PowerPoint Presentation

Who do you think you are?Online class for 5th/6th grade GT students (9 weeks)Autobiography only one of several projectsSome choice already built inPrewriting: brainstorm more events than neededPrewriting: create a timeline of events chosen for inclusionOrganized around a themeProject formatFamily tree (choice of format completely up to student)Students enjoyed project, but5

Kalen might refer to this as a blessed union between the studio workshop approach and the multi-genre method.2Using set theory we have the union of studio workshop memoir writing and multi-genre writing = my TW.3background

I felt we could be doing much more with the autobiography idea.

When I attended our orientation and heard about Romanos work with multi-genre papers, something clicked and I realized that the next class I wanted to design would focus on multi-genre memoir writing. This decision has only been reinforced by the recent sharing of our Ways of Seeing Me work.

The new class I envision will not only give students more choices in their writing, but will make them agents of their own learning. MY QUESTIONSHow can I use multi-genre memoir writing to enable students to experiment with new ideas and take responsibility for their own writing?

And how can I do this in an online environment?

researchHISTORY OF MEMOIR

Early leaders created records of their military accomplishments. We could even regard the Egyptian obelisks as types of memoir, created by rulers so they would be remembered. 15th century BC was first one. St. Augustine introduced the concept of memoir as a way to show the spiritual transformation of a person, and this inner struggle from ones lowest point to redemption has remained a constant theme in the intervening 16 centuries since Confessions was written 397-398 AD. 9Primary resources

I already offered some choices and opportunities for creativity, Required a unifying theme. Some students were highly engaged but others not. HOLD UP ZINSSER BK FOR AUTHENTIC WORK.11Key ideasNeed for experimentation and exploration in writing. There needs to be a body of work from which to choose.Exercise increases the capacity for exercise. Breastfeeding stimulates the production of milk. Abundance makes for abundance. Thats how multi-genre works. RomanoStudents as decision makers. What to include?No writing is wasted writing in the practice and experimentation stages, but not all writing will be worth publishing and including in a final memoir piece. Kirby & Kirby

Experiment & explore (romano)Think about these categoriesImportant thingsMeaningful placesCrucial peopleCentral acts/processesMemorable conversationsIdentify indelible momentsStick in your mindRepresent big emotion & complex meaningCan be definingExperiment & explore (kirby & kirby)Name pieceOn the day I was bornDifficult times pieceSibling or parent pieceFamily love or perspectives Epiphany or turning pointHome pieceTeachers or school worriesEthnicity or culture pieceFuturistic piece (what Ill be like in ___years)

Snapshot pieceArtifacts, treasured thingsDialect, unique speechConscious artistBoundaries pieceFamily trip pieceGrandparent piecePet pieceMysteries pieceHolidays & celebrationsPersonal portrait piece

Boundary/map piece (like Deborahs) Divide heart into sections; list important things;write about one. Map of room, school, house plan.14Multi-genre=more than oneDescription (different POV)Dictionary entryEditorial Eyewitness accountFairy taleHow-to writingJournal/diary entryInfomercial (humorous)Letter of complaintMap with legendNarrativeNewscastNursery rhyme

Obituary ParodyPrezi Photo with descriptionPoem, flash fiction PSARecipe Review (book, movie, etc.)Script (TV, play)Sermon Short storySong State of the Union addressStream of consciousness

Lets experiment!Lets try a place spider piece.

Think about a place that has special meaning for you. It could be a room in your home from any period of your life, a building, a place in nature, a city, etc. It should evoke emotion.

Now for the next 8-10 minutes, write about this significant place.

Save your writing for later.Key ideasOrganization of a work with multiple pieces will reveal itself (better not to begin with a preconceived plan).Which pieces are most personally relevant? Look for patterns among them.Pieces may be related through geography, time, feelings, characters, artifacts.Repeat image, detail, exact language.Repeat a pattern or quotations, pictures, titles.Repeat a form, genre, style.Repeat a scene from a different point of view.Write a significant fragment of a scene, then later surprise readers with a fully rendered, vivid version of that scene.

Key ideasTeacher as model and coach. We need to write with our students and participate with them in revising work, but it is they who make the final choices.

Writing is fostered in a community which shares values, supports each others work & efforts, and projects genuine interest in each others writing.

It takes a community!With your place spider piece in hand, find your number partner.

Take turns reading your work, then using the Checklist of Revision Options for the Place Spider Piece identify two ways that your writing could be revised.

You and your partner should discuss what kind of revisions would make the piece more vivid and memorable for the reader.Hierarchy of revision behaviorsEditing & proofreading are lower order behaviors.Revising, elaborating, translating, and forming/finding are higher order behaviors. Students need to engage in both levels just like professional writers.

Adding (elaboration) and cutting (revision) are both important.

Checklist of options will vary depending on type of writing piece.

My plansDesign 9 week online course on multi-genre memoir writingGifted/talented students in grades 5-8ReadingOne memoir of students choice (recommendations provided)Excerpts from memoirs to serve as models for writing explorationsWriting response groups will change throughout courseWrite a spider piece Mon.-Thurs. then use Fri. to respondChoose 1 piece each week to revise and submit to teacher for feedbackF2F#1 (week 1)Overview processes, types of genres, various writing explorationsExamine professional texts that will serve as models for explorations/spider piecesTry a couple of spider pieces, then practice giving feedback in response groupsMy plans continuedF2F#2 (midterm)Students bring writing pieces to use in mini-lessons on revision behaviors (high order and low order)Discussion: ways to achieve unityDiscussion: presentation ideasExplore additional kinds of genre writingFinal weeks of courseStudents select pieces from their writing collections for the final memoirRevise, edit, polish final workAssemble memoirF2F#3Present workReflect on the process they used and on the courseAssessment: Help!A big question I have is how to assess multi-genre student memoirs in a meaningful way. Although the authors I have read present some options, I would like to solicit YOUR thoughts.

Now that you have an idea of what my proposed class will be like, please find your COLOR GROUP and spend a few minutes discussing approaches to assessment.AcknowledgementsThanks to my writing response group (Bailey, Claire and Deborah) for being a sounding board and for gently steering me back on course when I veered from my own voice. You have helped me grow as a writer and boosted my confidence more than you know.Thanks to everyone in our cohort for being amazing sources of inspiration. By going last, I have benefitted from each one of you.Thanks to 2 Marks + 1 Beth for your nurturing leadership styles and constant encouragement.24Questions? Feedback?resourcesEdelman, Marian Wright. 2003. Dream Me Home Safely: Writers on Growing Up in America. 2003. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing CompanyKirby, Dawn Latta and Kirby, Dan. 2007. New Directions in Teaching Memoir: A Studio Workshop Approach. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. Mendelsohn, Daniel. But Enough About Me. What Does the Popularity of Memoirs Tell Us About Ourselves? New Yorker. January 25, 2010. [http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/books/2010/01/25/100125crbo_books_mendelsohn]On Memoir, Truth and Writing Well (interview with William Zinsser). NPR All Things Considered. April 13, 2006. [http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5340618]Romano, Tom. 2013. Fearless Writing: Multigenre to Motivate and Inspire. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann. _______1995. Writing with Passion: Life Stories, Multiple Genres. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.

Sample timeline1/1/99 I am born prematurely at Parkview Hospital in River Falls, WI and spend my first month in the hospital.3/5/01 I unbuckle my high chair seat belt and do a swan dive on to my head (first trip to ER).5/1/02 We move to Milwaukee. I get my head stuck in the stair railing of our new house and the firemen come to help me get out.7/21/4 I fell out of my crib and broke my left arm.12/5/4 The doctors cut my arm open trying to take off my cast.

THEMEA Series of Unfortunate Events: My Life in the Emergency RoombackFamily TreeFamily Tree for Harrison Skrepenski (Skrepczynski) 5 Generations

Anton Skrypczynski
Jason Skrepenski: Born in Poland.

Joseph Skrepenski
Jason Skrepenski: Born in Temperance, MI in 1901.

Allan SkrepenskiHerman Vohs
Jason Skrepenski: Born in New London, WI

Evelyn VohsPOLANDGERMANYAnna Grewntzel
Jason Skrepenski: Born in New London, WI.

Jason SkrepenskiGeorge Jagemann
Jason Skrepenski: Born in Efelberg, Germany

Joseph Jagemann
Jason Skrepenski: Had only an eighth grade educaton, but taught chemistry at the UW-Madison.

Was also the founder of a metal plating company in Manitowoc, WI.

Elizabeth Schaefer
Jason Skrepenski: Was born in Chicago and lived through the Great Chicago Fire.

Elizabeth JagemannMathew HeinAgnes HeinMary WildeHarrison SkrepenskiGeorge Bajdan
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1875 and dies in 1920.

Walter Bajdan
Jason Skrepenski: Was born in Poland in 1906 and died in 1976.

Zur?
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1884 and died in 1955.BOHEMIAStanley BajdanAdam Pavlowski
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1902 and died in 1994.

Melania Pavlowski
Jason Skrepenski: Born:1926 in Lithuania

Francis?
Jason Skrepenski: Born 1904 and died in 1951.Sally LeClairWenzel Rezazk
Jason Skrepenski: Born 1871 and died in 1925Adolph RezachekAntionette Stangel
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1873 and died in 1894.

Tho town of Stangel's Corners (in WI) is named after this family.Mary RezachekAdam P. Nebel
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1882 and died in 1966.

Helen NebelAgnes Schmid
Jason Skrepenski: Born in 1884 and died in 1962. Born in Germany and came through Ellis Island.MY GRANDPA