Make Notes Come Alive with Smash Journals

When I was in college I had two notebooks for my African Diaspora class:  one to take notes in class and the other for re-writing my notes.  My high school guidance counselor taught me to always re-write my notes in order to flesh out the information and fill in any blanks missed during class.  When Anna Fogg, a fellow artist and homeschool mom, told me about Smash Journals I thought this would be a great way to encourage my children to review their African History notes while having fun and being creative.  To inspire my children, I am taking the plunge first.  My plan is to read over my notes (yes, the grown-ups take notes in this class), pull out the key points, and create visuals around them. My first entries are pretty basic, but the sky is the limit.  I must admit, I was a history minor in college, so for me this is a way to make history come alive. I can't wait to see what my children create!

Smash Journal from Michael's

To review the African countries I used the first letter for each group of countries as my inspiration.  For example, for countries that begin with the letter "S" I wrote the names of the countries all around the letter S.

To review notes about African leader Kwame Nkrumah, I put information about Ghana's Independence inside the flag.

To review important concepts about historical figures, I wrote their organizations and movements beneath their photos.  I tried to make the letters look as if they were "moving" (movement) of the page.