I love My Binder! Writing Biographies

A few months ago,  I was reading a post by Lori at Teaching with Love and Laughter about the new binding machine she is using in her classroom.
A few weeks later,  I received one of my own.  Can I tell you how much I Love My Binding!
They are so easy to work with.. and this binding machine.. AWESOME!  My smarties figured out how to use it in about 20 minutes.  I let a few boys go to town with the directions manual.. love these boys and their tech manuals! Easy Peasie
Isn't this cover beautiful!  I have wonderful artists this year too!


My Smarties finished a Biography unit.  We have been reading about a variety of Americans that have made contributions to our society as positive role models.  We began out unit on biographies by reading about Michael Jordan using Salt in his Shoes [HERE].  Then in our Treasures books we read Let it Shine: Rosa Parks.. you can read [HERE] where I talked about my Book Utopia.  Our biographies were about three character traits that each person exhibitied.  Some of them were pretty insightful which was nice to see before our assessment!
I had my Smarties print 2 copies.  One we put on display in the hallway.  I had my kiddoes make stars to display information.  They made similies and wrote sentences about the character traits... great connections!  The second copy we bound into a biography book using our new classroom Binder.  It was a great addition to our non-fiction reading.  I am so excited by the way this book turned out.
It was great too that my smarties even as middle schoolers found  book binding "cool" and "fun."
We also did a little Biography Poetry with this unit.
 I didn't bind those into a book beause DUH I wasn't thinking at the time and I sent them home before having them make a second copy! UGGGGG, it must have been Monday and I didn't have enough coffee yet.
Next year I think I will save all the copies of student writing and bind them into a portfolio.  Do you have any ideas on how to keep track of all the pieces?  Comment below and let me know!














5 comments

  1. I grabbed your freebie...thanks! :) Our grade level has a binder and I had kinda forgotten about it. So glad you posted because I will be pulling it out of the closet tomorrow! We can use it to bind our ABC books that we are working on. :) Also, I couldn't comment without mentioning that beautiful cover! Wow! The details in the face are incredible. Please tell that child that a fellow upper grade teacher was blown away! ;)
    Brandee @ Creating Lifelong Learners

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  2. I got a binding machine too!! I think mine is a different one but I love it! I have big plans for it next year (and couldn't resist using it this year).

    As for the student writing, I've been thinking the same and the only way I can think of is to use file folders for each student. ?

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  3. I'm so glad you love your new binding machine. I use mine all the time. What great artists you have!

    Lori
    Teaching With Love and Laughter
    luvyorkies@gmail.com

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  4. Beautiful projects! The art work is amazing! I need the binding machine. I used to bind everything than I stopped...not sure why! Thanks for sharing!
    Gina
    Beach Sand and Lesson Plans

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  5. I have a binder, too, and I also LOOOOOVE it! Isn't it funny how much love you can have for a binder or laminator? It's almost like "you know you are a teacher when..." :) Cute projects that you are making, too.

    Mandy
    Caffeine and Lesson Plans

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