Fifth grade is a time of transitions. Your children are on the cusp of becoming a teenagers. They are moving into whole new worlds, and with those new worlds come new pressures, new angst. In the blink of an eye, they with be making life-defining decisions about what they will do and will not do - what they will be and will not be - in the face of peer pressure.
The memoir unit gives your child the chance to define themselves, a chance to author life stories that they can take with them as they leave the safety of childhood and head out into the world. A big part of being a healthy, happy, and fulfilled person is being able to look at your life with meaning and to see significance in your own story.
Throughout the first part of this unit, students were encouraged to write a lot and to work through the writing process. They read a variety of memoirs from different authors. They learned that memoirs are both narrative and expository. They learned how to write external and internal storylines. And they learned how to revise their own writing for elaboration and voice. So much learning and growth happened during the first few weeks of our unit!
This week, your child is finishing his/her first memoir. Many of these stories are deeply personal and have helped shape your child into the person he/she has become today. Stay tuned because next week, we will begin writing memoir #2.
Memoir Writing Checklist
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