LA-Block+8

Learning Essentials for the Memoir(Personal Narrative) Unit:
 * 1) Students will write and compile a variety of pieces reflecting on a signifcant object, place, person, and event in their lives.
 * 2) Student will show evidence of the writing process through planning, drafting, revising and editing a final copy.
 * 3) Student will write and revise so that each personal narrative includes sufficient descriptive detail.
 * 4) Student will complete a personal narrative of an event that includes a well-developed plot.

** > **
 * Memoir Introduction and Overview:
 * **Read pages 3-5 in Ralph Fletcher's Marshfield Dreams. Use his ideas to inspire your writing with a QuickWrite in your journal.
 * Assignment #1: Read and write about a significant object **


 * Guiding Questions:**
 * 1) What object is so special to you?
 * 2) How did you acquire this object?
 * 3) Describe how your object looks, sounds, feels, and smells.
 * 4) What makes your object important? How has that object supported you? What makes your object seem real to you?


 * A. Click on the title of the document below to view a sample memoir about an object. Consider how the author used figurative language and description to help you understand the unique features of the object.**




 * B. Plan and draft an essay describing your object.

C. After writing your own essay, click on the discussion tab to respond to the topic listed.**


 * D. New Literary Writing Rubric...click on the rubric to look over the categories and descriptions, then participate in a classroom discussion.**



A. Guiding Questions:**
 * Assignment #2: Read and write about a significant place
 * 1) What place is so special to you that when you go there you feel comforted, energized, relaxed?
 * 2) What do you see, feel, hear, smell, and taste when you observe your place?


 * B. Make a list of familiar places** you like to go, places you go to regularly, places you can stand in and look at everything around you.

C. From the list, pick the place you know best. **Create a web** with the name of the place in the center. Then step into that place and list everything you see, feel, hear, smell, and taste.

D. **Read the following mentor texts** and participate in a **discussion** about their content and craft.

E. Use the ideas you gleaned from the mentor texts and your web to **draft an essay describing your favorite place**.

F. **Revise your piece** to inlcude a variety of craft techniques including complex and compound sentences and figurative language. Use the tips sheets for assistance.

Assignment #4: Read and write about a signficant event in your life. **
 * Assignment #3: Read and write about a significant person, friend, or pet