I presented about creating and teaching the memoir multigenre project during Nerd Camp Michigan on July 11th, 2016.

1. The Memoir Multigenre
Project
Sarah Andersen
@yaloveblog
yaloveblog.com
Fenton High School / Fenton, MI

2. Keep it?
...and focus more on
reading?
or
Replace it?
...and focus more on
writing?
The Internal Debate

3. Who am I?
Where am I going?
How will I get there?
The Senior Exit Presentation

4. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.11-12.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined
experiences or events using effective technique, well-
chosen details, and well-structured event sequences.
So. Much. Argumentative. Writing.

5. Facebook + Hive Mind =
Memoir Multigenre Project

6. My Primary Resources

7. ● Students wrote a 3-5 page minimum memoir
based on an event in their life
● Prompts to direct their thinking
○ “The Road Not Taken”
○ Forgive My Guilt
○ Watermark events
The Memoir Anchors the Project

8. Using Picture Books as Mentor Texts

9. ● Poetry
● Lyrics
● Journal entries
● Photos
● Top 10 List
● Scrapbook
● Videos
● Letters
● And more
Our Multigenre Menu

10. Creativity, Depth, and Layers
● Tom Romano
○ From Heinemann’s website for Fearless Writing by Tom Romano:
“Tom Romano illustrates the power of multigenre papers to push students beyond the
‘safety zone’ of narrative and exposition into a place where fact meets imagination, and
research meets creativity. A place to try the untried.”
● Different genres inserted into the memoir
● Pushed students out of comfort zones

11. Poems as Mentor Texts
● Not everyone is a poet
● Dyslexia
● Divorce
● Missions Trips

12. Alyssa wrote about her struggle with dyslexia

13. Tyler wrote about his parents’ divorce

14. Conferring is Everything!
● Narrowing their focus
○ Proposals and Drafts
● More mentor texts
● Getting to know my students

15. Memoir Multigenre Project Presentations
● Presenting a genre or piece of the memoir
● Revealing private, vulnerable moments
● Many tears and hugs

16. Words Have Power
● Empowerment
● Student connections
● Seeing another side of students

17. “His story is just like mine.”
● Bullying and suicide
● Cancer
● “You should be a writer.”

18. Am I a writer?
● Opportunities for success at all levels

19. I’ll Never Look Back