[activity derived from the Biographical Scrapbook Project in Notes Plus, December 1996]

Biographical Scrapbook Project

In Louis Sacher's Holes, readers get a colorful sense of Stanley's "dirty, rotten, pig-stealing great-grandfather." The following activity will help students incorporate details about character into their writing based on their own experiences.

Students will imagine that it is 40-50 years into the future. A writer has approached each student and wants to write a biography about his/her life. The student will need to produce documents and personal items to give the writer a sense of the student's life. These items can include letters, memos, thank you notes, magazine/newspaper clippings, photos, passports, receipts, ticket stubs, and other items that the students choose. Students will be asked to compile a scrapbook of these items to give to the writer. The scrapbook should contain a minimum of 8 items.