A little revising, good for the soul

My students are in the thick of it now. Our memoirs are well under way. As a teacher, this is very interesting as I see student memoirs developing. Even at this point in the year, I am learning about my students and their thought process. Next year, I might start the year writing a quick memoir, then go back to it at the end and revisit.

So about revision... Every day now, I am teaching my students another technique to revise. We go back and reread, then use a strategy to make our work better. I model the technique for them on my own memoir, then send them to do the same with their own.

Some ways we revise:

• add color words/descriptive language
• dialogue - add some or take some out if they are a kid who overdoes it with dialogue
• repetition of a phrase or word
• add action/sound words
• speed up the action
• slow down the action

I could go on forever, but I won't. You get my point. We so often skimp on the revision aspect, when, in fact, it is crucial to great writing to spend the time. Do the work. Get your knuckles dirty (to quote a lacrosse coach).

I find that fourth grade is an excellent time to teach kids to take their time, expend the energy and make a piece of writing the best it can be. Then make it better. When it's the best it can possibly be, go back and make it EVEN BETTER!

Marley & Memoirs

We are back at it this week. We've been reading Marley & Me together, examining the in and outs of what makes a great memoir. My favorite chapter is Chapter 5, "A Battle of Wills." I so enjoy the image of John and Jenny taking Marley to obedience classes and the tribulations of doing so. Ahhh, been there with my own dog, done that. My class was just giggling in fits, listening to the chapter. (Fourth graders particularly enjoy any story that has pet poop in it -- this one is a crowd pleaser!) 

So now that we are about 7 chapters in, now, my little friends can begin making a list of possible memoirs that they could write. I start them off with "My Life as a..." I ask them to come up with 15 or 20 possibilities. Their eyes get as big as saucers until I share some of my possible titles. "My life as  a.." ...mother of soldiers; ...gardener ...cookie baker ...big sister ... little sister. All the facets of my life could become the focus of my memoir.

My little friends come up some very original ideas: "My Life as a..." 

...Nature Lover

...Traveler

...Fisherman 

...Hip Hop Dancer

...Hamster Owner

...Pastor's Daughter

Good stuff! They come up with all of this on their own.

Tomorrow we begin drafting. They have to choose one topic from their list. They have to be able to  write about three incidents relating to the topic. They also must have a message they would like to convey to the reader. Naturally, they have to craft their writing so that the message is evident, but not directly stated.

It seems like a heavy load for a 9 year old writer, but it's not. They love it, and they rise to the occasion. I can't wait for tomorrow!

Still soaking...

"So...today are we going to start writing?"

Ah, the words of an eager writer. When I pulled the Marley book out, my kids flew to the rug area. They are always eager for the next bit of the story. This memoir plan is coming along nicely...

"Not exactly." 

I can feel their disappointment. It's palpable. Good! I want them to want to write their memoir, really WANT to. I want them to be so eager they almost can't stand it. We are building anticipation akin to the wait for Christmas morning. They almost can't sit still and listen, so great is their desire to write. One more day, I think.

As I read, I can almost hear their wheels turning. Ideas are rolling around inside their head. They listen and sparks of ideas start to flicker in their eyes. We are still soaking ourselves in Marley & Me, letting the words of the author wash over us. The more familiar we get with the story, the more we realize that we have amazing stories to tell also. We have words, lots of them!

The note taking is working out extremely well. The students made a simple two-column chart in their writers notebook. They make note of the date and the chapter in the left column. On the right side, they jot just a few phrases to remind them of what happened. Some jot down words that they hear and really like the sound of. There's nothing like the thrill of taking a new word or an interesting word and trying it on for size when you write. 

I can probably hold them off for one more day of note-writing. We will look back over our notes today and start to ask questions about why John Grogan included specific events. We will try to figure out his theme and what his message might be. We'll definitely write our ideas down so we can check our thinking later, in a week or so. 

On Friday, we will start creating a list of memoir ideas. "My life as a..." Idea generation is always a good working session. So much to do, so little time! 

Marley and Us

Marley and us. It's a match made in Heaven. Fourth graders love to read animal stories. They love to talk about them, and they usually can make pretty good connections. Most of my students have pets, but if they don't, they usually have a relative or a neighbor who does. Life experience is everything when it comes to writing.

We are two days into our memoir "work." So far, the work has been about getting comfortable with the genre.  Yesterday and today were immersion days. What I mean is that we are immersing ourselves in a the mentor text. I am reading the book aloud, but the kids are becoming completely engrossed in the story. 

Yesterday we talked about how carefully the author will choose which episodes he will tell. Each episode is there for a reason - it builds the theme and the thesis the author has in his mind. Nothing is accidental in a memoir. Each episode is a piece of the puzzle.

Today we began discussing what type of person -what character traits - the author seems to possess. We also discussed Marley's character (or lack of it!). Tomorrow we may begin jotting notes after we read a portion. A simple graphic organizer will suffice here. Taking notes as we go will help the students recall specific parts of the story. Later we can go back and determine the author's motives for writing it in a particular fashion.

Just to change it up, some days we will discuss more general aspects of writing -- the descriptive language of the text, how the author adds humor to the story. The story is very funny, but being Marley's owner is no cake walk. I like the kids to get a real grasp on this concept. In a few days, we will also begin coming up with ideas for our own memoirs. I like to wait until we are about one week into this book so that my friends are truly feeling like they are confident. 

In the meantime, I will also pull a few more memoirs out for the kids to have a look at. Some are real memoirs; others, such as Kermit the Frog's memoirs called Before You Leap: A Frog's Eye View of Life's Greatest Lessons.