WritingMemoirs … Journals… Diaries… Personal Narratives …At the beginning of your personal narrative unit, have students do a piece of writing and assess using a student-friendly rubric. Use this assessment to inform your instruction. As you explicitly teach each mini-lessons like those below, provide students with positive, descriptive feedback that connects to your learning intention. When students are aware of their progress, they are motivated to continue. |
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| Book Title/Cover | Memoir Overview | Objective | Lesson Links & Black Line Masters |
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This beautiful book features an opportunity to notice the details in our world and local community for which we are thankful. | Students brainstorm a specific place in their local community for which they are grateful. Sensory details make all the difference in adding to a quality piece of thoughtful writing. | Writing Trait: Voice & Ideas
Thank You Earth Lesson and Black Line Masters Thank you to the students in Brooke Young and Debra Fullerton’s class for their amazing class book to serve as an example of this writing activity: |
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Alma Sofia Esperanza Jose Pura Candela thinks her name is too long. As her Dad tells the stories of how her name came to be, Alma might just change her mind. |
This story creates a perfect fit between the personal identity element of the core competencies and establishing an authentic purpose for doing some research and writing the story behind your name. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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Use a variety of memoir-style novels for lit circles. | As students read these books, they can gather topics for their own memoirs while learning about the characteristics of this genre. | Titles for Memoir Lit Circles |
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Number 21 recalls an event in author Nancy Hundal’s life in which her Dad brings home a new truck. Readers are lead on a mini mystery as the truck is used in an unconventional way on a hot summer day. | Well written memoirs are based on ideas that have a very tight focus. In this lesson, Nancy’s book is used as a mentor text to model the narrow writing focus we want our students to have. | Generating memoir topics at the beginning of the unit
Writing Trait: Ideas |
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A funny look at what can happen if we don’t clean up our spaces. | After reading this delightful book, we ask our students to gather examples of wonderful word choices used by the author of this book. Using a class-made chart, students do a quick write about a messy space in their world! | Writing Trait: Ideas ~ adding details and Word Choice
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If You Find a Rock is one of those books that calms the soul and slows life’s pace to one of careful observation. Take kids outside … to the beach, a river bank or into the forest where they will choose a rock that speaks to them. | After outdoor exploration and locating a special rock, students will carefully describe its appearance, qualities and specific use.Experiential writing should not be underestimated. When we provide students with memories, they are ready to write! | Writing Trait: Ideas ~ adding details |
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When Matt goes out to play in his new neighborhood, all he sees is a boring, empty lot. But with a stick, a little imagination and a few new friends, Mattland is born. | In this lesson, students use the Show, Don’t Tell writing strategy to add details to their writing. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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Granpa has magical explanations for ordinary things – a frosty window-pan, dewdrops sparkling on the grass, even his own bald head – and Granpa never lies. | In this lesson, students listen for the kinds of details that writers include that other people tend to miss. Teacher and students co-construct criteria about adding details to a their writing. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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When father and daughter go owling, they connect with each other and their environment. | Jane Yolen uses vivid description to retell this event. In this lesson, students look at the author’s use of the senses as a means to elaborate … to add details. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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When Amelia has to move, her mother gives her a notebook to record her thoughts and feelings in hopes it will make her feel better. | Increase writing engagement by inviting students to doodle and add momentos to their own writing notebook ala Amelia. |  |
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A father retells a childhood event to his daughter. | This book may be used to generate memoir topics – life’s lessons learned. Pages also contain clear examples of paragraphing. Have students use attached pages to write “When to start a new paragraph rules.” | Writing Trait: Ideas Use this book to brainstorm “life’s lessons learned.” This topic has the potential to fuel many memoirs. Writing Trait: ConventionsWhen To Start a New Paragraph |
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Author Lois Lowry recalls the return of her father from the war. They spend a special day together getting to know one another and calling the crows. Don’t miss the picture on the last page. | Great writing contains a mixture of short, medium and long sentences. In this lesson, students use Lowry’s text as a model and try some of their own. | Writing Trait: Sentence Fluency
Crow Call Sentence Length Awareness Writing Trait: Word Choice |
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During hard times, when Grandad moves out, Timmerman moves in. But is he trustworthy? When Timmerman is seen late at night, rumours start to fly. A surprising ending, reveals the answer. | The lead sentence in this book creates a little mystery. In this lesson, students will learn a variety of ways to write lead sentences. Can leads become artful endings? Read through the lesson to find out! | Writing Trait: Organization |
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This is a delightful book filled with funny similes that entertain. | In this lesson, students are taught how to write similes and encouraged to add these snippets of poetry to other pieces of writing. | Writing Traits: Word Choice |
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Fletcher shares all sorts of suggestions to help writers tell their life stories. With quick lines such as, “Write small. I’m talking details here.” he shares humorous insights about his craft. A great read aloud during a memoir writing unit. | Share knowledge of the writer’s craft. This book contains lots of ideas to turn into explicit mini-lessons. | Collect family stories – page 10
Gather life’s artifacts – page 12 Sketch a map of your neighborhood (pg.13) or your heart (pg. 18) Find a focus – page 27 Write small – page 46 Inside/outside of a character – page 54 |
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From the first line of text, you just know this book is loaded with voice! Sophie Peterman has a lot to say about baby brothers. Will her opinion change as she gets to know the newest member of the family? | In this lesson, students learn about voice by assessing voice in sample pieces of text. | Writing Trait: Voice |
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The sights, smells and activities at Uncle John’s Farm are the focus for this memoir. | Told in first person, Sally Fitz Gibbon uses poetic sentence structure to carry her message. In this lesson, students mimic her use of “ing” sentence beginnings to write complex sentences themselves. | Writing Trait: Sentence Fluency |
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This is a wordless picture book with hilarious photos of food. | Use the photos as a means to gather details in a kid-friendly way. Use the Show, Don’t Tell strategy to describe emotions. In this example “mad” is analyzed. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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This is another wordless picture book. It begins with a close-up view and gradually takes in more of the scene. | When the pictures in this book are viewed backwards – from the last page to the first- it becomes a great zoom in on your topic lesson. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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Told from the perspective of a baby who loves to write, this book will make you laugh! | After hearing this book read aloud, students will write in role pretending they are a baby examining the world around them. | Writing Trait: Ideas |
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Given a classrooom writing assignment, all the other students seem to have things to write about. Author Janet Wong shares ideas to turn everyday events into personal stories worth telling. | Use as a read-aloud. | Writing Trait: Ideas
Simply create a class chart listing some of Wong’s advice. |
