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South Colonie: Mrs. Bianchi Grade 6
Are you wondering how to begin your memoir writing? Ideas may flow more easily if you look at your life in a compartmentalized way. Selecting a tighter focus than your entire life makes it easier to picture your memoir; it's far easier to grasp a beginning, middle and end. Many consider such focus as the key definition of a memoir, as opposed to an autobiography that draws from an entire lifetime.
Think about how your life can be segmented into the following global themes:
To seed your thinking, below is a list of specific memoir writing themes. As you consider these themes, think about whether a natural story emerges for you, with a clear start, a rising conflict, a resolution, and a fundamental change in you as a result. If you identify each of those elements within a theme, you have great potential for an interesting and motivating memoir.
To Inspire Students to Write a Memoir
Grandfather's Journey by Allen Say (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
When I Was Young in the Mountains
Dan Yaccarino Reads Every Friday
Tar Beach (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
Tom (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
Fireflies (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
All the Places to Love (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
Babushaka's Doll by Patricia Pollaco (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
Mr. Lincoln's Way by Patricia Polacco. Grandma Annii's Storytime (15:59)
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge read by Bradley Whitford
Owl Moon by Jane Yolen (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
A Chair for My Mother Video Book-by Shannon
A Chair for My Mother Read by Ilene
Fly Away Home by Eve Bunting (Narrated by Katherine Detrick)
Thank you, Mr. Falker read by Jane Kaczmarek
Patricia Polacco Reads Thunder Cake
My Rotten Red Headed Older Brother (Read by Melissa Gilbert)
The Rag Coat (12 mins: Use a variety of sentence lengths)
Someday a Tree by Eve Bunting (9:18)
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles (8:47) Read by a student
Freedom Summer by Deborah Wiles read by Kayla
Deborah Wiles sharing her passion for writing
The Summer My Father Was Ten (8:08)
More Mentor Text:
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