Lapbooks
The first time I ever heard of a lap book was on a Five in a Row Yahoo group, so I had not actually seen one in person. When I had the opportunity to attend a seminar by Tami Duby of Tobin's Lab on how to create lap books, I was first in line. Lapbooks are a paper manipulative using file folders in which the student stores creative summaries of their work. The concept is similar to notebooking and some notebooking resources can be used in lap books, but the concepts do differ. Lapbooks are more than just notebooks with collections of worksheets, they are diagrams, minute books, and other paper manipulatives customized to emphasize the subject of the lapbook.
Originally designed using paper manipulatives taught by Dinah Zike (see
the Big
Book of Books and the Big
Book of Projects), lap books have been
fine tuned and explained in depth by Tami Duby in her book The Ultimate Lap Book Handbook
Dinah Zike's science unit studies and Eagle's Wings curriculum (Considering God's Creation, God's Amazing Acts, and others) are excellent worksheets to use in lapbooks, as are the many notebooking forms found on the Highland Heritage website.
The following websites have some great information for those interested in creating lapbooks, including many photos:
Homeschool Helper Lapbooks - From Money to Chemistry, you will find a variety of lapbooks with downloadable pages at Homeschool Helper.
Large Lap Book™ Yahoo Group (over 1500 members with several hundred messages each month)
In The Hands of a Child - sells project packs for creating lap books and has lots of links to photos of lap books (click on Links at the top)
Old Testament Lap Book™ - from History Through the Ages (publishers of timelines and timeline figures); an example of an Old Testament lap book with lots of pictures
Mini-books, Flaps, and Student Folder Websites - links to sites with instructions to make all kinds of mini-books and manipulatives for your lapbooks
To Notebook, Lapbook, or Scrapbook is an excellent explanitory article from Knowledge Quest Maps.
More lapbook examples:
Master List of Lapbooks (Homeschool Share) - Hundreds of lapbooks with content downloads compiled by Homeschool Share (Y, M)
Dynamic 2 Moms - This site is free and everything is free on it. Contains information about lapbooking, notebooking and unit studies and is designed for the middle or high school homeschooler. There are also a number of resources for the elementary age homeschooler. (Y, M, O, T)
A Journey Through Learning - Large selection of lapbook kits for sale (Y, M)
Free Historical Paper Dolls - "Inspired by her daughter's love of paper dolls and her own love of history, Veronica Maria launched Paper Dali as a free resource for homeschooling parents. Paper Dali's collection of free historical paper dolls makes history come alive for students. Paper Dalis can be used for: coloring pages, notebooking, lapbooks, fact sheets and, of course, just playing. " (Y, M)
Lapbook Lessons - General Lapbook Resource (Y,M)
Presidential Unit Study & Lapbook Resources - From HomeschoolBlogger.com (Y, M)
United States Flag Lesson & Lapbook - From Joy Christian School (Y, M)
Love_to_Lapbook: Lapbooking Links & Talk - This group is for discussion of lapbooks from any publisher. Compare products from various publishers so that we can all make informed decisions before purchasing. This group is also for providing alphabetized links to lapbooks on a variety of topics. (T)
Minibooks - A collection of minibook tutorials (Y, M)
WorksheetWorks.com - This very cool worksheet website is still in Beta development but I had no problems with it and am impressed with not only the range of worksheets but the ability to select difficulty level for creation and instant download. In addition to the instantly generated downloads, there is a collection of graphic organizers under Miscellanea that are not only useful for thought organization, but would work very well for notebooking and lapbooking. (Y, M, O, T)
Lapbooking 101 - Wow! This Wordpress blog has a wealth of resources for lapbooking. I highly recommend these paper manipulative both in the classroom and just for fun for kids who find a topic they are passionate about. With summer coming, lapbooks can be a great way to keep the kids focused on a topic while still having fun. (Y, M, O, T)
Harold and the Purple Crayon Lapbook - lapbook (Y)
Harold Lapbook - 2006 - Harold and the Purple Crayon lapbook (Y)
Little Red Lighthouse Lapbook - August 2005 - (Y)
Make Way for Ducklings - lapbook - Example (Y)
Make Way for Ducklings Lapbook - Example (Y)
Mirette on the High Wire - lapbook - (Y)
Mr. Gumpy's Motor Car Lapbook - (Y)
Mrs. Katz and Tush Lapbook - (Y)
Owl Moon Lapbook - (Y)
The Story of Ferdinand - lapbook - (Y)
The Tale of Peter Rabbit Lapbook - (Y)
They Were Strong and Good Lapbook - (Y)
Amber on A Mountain - lapbook (Y)
The Bee Tree Lapbook - (Y)
Climbing Kansas Mountains Lapbook - 2006 - (Y)
Duchess Bakes A Cake - lapbook - (Y)
The Duchess Bakes a Cake - (Y)
Warm As Wool - Sept. 2005 - lapbook (Y)
Follow the Drinking Gourd - (y)
