Revising Personal Narratives
As we model the writing process for our students, we have to reinforce that we must always revise and edit our writing! We want our students to choose a small moment in time to really focus on and expand. As our writers look at this moment through a "magnifying lens" (Dorman & Cappelli, 2017), we can help them develop these moments through the use of the following strategies (Dorfman & Cappelli, 2017):
Show, don't tell
Appeal to the senses
Strong verbs
Dialogue
Personification
Metaphor
Simile
Humor or another emotion
Anecdotes
Description of setting, character, or an important object
This week, I created a Your Turn lesson with a classmate who is a Special Education Teacher. We chose a lesson that helps writers add interest to their writing through the use of dialogue. This lesson shows writers that writing is a process that requires revision. Through teacher modeling, the students can see that adding dialogue will add interest and depth to a narrative writing piece.
Six Word Memoirs
A six word memoir is an excellent strategy to get your beginning writers to write! As the strategy suggests, there are only six words in this piece of writing. This strategy requires students to choose their words wisely to capture meaning. Students are required to stop and remember that "Every word is on trail, so choose wisely" (Saunders & Smith, 2014). As writers reflect on their own life, they choose six words that somewhat define who they are as individuals. Of course, there are several words and phrases that can define who we are. However, we should ask our students to stop and think "What defines you right now, at this particular moment in your life?" (Saunders & Smith, 2014). This will allow our students to take a "snapshot" and create an "image in time" through their words.
There are six steps that we should follow when we introduce this strategy in our classroom (Saunders & Smith, 2014):
Mentor Texts and Explanations of Six-Word Memoirs
The Importance of Word Choice
Engaging in the Writing Process-Every Word is on Trial
Connecting Writing to Art
Superimposing Word Onto the Photographs
Publishing Students' Six-Word Memoirs Online
As I began to compose my six-word memoir, I reflected on where I'm at in life. I recently graduated with my undergraduate degree and I will soon graduate with my Master's Degree. Tough decisions will be made in the next few months as I decide where to live next year and what teaching position I should apply for! While this is an exciting time, I also feel like I am at a crossroad. I chose a picture of crossroads in the woods to bring my six-word memoir to life!
My Six-Word Memoir:
Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal
As always, AKR has astounded me with her work. This week, I read the chapter "Midterm Essay" which is sort of like AKR's "mid-life crisis". While I am only in my twenties, several passages from this chapter caught my attention. This semester has been so overwhelmingly stressful, I feel as if life is speeding by. AKR has inspired me once again to stop and appreciate the small moments that life has to offer. I shouldn't be just letting life pass me by. Our days are limited and we must savor every moment. The following passage pulled at my heartstrings this week:
"How many more times do I get to cut an apple? How many more times will I put on my shoes? Kiss my mother? Use an ATM?....... How many more times do I get to lift my head from the pillow to see what time it is? Run inside after getting drenched in the rain? Look for the Ping-Pong ball? Check my email?"
-Amy Krouse Rosenthal
Thank you once again AKR for bringing me down to Earth so that I can stop and be grateful for every moment I get to experience. These are the small moments that I am inspired to write about and that I hope to inspire my students to write about.
References
de la Peña, M. (2015). Last stop on market street. New York, NY: Penguin Group.
Dorfman, L. R. & Cappelli, R. (2017). Growing a narrative from beginning to end. Mentor texts: Teaching writing through children's literature, K-6 (2nd ed., pp. 111-148). Portland, ME: Stenhouse Publishers.
Rosenthal, A. K. (2016). Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal. Penguin Group USA.
Saunders, J. M., & Smith, E. E. (2014). Every word is on trial: Six-word memoirs in the classroom. The Reading Teacher, 67 (8), 600-605.