Scenario 3 - Making books with pupils

Working with a pupil to help him / her to create a record of an aspect of school or home life is a way of making the writing process relevant and enjoyable. Books can be made using photographs with text and / or symbols.

Example 1 – Personal histories

The pupils in the junior department of a school each made personal story books about themselves. Photos were taken of the pupils doing different activities. The pupils chose the photos they wanted in their books and, with the help of an overlay keyboard, wrote captions to go with each picture. Their class teacher assembled the pages and put in a flap to cover the photograph. When the pupils read their book, the photo is covered; the flap is lifted to check if the reading was correct.

Two copies of each book are made: one for the author and one to share. All the pupils in the class love reading each other’s books because they are about familiar people and places.

Example 2 – Non-fiction

Non-fiction books can be made in much the same way as the books described above. A group of pupils made a road safety book by taking photographs of safe and unsafe places to cross the road in their locality. Not only did the pupils learn a lot working through the process of making the book – deciding what the content should be, assembling the images and writing the symbol text – they also created a valuable and relevant resource for the school library. Other books of this type can include records of events, topic work, visits and curriculum processes.

Example 3 – Steven’s book

There are times when creating a book needs to be a very individualized activity. The following example illustrates how a pupil was involved in writing a book about himself for a special reason.

Steven was about to be transferred to a new school and his teacher wanted to make a book that would remind him of the time he had spent at his current school. Steven was a very able pupil, who was starting to write independently and could use the computer keyboard. The book was also seen as an opportunity for Steven to extend his literacy skills, which were well ahead of his peers.

The digital camera was used to take photographs of Steven in different parts of the school. Photographs of school journeys and other significant events were scanned. Steven then worked with a helper to write the book using his own words.

A photograph was placed on the page of a word processor and Steven discussed it with his helper. He was then encouraged to write about the picture using his own words. He was helped with spellings where necessary. Over a number of weeks more and more pages were added to the book. When it was finished the pages were mounted, laminated and bound.

The resulting book was a real reflection of Steven’s personality and an opportunity to celebrate his newly acquired literacy skills.

Example 4 – Red group’s books

A group of senior pupils made books about themselves as part of an ICT Unit. Each pupil made a book, built up week by week, that contained information about him / her; the books took half a term to complete.

A photograph of each of the pupils signing ‘Hello’ was taken with the digital camera. These illustrated the first page that included the symbol-enhanced text.

Each week the pupils wrote something about themselves. This included:

• How old I am
• My birthday
• My address
• People I live with
• My favourite TV program
• My favourite sport

The pupils used either an overlay keyboard or an on-screen grid, according to their ability, to write into symbol-processing software. The teacher put a large picture at the top of each page to illustrate the topic and the pupils wrote under it.

The books were laminated and spiral bound when they were finished. They were then given to the pupils to take home.

Key skills and equipment

The key skills for the above examples are the ability to:

• use symbol-processing software
• make overlays for the overlay keyboard
• create on-screen grids
• use a digital camera and save the photos on your computer
• use a scanner and save the pictures on your computer
• incorporate photographs into documents

The key equipment is:

• an overlay keyboard plus software
• on-screen grid-making software
• symbol-processing software
• a digital camera
• a scanner

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