Memory Books

Throughout my teaching journey, I have made MANY memory books. Starting out in K we had those HUGE 12×18 books with the pictures and the poem for each month. They were cute but took up so much time and space. I wasn’t a parent yet but kept thinking to myself about what I would want as a parent and what would be easy to keep over time.

Memory Books Made More Functional

I then moved to 1^st grade, and they also did the 12×18 books. I just couldn’t do it! I made mine into 9×12 books. I had the students color their front cover the second week of school, so I could laminate it. I made the books with the laminated cover and back cover and each month I would glue a page in, so by the end of the year, it was done! Most of the time my mom would come in and do it. When you are working with memory books, I do not trust just anyone!!!

This worked out great for a few years. Each month they would write about their favorite thing we did at school, and I would take an art project that we did that month and glue it in.

I like that it wasn’t anything extra. I always did monthly writing and some sort of craft, so it was easy to just save it. I feel like in primary the parents do not get to see a lot of the writing process and growth that they have. This is a great way to showcase that and remember the year. The kids are always so excited to see how they have grown throughout the year.

Memory Books Made Even Easier!!!

SOOOO fast forward to COVID years. I stopped doing them because they were online and it was hard to just do my job, so I took a break. Do you know what we did a lot of that the kids loved?? ART Hub directed drawings! I knew I had to incorporate this into the memory books.

This year…

1. I took a class picture at the beginning of the year and made a cute cover with their name, grade, teacher, and year.
2. We continued to do the monthly writing just like I have always done it. Here are the pages I used, but you can use any paper you would like!
3. At the end of the month, we pick a directed drawing as a class that goes with something we did that month. They color it and are so proud of what they can do! Thanks, ART HUB!!!
4. I put this in a file with their name on it to make at the end of the year.
5. Using a class checklist 22-23, I have a column for writing and art that I check off when I put them in the file. This allows me to get the students that are absent to make it up. The great thing about Art Hub is I can assign them the video.

The first year I did this, I didn’t check it off and it was so sad and stressful when I was putting them together to realize they forgot something!! YIKES!

Additional Pages

I am sure you take a first and last day of school picture of your kids and I have a page in the front to add these pictures to it. Here is the sign I have them hold. I also include a goodbye poem with a picture of me and the student in the back. In January we do a year wrap-up. You can find it HERE. It is an interview about all their favorite things. I put this in instead of the art. This is a great activity to have a parent helper come in and do it in a small group or one on one.

There are so many ways you can do this and things you can add in. One year I added their first day self portrait and how they wrote their name. Kindergarten and first grade you see such a drastic change from the beginning to the end. It is fun to see their faces at the end of the year and how proud they feel looking at how hard they have worked and far they’ve come.

I hope this makes it easy for you to start or streamline what you already do! I personally know a lot of teachers that stopped doing memory books because of the time it takes to make and put them together. This is an alternative that is more of a work showcase of the year. What do you do for your memory books?