Multigenre Memoir Introduction

A Word Cloud of Key Words from this Post

MultiGenre Memoir--My Daily Reflections and
Lessons

(Click on the title for a link to PART of my multigenre memoir at ASU)

Time--2 weeks 90 minutes a day Level--9th grade English 1 (easily adaptable)

I started this memoir project two weeks ago. We began work on our projects after students read Tears of a Tiger, by Sharon Draper. They loved the book, by the way. Throughout the reading, we had meaningful and authentic discussions about the author's use of genre, why for instance she opened the book with a news article that objectively discusses the tragic car accident before she flashed back to conversation in the locker room beforehand. The following notes are from my observations in and after class as we worked on the project. This particular project was completed with two year-long English 9/Reading classes. The highest reading level is 6th grade, and many of the students are EC, ELL, or 504. I adapted this project from http://urbachc.org/urb_multigenre_memoir.htm In my class, step 5 is called a learning log rather than a writing journal because it is the tool I already had in place. I excluded the preface in step 6, required 4 genres rather than 6, and combined the reflection and end notes into a section called author's notes. I did not use the rubric on this site!

A quick explanation/overview of writing workshop: http://www.teachersfirst.com/lessons/writers/writer-4.html (This is a design that works for all ages, and you can find many more resources online.)

If you're interested, you can email me at girlfaulkner@gmail.com , and I will send you the modified assignment, my rubric, and student and teacher examples. Happy reading, writing, and teaching!

(This project was presented in 2008 at a NWRESA and a NCETA conference).

Comments

Unlocking Creative Brilliance with Digital Magnetic Poetry: Teach Syntax, Diction, and Tone

Originally published 1/14/2009. Updated 11/4/2023 The possibilities are infinite--ish when you use online magnets to get creative. No refrigerator necessary. Free online kits here . Poetry, with its mesmerizing ability to encapsulate emotions, stories, and ideas within the boundaries of words, is a true art form. But there's a particular type of poetry that holds a special place in my heart—the kind that challenges our traditional understanding of language and syntax. I'm talking about magnetic poetry, the quirky, wordplay-filled realm where creativity knows no bounds. I love this type of poetry! It really makes me think in a different syntax, playing with a strange juxtaposition of words. Often, I use this format when I am bored or if I have NO IDEA what I want to write about! The beauty of magnetic poetry lies in its simplicity and boundless potential for creativity. It's an art form where words become movable puzzle pieces, waiting to be rearranged into poetic masterpi

What is Working Memory?

How Does The Brain Work? If I could answer that question, I could probably be cooling my heels on a nice island somewhere, mimosa in hand, Instead, I am left to read research and theories about how the brain (and reading) operates. One can dream, though..... For years, researchers delineated memory into two types: short term and long term. More recently, after the advent of LaBerge and Samuels Automaticity Theory (1974) and Perfetti's Verbal Efficiency Theory (1988), this construct was re-imagined as working memory --which adds the dimension of processing to the function of storage ( Daneman & Carpenter , 1980). As they explain, "Working memory is assumed to have processing as well as storage functions; it serves as the site for executing processes and for storing the products of these processes" (p. 450). Working memory is active rather than passive. Tanabe , Azumi , Osaka, & Naoyuki (2009) explain that working memory consists of at l

A Book Review of Sark's (2008) Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words and Stories and Creating the Time and Energy to Actually Do It

A Book Review of Juicy Pens Thirsty Paper: Gifting the World with Your Words and Stories and Creating the Time and Energy to Actually Do It by Sark. Three Rivers press, 2008. 185 pages. $18.95. When I first discovered Sark, I was at once inspired, envious, and critical. I remember sitting on my best friend’s bed, covered in its usual tangle of sarongs and tapestries rather than real bed clothes, growing more incredulous as I flipped each page of Succulent Wild Woman (1997). What kind of new-age hippie crap was this? Someone had gotten paid to write this ? These doodles and handwritten pages were worthy of my ultimate goal, that pinnacle of success, PUBLICATION? But each spunky drawing and passage motivated me to continue my own writing. Sark wrote the way I wrote, turning letters to friends into artwork, and if she could get paid for it then I could. Fast forward ten years, and I am now a doctoral student bogged down in academic readin

Out of Her Mind -- Musings on Education and Life

Search This Blog