Projects that support Because Writing Matters: Helping Your Children Become Confident, Skilled Writers, In and Beyond School:

The Gift of Life in a Box
Contributed by Aileen Nishio, Teacher Consultant, Area 3 Writing Project, UC Davis

Getting Ready to Write

Answer the following questions to help you gather lots of information about YOU. Interview your parents or guardians to get the answers to all the questions you cannot answer yourself.

• What is my full name?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• How did I get my name? Am I named after anyone?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• When and where was I born?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Who are the people in my family?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Do you have pets that are just like members of the family?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Who are some of my ancestors?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Are there any funny or interesting stories about any of them?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Am I like any of them? Do I look like any of them?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What is special about my heritage or culture?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What was I like as a baby?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What is one of the first things I did or learned to do?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Is there something funny that happened to me when I was younger?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Is there something scary that happened when I was younger?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What did I like to do when I went to preschool or kindergarten?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What were some of my favorites when I was young?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• Did my favorites change, as I got older?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What are some of the activities I like to do in school?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What are some of the activities I like to do outside of school?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  
• What are some things that really interest me and make me want to learn about them?
  
  ____________________________________________________________
  
  

Ask your parents or guardians to help you find:

• a baby picture and a picture of you now, both of which are ones you can glue to your project
• a small sturdy box with a lid ( a checkbook box works the best)
• construction paper
• glue or a glue stick
• scissors

Organizing your ideas

For younger students:
Finish the sentence frames, using information from your Getting Ready to Write notes. You may add, take out, or change the words.

Page 1
Hi! My name is ____________________.

I was born on__________________ at/in _____________________.

Page 2
I must have been a beautiful baby because I looked like/was
____________________________________________________________.

Page 3
I got my name from

____________________________________________________________ .

Page 4
There are _________ people in my family.

We also have __________________________________________.

Page 5
My ancestors/grandparents

____________________________________________________________.

I have inherited my _______________’s

____________________________________________________________.

A funny or interesting story about ____________________ is

_______________________________________.

Page 6
My first ____________________________________________________________.

Page 7
A funny thing happened when I was little.

____________________________________________________________.

Page 8
A scary thing happened when I was little.

____________________________________________________________.

Or
Once I really scared my parents.

____________________________________________________________ .

Page 9
When I was little, I liked ___________________________.

Now I like ____________________________________________________________.

Page 10
Now I am _________ years old.

I’m good at ____________________________________________________________.

Page 11
In school, I ____________________________________________________________.

After school, I ____________________________________________________________.

What really makes me want to learn is

____________________________________________________________ .

Page 12
I’m special because ____________________________________________________________.

Organizing your ideas

For older children: Look back at your Getting Ready to Write notes. Choose 12 ideas you want to write more about, one idea for each of the 12 pages that will make up your autobiography.

For example, you may want to include a page about when you were born, another about how you got your name, and another about your family, another about what were like when you were little, and so on. You choose the 12 ideas that are most important for you to write about, If you think of something that is important for one of the pages, but it’s not what you talked about with your parents, make sure to include that idea on its own page. This will make your book is all about what’s important about you.

In a notebook, or journal, or recipe cards, or even on some scratch paper, write what you want to say about each idea you have chosen. See if you can give each page a title, so your reader will know what will be different and unique about each page.

Making your Accordion Book:

Directions: Ask your parents for help if you need to.

These size dimensions are for an accordion book box using a check book box.

1. Cut large construction paper 6” x 18”. You’ll need three pieces.
   
2. Fold approximately 3-1/4”, alternating directions like a fan or accordion.
   
3. You should have about a one inch margin. Use glue stick to attach the three long folded pieces together.
   
4. Cut wrapping paper to approximately 9” x 12”. Cover the box lid so it looks like a wrapped gift, sealing it with double stick scotch tape.
   
5. After the final copy has been inked in, use glue stick to attach the beginning of the accordion to the box lid, and the end of the accordion to the box bottom. Be sure the accordion folds into the box correctly.
   
6. Close the box lid and wrap with gift yarn or ribbon.
   

When you are finished, it should like this.

Writing your autobiography

Read your what you have written carefully and check your spelling. When you like what you have written, you are ready to write your final copy onto the pages of your accordion book. Write neatly and add more details or illustrations. Look at the layout below for how you will layout your final copy. Notice what will be each the pages— baby photo, title, story pages from 1 - 12, today’s date, and the photo of what you look like now.
You might want to write it in pencil first and ask someone to proofread it before you ink in the words.

Now decide who you want to read your book in a box.