Recently my mom showed up to my house with several pieces of construction paper in hand. She handed them over, explaining she was cleaning out a closet and thought I might want them.

One was an art project I made in third grade, a melted crayon mess of a collage. Another was a fill in the blank story I had “written” and illustrated.

Originally I had made these projects as gifts for my mom. All these years later, she was giving them back to me – and what a gift.

But, as children grow older we tend to expect them to grow into healthy consumers and purchase gifts for everyone, rather than make gifts.

As a teacher and tutor for adolescent writers, a favorite project I have students complete is a “House on My Street” book. Using Sandra Cisneros’s book House on Mango Street I have students write short vignettes about their home, their family, their neighborhood, their pets, or whatever areas of interest they feel compelled to write about. Once all the vignettes are completed, we work on revisions and edits, then put the short chapters together in a book form, with the student adding a cover, back cover, table of contents and art for each chapter. Art can be creative, photographs, or some other visual to augment the chapter.

Finally, students dedicate the book to a loved one, and they now have a keepsake present for the holidays.

As parents, a new pair of socks are nice and all, but a creative piece of work from our child is the best gift of all.

I’ve posted a grading rubric below in case you want to use the idea.

Posted by writingforhomeschoolers in The Basics, Uncategorized Tags: grading rubrics, high school home school, home school education, home school writing curriculum, how do you home school, how to write curriculum, writing strategies