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Exploring Memoir in Middle School This resource contains writing activities for your unit on Memoir. I have included a variety of activities for you to pick and choose from. They are meant to spark ideas, provide opportunities to analyze writing and to explore possible memories to write a strong memoir. Decide what works for you based on where in the writing process you and your students are! Included : -A poster and student printable with the characteristics of Memoir -20 idea starters for memoir -Printable for Top Ten Best Memories/Top Seven Worst Memories -A pre-writing memory map activity -A Show and Tell type of activity to help students identify a suitable memory for their memoir -An activity where students analyze 4 samples of memoir -An activity where students differentiate between ideas that would be good for memoir and those that are just “memories” -An activity in which students explore, with their senses, the memory that they’ve chosen -A printable assignment sheet for writing a memoir and a rubric for assessment

Characteristics of Memoir

A memory; a description of an event

from the past

Written in the first person; told from one person’s point of view

Based on the truth

Reveals the feelings of the writer

Has meaning; shows what the author

learned from the experience

Focuses on one event; about one point in the author’s life

Is about the author’s experience more

than the event itself

Characteristics of Memoir

A memory; a description of an event from the past Written in the first person; told from one person’s point of view Based on the truth Reveals the feelings of the writer Has meaning; shows what the author learned from the experience Focuses on one event; about one point in the author’s life Is about the author’s experience more than the event itself

1. One of the happiest times in my life was… 2. One of the saddest times in my life was… 3. I came to the important realization that… 4. I realized that I was no longer a child when… 5. The best birthday present I ever received was… 6. My favorite holiday is…because… 7. My favorite place is… 8. When I was little, I used to... 9. I was proud of myself for... 10. I was ashamed of myself for... 11. I have never been so engrossed in learning as when... 12. I spent time with someone who was much different from me when… 13. A time when I decided to do something differently from everyone else around me was... 14. The person who has had the biggest influence on me is... 15. An experience that challenged me the most was... 16. One of my biggest successes was... 17. One of my biggest failures was... 18. I realized that I had a talent for... 19. The worst thing that has ever happened to me was... 20. I was in grave danger when…

Idea Starters for Your Memoir

Top Ten Best Memories 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

Top Seven Worst Memories

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Create your own “Memory Map”

You’ve probably heard of taking a walk down “memory lane”. Well, you are going to work to create your own

memory map to uncover some childhood memories! On a large piece of plain white paper, you’ll sketch out where you grew up (may be where you currently live, OR if you’ve lived in many places, just focus on the one that you have the clearest memories of). You’ll be creating a map of your community. Begin with your own house and then add in other houses close to yours, that have significance to you. Include your driveway, backyard, that special tree, neighbors’ houses where you used to play, the picnic table – whatever is in or around your home. Your sketches are to be quick – this is not meant to be a piece of fine art! It’s a visual brainstorm. As you add to your map, label what you draw. If memories begin to come to you as you label, jot those down on to your map as well. For example, you may draw and label your driveway and then realize that it’s where you learned to drive you bike. So, you’ll have your house and driveway labeled, but then you can also add “Where I learned to drive my bike”. The more memories that you can come up with, the better. Don’t worry about scale on your map. For instance, if your school is in your community, but no where near your house and you want to include it, you can add it on your map in the general area where it would be and you can add your memories. The goal is to brainstorm lots of memories – not to necessarily have a perfect map! If you get stuck and can’t seem to come up with any more memories, begin to add some color to your map, while you continue to think. There should be many different memories that come to you as you work on your map. You can consider yourself done, when you have uncovered a memory that you can write about, in detail, that also has some significance and can be written as a memoir.

This is my memory map- just to give you an idea of what one may look like. I suggest that you, the teacher, make your own map to get a real understanding of the power of the exercise. Then, show your map to the students and talk about what memories came out for you and which ones may make good memoirs.

For the Teacher

Small Group Show and Tell

This activity is an option for your students to identify what is meaningful to them in their lives and to explore possible memories for their memoir. Tell students to imagine that they have to leave their homes without warning. Assuming clothes and essentials are taken care of, what would they take with them? They may choose up to five items. Be sensitive/reword if need be. Some students may have been in a fire, or a situation where they did have to leave their homes abruptly. Use your professional judgment in the wording/use of this activity. Ask students to actually bring in the items that they chose (if possible). Then, have them meet in small groups to do a “Show and Tell”. Students may simply “Tell” if they can not bring in the actual items for any reason. They may also bring pictures of the items. The goal with this activity is to have students think about what is really important or meaningful to them. From this, memories that may be suitable for their Memoir will surface, without them even being aware of it! Optional: You may want to allow students some time to write following the “Show and Tell” if suitable ideas have surfaced. It will depend on the class – each year is different!

For the Teacher

Analyzing Memoirs Activity I personally think it’s really important to read lots of memoirs with your students before they attempt to write. They need to feel the emotion of the author (or identify when there’s a lack of emotion). It needs to become clear to them that any memory will not result in a great memoir – there needs to be some sort of significance to the author. If you don’t already do so, I suggest saving work to use as examples for the following year’s students, to build your collection of student work– especially if you’re new to teaching. A quick search online will also get you lots of student samples of memoir. Don’t discount the weak samples! Show them to your students and have them evaluate the pieces. If it’s a weak piece, students need to know what “weak” looks like. It’s just as important to know what NOT to do, as what TO do. So, next you’ll find a chart that you can use to help students analyze samples of memoir. (I’ve included 4 samples for you.) Put students into four groups and have them work together to complete the chart for one of the samples. Then, have groups swap samples and analyze a different sample using a new chart. Once all groups have read and analyzed all samples, bring the class back together, read the samples as a class (project them on to the whiteboard, if possible) and discuss how students filled out their charts. The memoirs that I have included were written by 12 and 13 year old students and are simply samples. They are not perfect, but are meant to result in good conversation around what to do and not to do in a memoir. They all have certain strengths and areas for improvement. Enjoy the conversation!

For the Teacher

Student Sample: _____ Yes No

1. The author chose a single event, appropriate for a memoir

2. The event obviously has meaning for the author

3. The author’s memoir was more about the event itself than the importance of the event

4. The author included descriptive language which added to the strength of the memoir Example:

5. The author’s use of conventions was strong

6. The author had a strong lead (if not, suggest a better lead)

7. The author’s conclusion was powerful

8. I like the author’s title

9. The memoir was written in the first person

10. The author’s feelings were revealed in the memoir

Analyzing Memoir

Read the student sample and check “Yes” or “No” for each item. Then, comment below on the strengths and weakness of the piece. What could the author have done to make their memoir stronger?

Comments: ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Student Sample 1: Something I Wasn’t Supposed to Learn

Student Sample 2: The Wonderful Sea

Student Sample 3: Good Memories

Student Sample 4: Home Sweet Home

Memory or Memoir?

It can be difficult with this age group to create really powerful memoirs, because their young age can be a hindrance. They can get the impression that memoirs have to be written about “life changing events” which simply isn’t true. They have to be meaningful events. The goal with this activity, is to identify when we have something in mind that is “Just A Memory” versus a “Great Memoir Idea”. The trick is to see the difference. In the activity on the next page, students are given a list of 10 “Possible Memories”. They are to place each memory in the chart under “Just a Memory” or “Great Memoir Idea”. Students can fill in the empty spaces with other ideas that they believe would fit in one side of the chart or the other. This is a simple activity to try to get your students to see that just any memory won’t result in a powerful memoir. Some memories are “Just A Memory”. Other memories contain the makings for a powerful memoir. The difference lies in the feelings of the author around what happened. A similar memory could mean two completely different things to two different people. It’s all about the circumstances around the event and what it meant to the author. The power of this activity is not in the chart, but the class discussion that should follow. Have students discuss why they chose one column or the other. The main thing to remember, is that for a memory to be in the “Great Memoir Idea” column, the memory has to have significance to the author. If the memory evokes emotion in the author, then it may be a good choice to write about. Remember: The stronger the emotion, the easier to write, the more powerful the memoir.

For the Teacher

Every memory that you have, will not make a great memoir! It may be just a memory. Move each possible idea for a memoir to one side of the chart or the other. Then, try to add some other ideas in the blank spaces to complete the chart. Finally, we’ll have a discussion about the difference between “Just a Memory” and “Great Memoir Ideas”.

Possible Ideas for Memoir

1. The time I flipped my bike

2. When my friend moved away 3. When I volunteered at a shelter with my family

4. The birthday I got everything I wanted 5. The worst argument my sister and I ever had

6. When I stood up to a bully 7. Winning a championship

8. Lying to my friend/family member 9. When my pet died.

10. An awesome sleepover with my best friend

Just A Memory Great Memoir Ideas

Memory or Memoir?

Show, Don’t Tell: 5 Senses Activity

This activity is for when students have settled on an idea for their memoir, to get them thinking about how to add lots of detail to their piece. Give a copy of the 5 Senses sheet to each student. Tell students that they must focus on just the event that they’re choosing for their memoir. Have a timer set for 2 minutes (put it on the SMART Board, if you have one). Name one of the five senses and have students focus just on that sense. They then must write (in point form) as many details as they possibly can, describing that sense, as it describes their memoir memory. For example, if you say “Sight” they must jot down everything that they remember seeing in terms of their memory event. Who was there, where did it take place, day or night etc. If you say “Sound” they must jot down everything that they remember hearing. Was someone laughing, crying, was the wind blowing or music playing? After two minutes, switch senses. Continue to switch until all five senses have been given two minutes each. Then, set the timer for one minute and jump back and forth to the different senses for another five minutes. Finally, set the timer for 30 seconds and jump to each of the five senses one more time, giving students a little bit more time to remember the details of the event. Note: You may want to devote more time to certain senses, jumping back to them again, if you notice that students were still writing and could have used more time. Also, make sure that students realize that the sense of Touch can be things that they physically remembered feeling such as the temperature, or physical pain. However, they must also include emotions that they felt at the time.

For the Teacher

Sight

Sound

Smel l

Taste

Touch

5 Senses

Writing A Memoir! Once you have given students adequate time to think through their memory for their memoir, and they’ve read through lots of examples of memoirs to become more familiar with the form, it’s time for them to write! I have included an assignment sheet and a basic rubric that you can use as-is or build on to suit your own needs. Suggestion to convert the rubric score to a percent: 4 = 9 – 10 points 3 = 6 – 8 points 2 = 4 -5 points 1 = 1 - 3 points So, this rubric would be out of 40 points. Once you’ve identified if your student is a 1, 2, 3 or 4 in each category, decide how many points s/he deserves based on the writing. Then, take those 4 point values to get a value out of 40, and convert the fraction to a percent. (This is just a suggestion, of course. Use the assessment/evaluation method that works for you and your school.)

For the Teacher

Write a Memoir

Our memories make us who we are! You will write a memoir depicting one special moment or event in your life. The memory that you choose should have a special meaning to you. It does not have to be a “life shattering event” but it should be an event that you have an emotional connection to. You should have learned something, come to some sort of realization, or been impacted in some other way. Requirements for your Memoir: -The event you choose to write about must be true -It must be written in the first person -You may include dialogue -It must be descriptive (try to show, not tell) using your senses -It must focus on one event, not a long time period -It must focus more on your feelings about the event, rather than the event itself -It must be written in a logical sequence, using proper paragraph form with a strong introduction and conclusion -It must be free from spelling, punctuation and grammatical errors

Hmmm…A meaningful memory…

Memoir Rubric

Category 1 2 3 4

Content/ Ideas

-Includes a memory that does not have an obvious meaning to the author; not just a single event -Details are lacking

-Introduces a memory that appears to have some meaning to the author -Some supporting details are included

-Introduces a specific memory (one event) that appears to have meaning to the author -Events are supported with relevant details, showing some emotion

-Introduces a specific memory (one event) that is obviously meaningful to the author -Includes specific details enhancing the emotion of the piece

Organization -Introduction and/or conclusion may be missing or inappropriate -No logical sequencing of events

-Introduction and/or conclusion are attempted but weak -Events are somewhat logically sequenced

-Introduction and conclusion are reasonable -Events are logically sequenced

-Strong introduction and conclusion -Logical sequencing of events was consistent, using transition words

Word Choice -Rarely uses varied vocabulary -Use of first person is not consistent

-Occasionally uses interesting or precise words -May use first person

-Includes precise words which enhance the piece -Consistent uses first person

-Does an excellent job of showing, not telling through consistently using vivid word choice -Consistently uses first person

Conventions -Rarely uses correct punctuation, spelling and grammar

-Occasionally uses correct punctuation, spelling and grammar

-Uses correct punctuation, spelling and grammar most of the time

-Shows control with a range of punctuation, spelling and grammar

Name:______________ Date: _____________

Comments: __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________