Memoir Unit of Study, Fall 2009

**Create an ongoing chart of collecting strategies, developing/nurturing strategies for reference in the classroom

**Cycle through Memoir twice? Consider for next year?

Day Lesson Notes 1 Writers read and listen to memoirs… Immersion: reading and noticing about various memoirs

Share: creating chart of characteristics of memoirs 2 Day 2 of Immersion: Writers read and listen to memoirs… 3 Writers read and listen to student memoirs and then Immersion: again reading and noticing; write in order to inspire their own writing. collecting memories in the their notebooks --Memoirs have a reflection Share: How did you use your notebook today?

4 Collecting: *add at some point--Share: what to do Writers revisit their notebook(s). One way we can do when you think you are done this is by using our heartmaps to brainstorm a list of memories. (i.e. mom, a place, etc…) -brainstorm/list/web off of one thing from our heart map

5 Collecting: 7 best and 4 worst: Listing best and worst moments in our lives 6 Writers think more about people who are important Writers think more closely about in our lives. One way they do this is by asking important people in their lives and ask themselves questions about how that person has and answer questions…Have questions on influenced our lives. (Hand-out questions for diving the chart and have small entries deeper: Bomer, pg. 71) *add this to ways to collect list answering the questions in notebook to share. Active Engagement: Think about what people are important to you and why and who you might want to think and write more about—share with your partner.

Kate has graphic organizer with ?s; have a copy of questions for each writer; also have filled out graphic organizer as model for small group of kids

7 Writers think more about events (or problems) that Thinking about various problems to find have been important in our lives. One way we do this life topics. We can learn a lot about is by asking ourselves questions about how an event ourselves from problems we have to deal has influenced our lives. (Hand-out questions for with in our lives. WE’ve noticed some diving deeper: Bomer, pg. 71) *add this to ways to collect list memoirs are about problems the writer has faced. So, if we were to write about a problem like…(author) what things would we need to share so that others can understand the problem? Brainstorming questions/ideas connected to a problem. (We can suggest some questions if kids have trouble generating ideas.) Chart these ideas and model out loud with our own problem. Ind. Work: writing about a problem in their lives using the questions they’ve generated.

Copy of questions

8 Writers think more about places that have been important in our lives. One way we do this is by asking ourselves questions about how places that have influenced our lives. (Hand-out questions for diving deeper: Bomer, pg. 71)

9 Collecting: Writers look through their notebook and Memoirs can also be focused around look for topics that keep popping up and topics that things other than a problem or a person. seem to be missing. One way to collect more ideas Memoirists write about places, events, about these topics to push our thinking about a and things that have also been important person, place, or event by asking questions that help us dive deeper. Such as: Am I different because of in their lives. Today, I’m going to show this? Why am I different (or is my life different) you how we can think and write more because this happened? about other parts of our lives that are *Connecting this strategy back to “The Maybe…” important just like we did with the people Maybe if I didn’t have my mom, maybe if I’d never and problems…Model writing about one fallen off my bike, maybe if my parents never got of these using similar questions to the divorced… days when we wrote about people and problems.

10 Writers reflect about how things around us and in our Remember how we learned that memoirs lives change us. (Either looking back or ahead) Lessons always have a reflection? Let’s brainstorm I’ve learned/things I’ve realized/how I’ve changed reflections about the big ideas we are collecting either looking ahead or looking back. This can help us choose our memoir topics because some reflections are BIGger than others. (Optional: using t- charts, organizers to guide reluctant writers)

Share: Who has a topic that they feel could be a strong topic for a memoir. A BIG idea or big reflection.

11 Writers choose and develop a seed idea. Notes and Ideas from Last Year: Writers Choosing: develop their seed ideas by thinking and Writers need to choose a memoir topic that feels big writing more about it. One way we can and important. If it is something new, we need to go grow our ideas is by writing a letter in our back into our strategies and collect more thinking about our topic. Another way to nurture is to revisit notebooks to someone about our seed strategies we already know for collecting and idea. Writing a letter helps me grow my nurturing our ideas. (i.e. writing a scence, writing from thinking because it forces me to explain one sense…) my thinking to someone else. (just like as if we were talking to them) Here’s the letter I wrote last night about my seed idea…Notice I included my thinking about my idea. Read the letter. Turn and talk— what else did you notice I included in my letter? (Have students share their notices!) So, writers, another way we can grow our thinking about our seed idea is by making a web. A web is a good way to grow your thinking because it’s fast way to get lots of thinking about your idea down on paper. Here is the web that I created about my seed idea. (Read your web.) Turn and talk—what types of things do you notice I included in my web? (Share out.) Today and any day that you’re preparing to draft, you should first grow your thinking. Webbing and writing letter are two ways writers do this. Right here, make a plan and decide which way you are going to grow your idea. After class has gotten settled and made progress on developing their seed idea, call together a small group. Possible strategy lessons: writing from your senses, including thinking/feelings,

Strategies for developing:

--webbing

--timeline

--writing from your senses

--brainstorming/listing

--writing a letter (includes thinking, reflection, feelings, words like I remember, what we learned, who was involved, some sensory details, thinking)

11a Develop rubric based on immersion work. Shares during drafting time should be around adding to the rubric.

12 Developing: Writers understand the structure of The beginning and ending of a memoir memoirs so that the beginning and end of the memoir Writers write the beginning and ending of stand alone. (Also: hybrid, pearls, etc.) a memoir first because they can stand alone. Because the writer of a memoir who is thinking and writing about the past is different person—smarter, happier, sadder, different—than the one back then. The beginning shows the writer back then and the ending shows the now. Even without explaining what happened, the beginning and ending show how the lens changed who we are. ****

Partner A turn and tell your partner what you were like before your “thing”

Use Shortcut and Why Did My Dad Leave as examples of beginnings and endings, with middles cut out

Shares during drafting time should be around adding to the rubric.

13 Developing: Writers develop a draft by compiling their Writers structure or write their memoirs memories and thoughts. Writers put it in an order that in different ways. Two ways writers can makes sense and then they read it out loud to make write their memoirs are ONE EVENT or sure their sequence makes sense. ACROSS TIME. (Show your THEN, the one (Show Franny and Amanda’s memoirs.) event slowed down, and the NOW

Chart visually showing how the beginning and endings of the two kinds of memoirs are the same, but then in the middle the ONE EVENT like Shortcut is like one “pearl” stretched out, and the ACROSS TIME is a list of several “pearls”. Model reading through notebook and deciding which way to draft, starting the middle, even just aloud.

14 Revising: Reteach Adding More Drafting/Revising Day (Show don’t tell), Slowing a Moment Down

15 Revising: Taking Out Revision Day: Taking out Writers revise by taking out things that don’t help the reader understand the story or are irrelevant to the Shares during drafting time should be focus. around adding to the rubric.

16 Editing: TBA (What do they need?) Shares during drafting time should be around adding to the rubric. 17 Publishing How to copy over, how to set up the page, skipping lines, etc 18 Publishing Choosing a title, looking at mentor texts 19 Publishing Celebration

**3 extra days before Conventions

Memoir ends 11/6,

Conventions 11/9-11/24

Independent Writing 11/30-12/23