Here's a farm themed sticker book that I purchased a while ago at the dollar store:
First, I took out the sticker pages and placed the stickers on a piece of white cardstock. I left a little room around them and cut them out with a little edge beyond the stickers' edge.
Then I did a little surgery and took the book apart - this one just had a couple of staples in the middle that I needed to pull out.
With all my pieces in hand, I went to the laminator and carefully sent all the pieces through - be sure to leave enough space around them to have a bit of laminating all around so that the stickers are sealed inside.
Then I cut out all the pieces again - this was the time consuming part (cutting twice), but I do think that having each piece securely encased in laminate will pay off in the long run, as the edges shouldn't peel part easily with use.
With all my pieces and pages cut out a second time, I placed soft Velcro strips inside the book (where the stickers should have been placed) and the rough Velcro on the backs of my 'sticker' pieces.
Once all the Velcro was attached, I punched a few holes in with a paper punch in the spine and used metal rings to keep the pages together. Now I have a great little interactive book that my kids love to read!
My kids practically beg to read it and love putting the 'sticker 'pieces in the book kind of like a puzzle.
We've been practicing listening skills (receptive language) in lots of different ways --
1. Listen to the animal that I describe by name, color, size, shape and/or sound then choose correct animal.
2. Listen to a list of 2-4 animals that I name and/or describe then choose animals in correct order.
3. Listen to clues about an animal then correctly guess which animal I'm talking about.
4. Listen to directions concerning 'where' to place the animal - practicing prepositions.
And for expressive language:
1. Students use word, phrase or sentence to tell which animal they want to put on
2. Students give oral direction to a peer about which animal to take
3. Students describe the animal they picked by name, sound, color, shape etc
4. Students tell where they will put their animal - practicing prepositions.
This project lends itself well to easy differentiation for student strengths and needs in the context of a single group activity - simply change your questions to meet the needs of each student during their turn. It's been a great exercise in waiting for a turn and listening to their peers. There are so many ways to use little books like these - the possibilities really are endless!
I have a few more sticker books that I'm working on converting - so stay tuned for more books like these!
