After reading and analyzing two narrative memoirs, middle schoolers engage in a variety of activities, including writing an essay, developing a story map, and creating character charts. They then compare and contrast story maps, and...

If you are planning a unit on memoir and autobiographical narrative, you should consider this resource. Using Internet research skills, pupils review works by James Frey and Henry David Thoreau. In response to these works, learners...

Students integrate Author and Biography study with Students personal perspective. They make connections between research and creative writing. Students enrich research and critical thinking skills. They encourage students to think about...

Young scholars listen to Picnic In October and Memory Coat to explore the concept of memoirs. They interview a family member and write a personal memoir that reflects their own family history.

Students analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events. They compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust. They engage in journal or diary writing as a way to explore one's own feelings and self.

To conclude their study of James McBride's The Color of Water, class members create their own memoir, focusing on a family member who help shape their life.

Seventh graders explore the life of Gandhi using his autobiography and memoir. In this Gandhi exploration lesson, 7th graders analyze Gandhi's literary voice by reading his autobiography. Students identify literary techniques in Gandhi's...

Students analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events, compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust, and engage in journal or diary writing as a way to explore one's own feelings and self.

Seventh graders analyze how personal diaries and memoirs record actual events.  In this World History lesson, 7th graders compare and contrast diaries and memoirs from the Holocaust.  Students write as a way to explore one's...

Student explain how geographic and cultural settings influence a person's identity. They compare and contrasting Esmeralda Santiago's Puerto Rican self with her American self by participating in a close reading of the text and writing a...

Students examine the process of scholarship and college essay writing. They develop a list of key words and concepts, complete handouts, and complete an outline of an essay.

Pupils define the characteristics of a personal narrative, explain the difference between a 'memoir' and an 'autobiography', and create a reading journal in which they will log their reading activities. For this personal narrative lesson...

Students can then pinpoint problems the characters experience and interview their parents to see if they too may have once faced a similar problem. Interviews with family members can be recorded by students in their home language.

Learners use the author's writing as a model to achieve vivid description and engaging humor in compositions of their own. They examine the ways a writer can capture and hold a reader's attention and write a short personal narrative...

Young scholars examine web sites which explain how to write memoirs and include ideas for getting started. There are also some writing examples and lists of recommended studenT books that use this form of writing.

Students read "I Had a Hero" a memoir written by a Peace Corps volunteer serving in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They discuss the story, respond to it in writing, complete comprehension activities and relate the account to their own...

Students read excerpts from memoirs written by Gary Paulsen as examples of how to write a narrative piece. They identify figurative language used and then they write a memoir of their own that contains imagery and figurative language.

Seventh graders comprehend the importance of the Regulator-Moderator War through John W. Middleton's memoir. They comprehend how the different motivations held by each faction began the conflict. Students are shown the map of Shelby...

Young scholars choose one topic to write about. They brainstorm ideas about their topic or incident. They use sensory details to visualize their topic. They answer a variety of teacher directored nudging question to help them describe...

Students explore the psychological coping mechanisms of cancer patients and relate individual cancer survivors' stories to Dr. Kubler-Ross' stages of grief. They use first-person accounts, discussion and journals to explore these concepts.

Students brainstorm a list of possible topics for their essay. As a class, they review the characteristics of anecdotal writing and the form they take in newspapers or autobiographies. To end the lesson, they decide on their topic for...

Students explore ways to promote community pride by creating t-shirts.  In this community lesson, students utilize a digital camera to take photographs of their hometown and transfer them to a t-shirt.  Students complete a...

Young scholars write research proposals, conduct research and interviews and maintain a log of their work, and draft, revise, and edit final written projects to produce a finished research article.

Fourth graders reflect upon the significance of remembered events and to keep a "notebook" of their thoughts and feelings. They read books that exemplify memior writing. They write their memiors, taking it through the writing process.