Activity And Project

Special Memories & Significant Moments: Making an Electronic Scrapbook

Grades
9 - 12
Activity Time
1 to 3 hours, depending on the number of artifacts the teen wishes to include in his or her scrapbook, plus as much time as desired to add to it from time to time. (Can be completed over several days)
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Activity Description

High school is full of special memories and significant moments. In this activity, teens brainstorm a list of their favorite experiences in high school, turning them into an electronic scrapbook. Since the scrapbook is electronic, they can easily add to it, revise it, and share it with friends and family near and far.

 

Why This Is Helpful

Technology has become an important and exciting aspect of our society. This activity helps teens practice using a variety of technologies such as PowerPoint, digital camera, scanner, and the Internet in order to create a high school scrapbook. Not only is this good practice using these technologies, but it also encourages analysis, imaginative thinking, and creative problem solving. Teens have to narrow their experiences to the most important, choose artifacts that accurately represent those experiences, and finally, they have to figure out how to move the artifacts from the physical to the virtual world.

 

What You Need

  • Notebook paper
  • Computer with Internet access
  • Scanner (optional)
  • Digital camera (optional)
  • PowerPoint software or a similar presentation software
  • Example PowerPoint scrapbook (This one is for a literary figure, Mark Twain, but it still gives a good idea of how you might organize your own scrapbook.)
  • PowerPoint design tips
  • PowerPoint Tool Tips (optional)
  • Artifacts and mementos from the teen’s high school experience so far (This may be photographs, songs, notes from friends, assignments, report cards, knickknacks, souvenirs…really anything that exemplifies the teen’s experience in high school.)

 

Here's What To Do

  1. On a piece of notebook paper, make a list of events that stand out in your mind from high school so far as being important, memorable, or special in some way. These are events you will want to share with friends and family and that you will want to remember in the years to come. Try to create a list of at least ten events.
  2. Try to think of an artifact that represents each event. For example, one event might be a dance where you wore something special like a corsage or pendant. Another special event could be the day you passed the driving test and earned a permit. The corsage/pendant and driver’s permit can both be artifacts that represent these events. Write down artifacts for each event on a piece of notebook paper.
  3. Once you have made a list of events and artifacts, you are ready to start preparing these materials for the electronic scrapbook. Each artifact will need to be converted to an electronic file. There are several ways to do this. For example, you can take a picture of each artifact with a digital camera, or you might use a scanner to get each artifact’s image onto the computer. Another way to get an approximate replica of artifacts is to search for images on the Internet. So if you doesn’t have a scanner or digital camera, you can search for pictures of corsages or driver’s permits, for example, to use as icons of the real thing.
  4. Decide what kind of software you’d like to use to create the scrapbook. Some of these programs are free if you don’t have PowerPoint or another comparable program available. (This website has a great tutorial for using PowerPoint.)
  5. Read over the PowerPoint design tips (which apply even if you’re using a different program) before using the program.
  6. Using these tips, you will begin making slides for each special event, making decisions about which images will go first and how they will be arranged on each PowerPoint slide. You will also write captions for each image, letting viewers know what the event was, when it took place, and why it was special.
  7. From here, you can include audio, video, special effects, and other cool additions such as frames or decorations to make their scrapbooks unique.

 

More Ideas to Try

  • Consider making your scrapbook with a theme such as War and Peace (where you might highlight your struggles and stresses as well as your more peaceful, relaxed times during high school) or Friday Night Lights (where you could focus on extracurricular activities like band, sporting events, dances, etc.)  You could even make a traditional scrapbook with paper and art supplies, rather than making the electronic version.
  • Turn your scrapbook into a wiki using Wikis in Plain English.  This way friends and family can add to your scrapbook from anywhere at any time.
  • Create a scrapbook for a specific event such as a competition, trip, or extracurricular activity. Ask other people who were part of the event to pitch in with memories and artifacts. You might consider interviewing people and including their quotes in your scrapbook.

 

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