Sixth Grade: Memoir Writing
Fifth and Sixth Grade Writing Rubric:
3-8.ela.common.core.writing.rubric.pdf | |
File Size: | 255 kb |
File Type: |
Please note: the following documents and lessons were taken from the writings and work of Lucy Calkins and the Columbia University Teachers College Reading and Writing Project.
Common Core State Standards Aligning with the Memoir Unit:
New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/nysp12cclsela.pdf
Writing Standards:
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
Reading Standards:
Speaking and Listening Standards:
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion. d. Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.
e. Seek to understand and communicate with individuals from different perspectives and cultural backgrounds.
b. Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
d. Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
e. Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others' writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language.*
b.Spell correctly.
b. Maintain consistency in style and tone.*
Generating Ideas about Our Lives and Finding Depth in the Moments we Choose
Common Core State Standards Aligning with the Memoir Unit:
New York State P-12 Common Core Learning Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy http://www.engageny.org/sites/default/files/resource/attachments/nysp12cclsela.pdf
Writing Standards:
- W.6.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and well-structured event sequences.
b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, pacing, and description, to develop experiences, events, and/or characters.
c. Use a variety of transition words, phrases, and clauses to convey sequence and signal shifts from one time frame or setting to another.
d. Use precise words and phrases, relevant descriptive details, and sensory language to convey experiences and events.
e. Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated experiences or events.
- W.6.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1–3 above.) a. Produce text (print or nonprint) that explores a variety of cultures and perspectives.
- W.6.5 With some guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language standards 1–3 up to and including grade 6 on page 66.)
- W.6.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.
Reading Standards:
- RL.6.2 Determine a theme or central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including its relationship to the characters, setting, and plot; provide an objective summary of the text.
- RL.6.9 Compare and contrast texts in different forms or genres (e.g., stories and poems; historical novels and fantasy stories) in terms of their approaches to similar themes and topics.
- RL.6.10 By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poems, in the grades 6–8 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.
Speaking and Listening Standards:
- SL.6.1 Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade 6 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.
b. Follow rules for collegial discussions, set specific goals and deadlines, and define individual roles as needed.
c. Pose and respond to specific questions with elaboration and detail by making comments that contribute to the topic, text, or issue under discussion. d. Review the key ideas expressed and demonstrate understanding of multiple perspectives through reflection and paraphrasing.
e. Seek to understand and communicate with individuals from different perspectives and cultural backgrounds.
- SL.6.3 Delineate a speaker’s argument and specific claims, distinguishing claims that are supported by reasons and evidence from claims that are not.
- L.6.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking.
b. Use intensive pronouns (e.g., myself, ourselves).
c. Recognize and correct inappropriate shifts in pronoun number and person.*
d. Recognize and correct vague pronouns (i.e., ones with unclear or ambiguous antecedents).*
e. Recognize variations from standard English in their own and others' writing and speaking, and identify and use strategies to improve expression in conventional language.*
- L.6.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
b.Spell correctly.
- L.6.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions when writing, speaking, reading, or listening.
b. Maintain consistency in style and tone.*
Generating Ideas about Our Lives and Finding Depth in the Moments we Choose
Homework due Thursday, and Friday, June 2, and 3, 2016:
Classwork, Wednesday, Thursday, June 1, and 2, 2016:
Session 1: What Makes a Memoir?
"What kind of a person am I?"
"What is one of the big things I want to say about the whole of my life?"
"What do I want to say, and how can I best say it?"
Generating Memories:
Generating Memories Handout:
Classwork, Wednesday, Thursday, June 1, and 2, 2016:
Session 1: What Makes a Memoir?
- MEMOIR. What words do we think about when we see and hear the word "memoir"?
- memory, memorial, remember, memorable
- Students will discuss the qualities and specific elements of a memoir.
- Students will reflect on the questions that will help them write a memoir that says, "This is who I am."
"What kind of a person am I?"
"What is one of the big things I want to say about the whole of my life?"
"What do I want to say, and how can I best say it?"
- Generating Memories Handout: Students will brainstorm several lists of observations and short stories that they will include in their memoir. Students will complete the handout as they complete their lists.
- Students will pick at least three of their short stories of their memories and draw a picture or diagram that depicts the story.
- The handout of the lists and three pictures are due on Friday.
Generating Memories:
- Students will reflect on the questions that will help them write a memoir that says, "This is who I am."
- Students will brainstorm and create a list of memories that can be written as short stories.
- STUDENTS ARE NOT TO WRITE THE STORIES TODAY…THEYARE JUST CREATING A LIST OF IDEAS OF STORIES THAT THEY MAY WANT TO WRITE.
- Students will choose several stories from their lists and create a diagram or picture filled with tiny details of the memory or story.
- All of this work should be completed in the student’s notebook.
- What matters most to me?
- Create a list of at least three things that matter to me most.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What kind of a person am I?
- Create a list of at least three things that describe what kind of person I am.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What are some challenges that I have faced in my life?
- Create a list of at least three challenges that I have faced in my life.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What are some “firsts” that were memorable to me? First time fishing
- First time hunting
- First time swimming
- First time in the snow
- First time at school
- Create a list of at least three “firsts” that were memorable to me.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What are some places that are important in my life?
- Create a list of at least three places that are important in my life.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- Who are some people that are important in my life?
- Create a list of at least three people that are important in my life.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What are some goals that are important in my life?
- Create a list of at least three goals that are important in my life.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
- What are some values that are important in my life?
- Create a list of at least three values that are important in my life.
- And then write suggestions for stories that relate to these topics.
Generating Memories Handout:
|
|
Homework due Monday, June 7, 2016: None.
Classwork, Friday, June 4, 2016:
Session 1: What Makes a Memoir?
"What kind of a person am I?"
"What is one of the big things I want to say about the whole of my life?"
"What do I want to say, and how can I best say it?"
Classwork, Friday, June 4, 2016:
Session 1: What Makes a Memoir?
- Students will study the qualities and specific elements of a memoir.
- Students will reflect on the questions that will help them write a piece that says, "This is who I am."
"What kind of a person am I?"
"What is one of the big things I want to say about the whole of my life?"
"What do I want to say, and how can I best say it?"
- Students will listen as the Sandra Cisneros reads "Eleven." http://vimeo.com/9245804 Sandra Cisneros, Reading, 8 Oct. 1996 from Lannan Foundation
- "Eleven," by Sandra Cisneros. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MeKLK-DrL680E2cJ_W6iSNSYSlpVDvIeYSg15OHRqoA/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1
- "Eleven," by Sandra Cisneros. http://my.ccsd.net/userdocs/documents/qP2lEuWcYaAQAtMW.pdf
- As a class, discuss and analyze the text. Notice how Cisneros includes storytelling (narrative writing) and ideas and opinions.
- What can we infer about Cisneros's feelings? How does she convey her feelings?
- Students will begin generating a list of elements of memoir that can be found in "Eleven."
Homework due Tuesday, June 8, 2016: None.
Classwork, Monday, June 7, 2016:
Classwork, Monday, June 7, 2016:
- What is the theme in "Eleven"?
- Begin looking at and reading "Quietly Struggling" written by Kelly Boland Hohne.
- In partners, discuss how this memoir goes. How is it like and unlike "Eleven"?
- Listen to several examples from Bill Harley's memoir.
- What are some themes that are found in Bill's memoir?
- As a class, compile a list of themes that are found in memoir writing.
- As a class, compile a list of elements that make up memoir writing.
"Quietly Struggling," by Kelly Boland Hohne.
quietly_struggling.pdf | |
File Size: | 45 kb |
File Type: |
quietly_struggling.doc | |
File Size: | 30 kb |
File Type: | doc |
Homework due Wednesday, June 9, 2016: 1) Compile your personal "life themes list." Choose one theme. 2) Make a list of small moments stories that are examples of the theme you have chosen.
Classwork, Tuesday, June 8, 2016:
Interpreting the Comings and Goings of Life:
Classwork, Tuesday, June 8, 2016:
Interpreting the Comings and Goings of Life:
- Students will contemplate the question, "What are the topics and territories that I revisit often in my writing and my thinking?" Take some time to compile a list.
- Students will listen to an example of a memoir by Patricia McLaughlin, What you Know First.
- Students will think about what themes or deep meanings or issues they wish to convey in their memoir.
- Choose one big theme of your life.
- Write the big theme on the top of your notebook page.
- Think: What small moments from my life fit in with this big theme or issue? Add to a list under the big theme heading.
- 1) Compile your personal "life themes list." Choose one theme.
- 2) Make a list of small moments stories that are examples of the theme you have chosen.
Homework due Thursday, June 9, 2016: None.
Classwork, Wednesday, June 8, 2016:
Homework due Friday, June 10, 2016: Memoir Narrative.
Classwork, Thursday, June 9, 2016:
Homework due Friday, , 2016: Memoir Narrative. Work on revisions to your first part of the memoir. The second story should be added to the memoir. This is for a grade.
Classwork, Thursday, , 2016:
Classwork, Wednesday, June 8, 2016:
- Students will review the list of themes that they wrote on Friday.
- Choose one of the themes on your list.
- Students will write an introduction to the memoir about the big theme that has been chosen. Write this part of your memoir in your notebook.
- As a class, we will review the list of the elements of memoir.
- As a class, we will review the rubric.
- As a class, we will read several more examples of memoir.
- We will analyze the texts and compare and contrast the elements of memoir found in the texts.
- Texts will include:
- When I was Young in the Mountains, by Cynthia Rylant
- The Relatives Came, by Cynthia Rylant
- The Art Lesson, by Tomie dePaola
- As a class and in small groups we will analyze the individual memoirs that have been written for homework.
Homework due Friday, June 10, 2016: Memoir Narrative.
Classwork, Thursday, June 9, 2016:
- Choose one of the small moments on your list.
- Students will continue to write their first entry for their memoir.
- Students will write an essay about the big theme using a small moment story as your example of the theme. Write this part of your memoir in your notebook.
- What We Notice about Memoir
-The writer has an idea to share and might begin by explaining this idea to the reader (the way an essayist would explain a claim).
-The writer might use a personal narrative to SHOW how his or her idea is true.
-Some memoirs might look more like stories, with patches of idea-based writing around a big story (like "Eleven"). Other memoirs look more like essays, with a lot of ideas and just a few, small stories (like "Quietly Struggling").
- This is for a grade.
Homework due Friday, , 2016: Memoir Narrative. Work on revisions to your first part of the memoir. The second story should be added to the memoir. This is for a grade.
Classwork, Thursday, , 2016:
- Reflecting on your big theme, write a second entry of another small moment that is an example of your theme.
- Be sure to keep in mind the advice that was given yesterday.
What We Notice about Memoir
-The writer has an idea to share and might begin by explaining this idea to the reader (the way an essayist would explain a claim).
-The writer might use a personal narrative to SHOW how his or her idea is true.
-Some memoirs might look more like stories, with patches of idea-based writing around a big story (like "Eleven"). Other memoirs look more like essays, with a lot of ideas and just a few, small stories (like "Quietly Struggling").
-The writer has an idea to share and might begin by explaining this idea to the reader (the way an essayist would explain a claim).
-The writer might use a personal narrative to SHOW how his or her idea is true.
-Some memoirs might look more like stories, with patches of idea-based writing around a big story (like "Eleven"). Other memoirs look more like essays, with a lot of ideas and just a few, small stories (like "Quietly Struggling").
Homework due Monday, ,2016: The second part of the memoir is due. Write at least a page and a half in the social studies notebook. This is for a grade.
Classwork, Friday, , 2016:
Classwork, Friday, , 2016:
- Students will listen as the story The Relatives Came and notice the writer's craft of this memoir.
- Students will begin writing the second part of their memoir.
Homework due Tuesday, ,2016: None.
Classwork, Monday, ,2016:
Classwork, Monday, ,2016:
- As a class we will go over the "Strategies for Writing with Depth" handout.
- Students will read their stories with their partners.
- Referring to the "Strategies for Writing with Depth" handout, each individual will write down one area or aspect of their writing that is in need of improvement.
- Students will listen to the memoir Thank you, Mr. Falker.
- Students will begin revising the work that they have written thus far.
- Strategies for Writing with Depth:
- Try to understand what is so important about your topic. Ask:
- What are the reasons I keep writing about this topic.
- I've written what's obvious about this; what else can I write?
- What do I want to show about myself?
- What does this say about me?
strategies_for_writing_with_depth.docx | |
File Size: | 50 kb |
File Type: | docx |
Homework due Wednesday, ,2016: The third part of the memoir is due. Write at least a page and a half in the social studies notebook. This is for a grade.
Classwork, Tuesday, ,2016:
Classwork, Tuesday, ,2016:
- Students will begin writing the third part of the memoir. Write at least a page and a half in the social studies notebook.
- This is for a grade.
Homework Due Tuesday, , 2016: NONE. Enjoy your weekend!
Classwork day, May , 2016:
Classwork day, May , 2016:
- Students will
Homework due day, ,2016:
Classwork, sday, May ,2016:
Classwork, sday, May ,2016:
Homework due day, ,2016:
Classwork, sday, ,2016:
Classwork, sday, ,2016: