How to Make Pop-Up Books in Your Classroom

One fun way to get kids excited about writing is to have them make a pop-up book in the classroom. Pop-up books can be used for grades 1 all the way up to 8 or 9, with pop-ups gaining complexity as students get older. The great thing about using pop-ups in the classroom is that in addition to providing writing practice, pop-ups are a great exercise in following directions. Children can learn a lot from following step-by-step instructions. Pop-up books are always popular with children, and kids love to have authentic writing experiences. By creating pop-up books, your students will learn a lot and have a finished product to hold on to for years to come.

Instructions

1. The great thing about a pop-up book assignment is that you can make it as complicated or as easy as you wish. Pop-ups work for many different grade and ability levels, and the assignment can be modified for both special education students and gifted students. Pop-up books also can be used to illustrate a variety of different writing assignments from stories to personal narratives to how-to essays. Pop-up books also give kids the opportunities to share what they learned from participating in a certain activity, lesson, or experience.

2. To make pop-up books with children, you will need to carefully plan the assignment to avoid leaving things to chance. Decide ahead of time how long you want the written assignment to be, and that will help you plan for book lengths and needed supplies. Students can type finished drafts or handwrite them, but be sure that the story or essay is complete and edited before students begin books. (This is actually a good motivator for students. When some students see others beginning to make their books, it often pushes them to finish their stories so that they can start their own.)

3. The way that I manage pop-ups in a classroom is to create a task sheet for each student. Students must have my initials on each section before they can go to the next step. A sample task sheet might look like this:

   rough draft of story
   peer revision suggestions
   second draft of story
   teacher edit of story
   final draft of story
   final typed draft of story
   completed story board with copy of divided story glued to storyboard frames
   completed book cover with about-the-author information and dedication

   Once all of the above items are completed, then students can start making their pop up pages. It allows students to work at their own pace, and it also allows for differentiation. Some students might get sheet "A" which has more steps, while other students might get fewer steps on sheet "B". For example, I might require 10 pop-ups for a certain grade or certain students. Another example is that I may add two required pop ups or more complicated pop ups from gifted students.

4. 

   Once students are ready to get to the book making part of the assignment, you should set up a pop-up station at the front of the room with needed supplies. Include regular scissors, funky edge scrapbooking scissors, cutting tools such as circle makers, colored card stock, construction paper, crayons, markers and colored pencils, and rubber cement. (Be sure to give specific directions on the dangers of rubber cement.) Also include an X-acto cutting station for older students. (I usually put a cutting mat at my desk and supervise students there.) If students are too young to use X-acto blades, I tell them that they must draw a line where they want the cut to be and I'll cut across the line. (They must have thought about the pop-up and have specific instructions when they ask me to cut.)

   You will need printed or copied directions for pop-ups that students can use. I purchased several copies of books to have on my pop-up making station. Most of the books give directions for pop-up cards, but those can be easily adapted for the classroom. Depending on the time we have, I may limit the types of pop-ups students can use.

5. 

   Student pop-up books should be made with sets of separate pop-up pages. The pages resemble open greeting cards that are then glued together in a stack to make a book. This works well in a classroom since students will work on a page at a time. The backs of sliding areas and open areas must be covered with glue-outlined patches or second pieces of card stock so that books will work properly when glued together. Have students create a title page from a blank piece of card stock to add to the top of the stack. Once the stack of pages has been developed, use rubber cement to glue the pages into a stack. Rubber cement is permanent if placed on both surfaces.

6. 

   A book cover is made by taking a larger piece of construction paper and folding and cutting it an inch larger than the folded pages. Have students decorate the cover and complete a pre-made "About the Author" and "Dedication" card to glue to the inside front and back cover of the book. Laminate the covers to prepare them for book assembly. Re-fold them once they leave the laminator.

7. The book design is very simple since the pop-ups make the book special on their own. Open up the laminated cover and center the stack of pages on the right side of the open book cover. Glue the last page of the stack to the back of the book, but don't glue anything to inside front cover. Now the book is complete!

Tips & Warnings

• Two books are especially helpful: How to Make Super Pop-ups by Joan Irvine and Linda Hendry; How to Make Super Pop-ups by Joan Irvine. These books have instructions and illustrations that are easy and fun for kids to follow. It also helps to have examples of pop-up books for students to look at.

• School districts and their foundations often offer funding for special projects. Consider writing a grant to help implement your pop-up unit.

• PTOs and PTAs often fund special projects. See article below for advice on how to request funding from your school PTO or PTA.

Resources

• How to Request School Funding from your PTO or PTA