teaching videos. I’ll put a link to you from our links page.
Thanks Stuart. I’ve been using mini-books since I started teaching. I love the fact that they are such an engaging activity, provide parents with proof of learning, and can be made with very limited resources- just a piece of paper and a pencil! No cutting, sticking or copying (unless you want to!)