Being a guide...

So remember we're studying the same quotation over the course of several weeks, but focusing on a different concept or vocabulary word from the quotation each time.

“Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind… It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth.” –Bahá’u’lláh

After our lesson on being a light, we looked at the concept of a guide. What is a guide? What does a guide do? We did a little role playing where each child pretended to be something or someone guiding the other children. Then I asked the children to draw a picture of the concept, and helped write a sentence or two telling what their picture was about.

At first, I was going to make a book by stapling the children's drawings together -- a perfectly lovely idea. (Especially because we can pick it up at story time and read it at every class.) But somehow I learned about this great site called FlipSnack, and decided I would try creating an ebook -- my first!



The nice thing about an ebook is that it can be shared with anyone who has access to a computer. So, all the parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, and sisters and brothers scattered all over the globe have a chance to experience it. Of course, if you have access to a printer or photocopier, hard copies of the book can be shared as well.

I didn't have a lot of time to get fancy, but I'm fine with its quaint simplicity and enjoyed learning how to do something new.

Here's how I did the ebook...

If you have basic familiarity of Microsoft Word this will not be an intimidating process.

I took pictures of the children's drawings with a digital camera. I inserted each photo into its own page of a blank document in Microsoft Word, and then wrote the surrounding text. (I used the children's own words from their drawings, and then added a little more at the beginning and end for context.) I then saved the file as a PDF, (which I learned how to do watching a short YouTube tutorial), and followed the FlipSnack steps to turn it into an ebook.

I will add that I don't have much of a budget for this class, so I've simply been using FlipSnack's free options. There are limitations, but so far I'm blissfully ignorant and don't feel I'm missing out. Your ebook creations can be shared via links for free, and you can embed a few books into things at no cost.

Either way...

But whether you create an ebook or a paper book, children love to see their published work. Aside from being a great way to review concepts, reading student-authored books in class every so often, (just as you would a store bought book written by a grown-up), gives them a sense of pride and conveys that you value their thoughts and ideas and are serious about their work.