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.

Marvelous memoirs

At this point in the year, my students always begin writing their memoir.  It's time to start reflecting on our school year, on our work as writers and on our lives. You'd be surprised how reflective a 10 year-old can be. And how wise.

We always connect our work to a mentor text. Writing memoirs is not different. Together we read the book, Marley & Me,  by John Grogan, which is mostly funny, but has bittersweet moments. (We read the children's version - Marley & Me, A Dog Like No Other, it's shorter, geared to children). The combination entertains the  kids, but gets them thinking about the bigger picture in life.

A memoir is the story of one's life, but slanted to tell a specific tale. It isn't a chronological list of events. Rather it's choosing which events you share, based on the message you want to send your readers. We all have many facets to our life. I'm a wife, mother, daughter and sister -- the events I write about are different depending on the part of my life I choose to focus on. 

For the first few days, probably all this coming week, we'll read a couple chapters a day, "donating" a good chunk of our writing time to reading Marley. We need to get a head start before they start penning their memoirs. Sometimes the work of writing is reading, almost like we are researching. Sometimes our work in writing is thinking. We can't just spew words on a page. There is a good bit to be done before we start.

So tomorrow, off we go to write about our lives...

We deliver!

Friday marked the end of our letter writing work in the classroom. All but three kids finished their letters. They really worked carefully! Thursday we addressed the envelopes, stuffed them, and sent them on their way.

The rule about delivering the mail was you couldn't deliver your own. The students went in pairs, made sure they knocked very politely at the door of the classroom they were delivering to. They briefly explained why they were there and handed off the letter. They were so proud of themselves. Every student that came back had the biggest smile on their face!

We had two letters that were temporarily undeliverable -- no one was "home" to receive the letter. The teacher and class were out of the room for a bit. Sentz-sational mail carriers are tenacious if nothing else. They made two more tries and finally delivered. It was a victory for all!

It was very interesting to see the different choices students made in deciding who to write to. One student, new to band this year, wrote a lovely letter to the band teacher. Two others wrote to their general music teacher, one complimented him on the recent school play; the other talked about music class.

Some students wrote to their second or third grade teacher (those memories are still fresh!). There were others that wrote to their kindergarten teacher. One spoke of how the teacher pushed them to be a better reader. She recalled days of struggling and not being so successful. Eventually, all the hard word of teacher and student paid off, she said. That was a really good one! Wouldn't we all love to get that letter?

Two pieces of mail have to go in the regular United States mail. One letter is going to a teacher who is away on maternity leave, and the other is going to a teacher from a student's former school. I would love to see their faces when they receive their mail, but alas, their reaction will be hidden from me.

Final thoughts: This was an easy project, and hopefully a memorable one for senders and recipients. We also got interested as a group in stamp collecting. We did a little research, looked at some real stamps and are making a room 110 collection. Sometimes the easiest projects give you the most value in return.

A Last Word on Letters...

Once we finish our letters to our friends, we will finish our letter writing by writing a letter to an incoming 4th grade student for the next school year. I have two friends that have done this over the years in their fifth grade classes, and I think it's a very nice end-of-year wrap up. 

Even though we aren't that close to the end of the year, we aren't that far from it either. While we are on this letter writing topic, now seems as good a time as any to write those letters. That will be one end-of-year task done!

Students can start by introducing themselves, telling their reader what they enjoyed about 4th grade, what was a challenge for them this year, and offer some words of advice. This is a nice reflective piece that helps students as they gain an understanding of just how much they have achieved this year. By completing the letters now, they can bask in their achievements for the remaining weeks of the year.

My challenge: remember where I put the letters so I can pull them out in September!