Every year, I have my students fill out a time capsule worksheet that I keep in a jar labeled “time capsule” in my room. They fill it out on the first day of school and I store it on the shelf until the last day. The students get so excited to see what they wrote and are astonished by their answers. This year, I decided to elevate the time capsule and actually make a more detailed time capsule craft, and complete it during the first week of school.
I turned it into a lesson to discuss:
- Using scissors
- Traffic patterns around the classroom
- Coloring expectations
- Complete sentence structure
- How to turn in assignments using the file sorter
Instead of putting them on the shelf immediately, I hung them up to display them in my classroom. The students enjoyed looking at what the other students created. I also had an immediate decoration in my classroom for any early impromptu Marzano reviews.
After the first month, I took down their time capsules and stored them for the end of the year. They easily fold flat and I was able to fit them in a shoe box shaped box.
Preparation Hints
- To prepare for this project I always make 5 extra copies of each page. This prevents running to the copier for lost pages and the students that are perfectionists.
- I found it was easier to have the students work on the same page at the beginning. The easiest page to start with is where they write their name at the top. See the page below.
Classroom Set Up
- On the next page, it will ask the students to tell how much things cost. I write these on the board to prevent answering the question repeatedly.
- Most students do not know how tall they are. I set up a measuring station in the classroom and the students go there with a partner to measure how tall they are. I was surprised at how popular the task was, and it really had the students discussing their height and a little math with feet, inches, or the metric system for the rest of the world.
- Hand out the top part to the time capsule last. It is small and tends to get lost.
Assembly
- Cut the pages out last that way they don’t get lost and they have the student’s name on the paper.
- I set up an assembly area at my big U shaped table with all of the supplies, yarn, scissors, hole punch, and glue. I sit at the back and show the first few students how to assemble and then they learn from each other.
- Have the pictured assembly instructions on the overhead camera for the students to follow.
- I have the students make a big loop through the holes and tie a knot bringing the loop together.
- I have my students hang their time capsules up because most are tall enough to reach my clothes pin line in my class.
- I grade them when they are hanging up. It is quick to review with my rubric on a clipboard.
Thank you for visiting my blog. If you are interested in the Time Capsule Craft it can be found at my Teachers Pay Teachers store under Time Capsule Craft.
