Wrap Up Your Writing!

TIME TO PUBLISH!

MEMOIRS: Students in 5th grade Language Skills 5: Composition will complete "Unit 2: Writing a Memoir" Monday, October 15.

Use this scoring guide to make sure you have everything you need. Then read your memoir aloud to yourself or a partner to make sure it sounds the way you want it to.

PERSONAL NARRATIVES: Students taking 6th grade "Intermediate Language Skills A: Composition" will complete  Unit 2: Personal Narrative on Monday, October 15.

Use this scoring guide to make sure you have everything you need. Then read your memoir aloud to yourself or a partner to make sure it sounds the way you want it to.

All Final Drafts are due on October 19! 

 All final drafts must be typed, double spaced, and in a 12 point font. Make sure your name is in the top right corner of  your paper, and in the file name. Adults can help with typing and formatting.

 

When you are ready, upload your paper to File Sharing on the OLS. Click here for instructions on how to upload a file to File Sharing.

I can't wait o read your stories!

Look Who's Talking!

When you write a memoir about an event in your life… the trick is to fashion your memories into an engaging story. One way to do this is to add dialog!

Adding dialog to your memoir will make
it even more interesting!

Dialog reveals a character’s personality.

Dialog helps the reader understand character 
relationships in the story.

Dialog reveals conflicts and causes a reaction.

Dialog increases the story’s pace and 
makes it more dynamic.

Here is a dialog between Calvin and Hobbes.

In comics like the one above, artists use speech bubbles to show who is speaking as well as what is being said. In written dialog, the rules are a little trickier.

Here's a movie to explain a little further...

More resources...
Quotation Marks Lesson
Quotation Marks Practice
Punctuation Help
"Speech Marks"

Memoir Memory Map

mem·oir [mem-wahr]

noun  an account of one's personal life and experiences; an autobiography.

For the next 4 weeks, we are going to work on writing a memoir. You will complete the online lessons in Composition and we will share in Class Connect. Final drafts are not due until October 20.

Your first assignment is to come up with an engaging topic to write about.

Draw a detailed map of your neighborhood.

Label your map:

Important places.
Where something happened.
Where kids gather.
 A danger spot you avoid.
 A favorite place.
 A secret place.
 Friend’s and neighbor’s houses.

As you draw, what memories come back to you?

Choose 3 memories you might want to write about.

WARNING: The song below will get stuck in your head for eternity.

Now, think about your top 3 memoir topics.

Which story do you know the most about?

Which story contains all 4 of these story elements?