Throughout the Cultural Connections units, we will be using a Student Passport to record our time studying each country. There are ready made student passports available for purchase, but they generally come in classroom packs of 12-24. Today we will be making our own student passport using scrapbook papers and our home printer.

Materials for a Student Passport:

• Blue Cardstock
• Resume paper or basic printer paper
• Stapler
• Optional: Gold Sharpie
• Paper Cutter or Scissors
• Student Passport Cover Page
• Student Passport Interior with ID Page
• Student Passport Basic Interior Pages

Directions to make your student passport:

Print the cover image onto the blue cardstock. You can trace the words with a gold Sharpie to mimic embossing.

Cut in the cover in half so each side is 5.5 x 8.5 inches. One sheet of cardstock will make two covers. Fold the cover in half to make the cover for your book. Set aside.

You will see that there are two different templates for the interior pages. One includes an ID section that will be the first page in your passport. You will only need to copy this page once. For all additional pages, use the basic interior page template for both the front and back.

To create the interior pages you have two options. If you are using thicker paper, print on the front and back of a sheet of paper and cut it in half to create 8 pages.

If you are using thinner paper, or if you cannot print on both sides of a sheet of paper, copy the interior page on a single side and fold the paper in half twice to create 4 pages. Be sure to fold so that the text is on the outside. If you would like, you can use a glue stick to glue the open edges closed.

Print enough pages to include all the countries that you plan to study. You will need a minimum of 9 pages for a year long adventure. Remember that depending on your printing method, you will have 4 or 8 passport pages per sheet of printed paper (minus 1 page for the ID section).

Fold all interior pages and stack together so that the ID page is page one.

Slide the interior pages into the center of the cover.

Fold the book open to staple. Be sure to keep the pages aligned. If you have a wide stapler you can staple like normal on the center fold.

If your stapler will not reach to the center of your passport book, open your stapler and staple along the center fold against a cutting board or cork board.

This will leave the staples sticking up in the center of the book. Use a butter knife, or similar object to fold down the staple ends.

Using Your Student Passport

Materials for using your student passport:

• Homemade Passport Book
• Roller Date Stamp
• Stamp Pad
• Flags of the World sticker book

Begin using your student passport by filling in the ID section for your student. Be sure to add a photo. NOTE: There is more information included on the ID page than found in a real passport. We have done this so that our students can use their student passport to memorize their home address and phone number.

Each time you begin studying a new country, you will need to make an entry in your passport. We used the Flags of the World sticker book by Dover press to act as country seal stamps. Begin by placing a flag sticker on the center of the VISAs page.

Either write or stamp the starting date under the enteries side of the VISA page. Children have a lot of fun using a roller date stamp to mark their passport. On the last day of your cultural unit, add the exit date on the departure side of the VISA page.