Dear Teenie-Boppers,
Today is Wednesday, November 2, 2011. We will end our journey into the Holocaust with a memoir. Below are some thoughts I've found about memoirs: what they are and what they are not. Below you will also see a model of the writing process. This is something we will visit many times over the rest of the academic year. At the very bottom of the post you will see the memoir writing process. There are three phases to writing a good memoir. Those three phases fall into the writing process, but are just a little more specifically geared for memoirs.
This brainpop is a great place to continue our memoir journey since we have already watched a digital memoir together: http://www.brainpop.com/english/writing/biography/
Memoirs are deep thoughts that touch the essence of an experience.
Memoir is your memory and your study of an experience in life.
Memoir is your thinking really deeply: the meaning below the meaning… The meaning below the meaning you thought you found.
Memoirs are not biographies or autobiographies. They are something similar, yet not exactly the same. The subtle differences make memoirs more like a narrative: a story about a particular experience in someone's life.
Memoirs are a part of a life: not the whole life of a person.
Writing Process:
Step | Description | Strategies |
Prewriting | An activity that causes the writer to think about the subject. The writer organizes his thoughts before he begins to write. | Drawing Talking Brainstorming Graphic organizers Research Listing Field Trips |
Drafting | The process of putting ideas down on paper. The focus is on content not mechanics | Taking notes, Organizing thoughts into paragraphs, Writing a first draft |
Revising | The process of refining the piece of writing. The writer adds to a writing piece. The writer reorganizes a piece of writing. The writer shares his story and gets input from peers or teacher. | Peer editing Conferencing Share Chair or Author’s Chair |
Editing | Mechanical, grammatical and spelling errors are fixed in the writing piece. | Checklists Rubrics Editing Checklists Proofreading |
Publishing | The writing piece is prepared in final form, including illustrations. The writer shares his writing with others. | Reading aloud Reading to a group Displaying in the room Printing the books Web publishing |
Memoir writing process.
Act 1 Downloading Phase
Act 2 Sorting Phase
Act 3 Framing Phase
I hope you take these lessons and concepts with you as you create your own memoirs this week and the next. Enjoy!
Yours Truly,
C
From the cluttered mind of C, Teacher
School District of Waukesha
Waukesha STEM Academy
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