I have heard a lot about time capsules that the students create at the beginning of the year. I am just wondering if anyone has ever tried this activity?
If so, what kind of items did you put in them and where did you store them all year?
I did a sort of time capsule last year with my 3rd graders. I plan on expanding on my idea this year. Last year I had the students write a letter to themselves. We brainstormed topics they could write about - favorite things, best friends, etc. Then I measured their height with a piece of yarn. They put these in an envelope with their name on front and sealed it. I just rubber banded them together and put them in my closet.
It was wonderful to watch them open them. They loved reading what they wrote and looking at their handwriting/spelling. I let them volunteer to read their stories. The best was seeing how much they grew. One girl grew "a whole head". It was amazing!
I think this year I'll have them put in a picture, and I'm not sure what else. The only thing I'll have to think about is if I'll have new students do it. I didn't last year, but we'll see.
I love the idea of using the yarn to measure.
I have used paper towel rolls and rolled up construction paper in the best, but is too bulky so I have moved onto envelopes also.
I also have them complete a new sheet again before I pass out the one from the start of the year, they get such a kick out of it.
I moved from a paper towel roll to envelopes as well. They fill out a sheet with favorite song, movie, book, video game, sport, etc. they predict how many snow days we will have, one thing they will learn/do in school this year, that the _______ will win the _______, and so forth.
They "measure" their height with a piece of yarn and put it in. This is great considering I teach middle schoolers and they grow like weeds Sept to June! I tell them they can bring in anything flat that can fit into the envelope. They usually bring in a family photo, an article about favorite celeb or athlete, a small momento of some kind.
I take each student's picture digitally and put a CD of the pics in my time capsule. I place the pics into a Power Point slide show with a split screen then take their pics again in the last weeks of school. I insert the later pic into each slide to create a "before and after" slide show.
Right after state testing ends, we have a day of looking at the Power Point, opening time capsules. We measure ourselves again before opening the time capsules, as well as fill out another time capsule sheet. What a day comparing Sept to June height, hairstyles, predictions, and more!
I wanted to make individual time capsules, but I couldn't get enough of something )paper towel rolls, pringle cans) to do it that way. PLus it would take up too much space. I like the envelope idea though. I found a time capsule paper made by someone on her website (can't remember the name right now). I think I'll have the kids do the paper, height with string, maybe a picture and have them put it in an envelope. Then all the envelopes would go in one shoe box for the class that is decorated somehow. For new students I would have them do the same things the first day they come so they aren't left out when we open the time capsule at the end of the year. Of course if they come in at the end, they won't see a change.
I teach sixth grade and at the end of the school year, I have students write letters to their future self. They write predictions and their hopes of what Junior High and High School will be like. They also complete a "My Favorite" paper - they write their favorite movie, book, memory, friends etc... I place the letter, "My Favorite" sheet, and a picture of them from sixth grade in a sealed envelope and store it in a file with the Year that they will graduate from High School. When they graduate, they will recieve the letters. My first class are juniors this year - so they will recieve their letters next year! (Our town is relatively small, so it is easy to keep track of my former students)
I like the idea of a time capsule for the year - maybe I will do both.
When I was in 8th grade, my teacher had us do time capsules. We had to fit everything into a Pringle's can, and we decorated it.
We were allowed to open it after 10 years.
That was SOOO fun!! We had written letters to our future self (oddly enough, mine said "So you're a teacher now for special ed kids"), put newspaper clippings that were important to us, little momentos representing our life at that time, I put in a note from my mom and a note from my sister, I put in my grade card, I think that there was a friendship bracelet in there because that's when they were just starting to get popular. Things like that.
I have since done 2 time capsules again-- its been so fun to make a time capsule with my husband when we 1st got married (we just opened it a few months ago, after our 10th anniversary) and then we have one more that we made in the year 2000 which we can open in 2 years. I just love doing stuff like that.