My students need lots of memoir books to read to learn the characteristics of it and notebooks for collecting ideas and experimenting with and publishing memoir pieces.
Writing is a way to express ourselves, but it can also be therapeutic. Through it we can learn more about ourselves and our world. Newtown students suffered a great tragedy this year. Writing may be a way for them to uncover or express their emotions about the experience or an important memory.
Our school is in a rural community in Connecticut.
It is one of four elementary schools in our town. We share a common vision for learning and our student populations are similar. In my fourth-grade class I have 23 students with diverse learning styles and needs including gifted, special needs and ELL students. The classroom culture is supportive and challenging at the same time. The bar of expectations is raised high and my students work diligently to do their personal best. Our parent community is supportive and I work hard to find innovative and engaging work for my students to do. I look forward to going to school every day and I hope that my students do too. This workshop will be open to all fourth-grade students in Newtown.
My Project
In order to write well in any genre, students need to be immersed in it. A collection of memoir books will be needed. The collection will include picture books, chapter texts, and poetry. Participants will choose and take home several books each week. At each of our 6 sessions, we'll discuss what we have learned about memoir from the reading. In addition, writing journals will be needed. At each meeting, we will engage in writing activities that teach techniques for writing memoir and will generate a variety of memoir entries. Participants will have homework assignments to expand some of these ideas. One will be chosen to publish and share at our last meeting. Students and parents may write a memoir together or individually. We will meet for 90 minutes, once a week for 6 weeks in the evening. Participants will be 4th grade students with a parent/guardian. Class size will be limited to 25 students. Additional sections will be offered if the demand is high.
The point of memoir is to explore what influence, positive or negative, the person or event has had on ones life.
Rather than merely list historical facts, one constructs ideas about those facts that lifts them off the page and breathes life into them. Students will have the opportunity to do this in a setting that teaches without assigning a grade. An add-on to what is done in class; students will gain a deeper understanding of the genre and will have the rich experience of writing
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As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mrs. Attanasio and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
