The Power of Writing from Your Own Life

Guest Post by Meg Medina

When I’m working with high school students, I like to help them experience the power of their own lives and memory as a source of inspiration for their work. Juniors and seniors are about to leave childhood behind – the joys of it as well as the hurtful parts. What’s ahead is unknown. They often feel ambivalent about what’s ahead, and they are almost always exhausted by the tasks of junior and senior year. It’s the perfect time to have them take a look back.

Depending on my time constraints, I ask students to bring a sample of a favorite toy/game from childhood. (Sometimes, we just make a quick list.) Basically, we spend some time in a free write, allowing our toys to unlock a memory. There is no stopping or crossing out. Just a stream of consciousness about this toy and a memory of how they played with it and with whom. I ask them to consider why they think they remember this event or person. I let them write for about 8 minutes, and then we share (on a volunteer basis, of course).

It’s always amazing to see what young people remember about the people and events that have shaped them. For me, the gold is always when they begin to name what it was like for them to grow up.

BIO: Meg Medina is an award-winning Latino author of picture books, middle grade, and young adult fiction whose work examines how cultures intersect through the eyes of young people. Her novel, Yaqui Delgado Wants to Kick Your Ass earned the 2014 Pura Belpré medal, the 2013 CYBILS fiction award, and the International Latino Book Award 2014. Meg is also the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writers medal winner for her picture book Tia Isa Wants A Car. Visit Meg at http://megmedina.com/about/

SCRIBING FROM SUMMER'S SCRAPS

by Jane Harrington

It’s that time of year again: kids are sitting at desks, doing jumping jacks in the gym, and standing in lunch lines. The student body has returned! But what about the student mind? Is it still lingering on summer memories? Is it still off at soccer camp or traipsing the trails of Yellowstone National Park? Most likely. But don’t let the daydreaming drive you crazy. On that path creativity lies.

Scrapbooking about summer can be a great weekend assignment, or something students do together in class after bringing in personal collections of memorabilia. Ticket stubs from plays or museum visits, photographs from camp or a sleepover, feathers or cicada shells from a nature hike—these sorts of tidbits, glued onto pages of a journal, can inspire students to do some meaningful writing about those summer days that they’re not quite ready to leave behind. The length/genre of writing can be easily tailored to any grade level or standards.

Of course, this idea needn’t be limited to the classroom. It’s perfect for homeschooled writers, or for any families who want to savor the adventures and closeness that seem to too quickly get left at fall’s doorstep every year. The artistic side can be expanded, as well, by creating collages for the covers and decorating pages.

Tips: To make this a low-budget activity, find those super-cheap spiral notebooks that are always available in the fall. But don’t scrimp on the glue—you need a good quality craft glue to make journals that can become keepsakes.

www.janeharrington.com

WHAT DID YOU LEARN? CREATING THOUGHTFUL NARRATIVES

by Jacqueline Jules

Personal narratives are a big part of any elementary writing curriculum. Primary school students not only enjoy writing about their personal experiences, classmates enjoy reading each other’s accounts of birthday parties and play dates, especially when they find themselves mentioned.

However, sometimes accounts of vacation trips and holiday gatherings can read like an uninspired and rambling list. Do we really need to know every item ordered by every family member at a restaurant? And a sequential list of every television show watched in a 24 hour period will definitely put a reader to sleep. How can we encourage students to write personal narratives with memorable details and thoughtful reflections?

Ask students if a vacation gave them an opportunity to learn how to do something new. Was it the first time at the beach or on an airplane? Did something amusing happen? For example, one student’s writing discussed a trip to a high rise hotel. After paragraphs of many mundane details about the taxi cab ride, checking in, and unpacking, the student discussed what happened when the family went to explore the hotel. The two children ran ahead of the parents and went up in the hotel elevator alone. Could the story be rewritten to highlight this incident? How did it feel to be in the elevator with your younger brother, going up to the 25^th floor? Did you worry your parents while you had a fun adventure? Did you learn anything from the experience? Expanding one event, often buried in a blow-by-blow description of a family vacation, can turn a rambling narrative into an intriguing read. To begin the transition to more focused personal narratives, ask students to identify the most interesting part of their story and then begin a new narrative, describing just that part in more detail. Remind students to include their own feelings, observations, and lessons learned.

After students have identified the most compelling moment in an existing narrative, ask them to concentrate on a single incident for the next  story. Do you remember a time in your childhood when you did something your family found amusing or particularly annoying? One of my students remembered a time when he climbed onto a dining table to examine a bowl full of apples. He took one bite out of each apple and put it back in the bowl. A description of his actions and then subsequent surprise at his mother’s reaction was great material for an amusing story. Another student decided to write about her mischievous baby brother. Rather than listing one childish misdeed after another in a story that could potentially go on for ten pages, the student decided to zero in on the time her mom left her purse within the baby’s reach. The toddler took out Mom’s lipstick and smeared his entire body with it. In that story, Mom learned a lesson!

Another strategy is to focus on a problem or obstacle and how it was overcome. Were you afraid to go off the diving board? Did you hate a certain food your family wanted you to try? Did you fight with a sibling and resolve the conflict in a creative way?

Encourage your students to begin their narratives with a clear idea of what they want to convey to the reader. Is this a story about your first experience with something? Is it a story about a lesson learned or problem solved? Is it a funny story? Ask students to identify the emotion they want the reader to feel. Do you want your reader to laugh? Empathize? Or simply nod his head in agreement? 

Even the youngest student can be encouraged to add insightful comments to personal narratives. Rather than ending the piece with “then we went home,” ask students to tell the reader how they felt about the experience. Would you want to do it again? Did you learn anything? Would you recommend this experience to others?

Personal narratives are a powerful form of writing. Inspire your students to harness that power with personal reflections. It will help them grow as writers and as individuals. 

http://www.jacquelinejules.com/

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HOPPING OFF HISTORY

by Mary Quattlebaum

As writers (and teachers of writing), we’re all familiar with that old adage “write what you know.”  Sometimes, though, that advice can limit  or just plain bore a writer.  How might we challenge students to try writing what they don’t know or, in other words, to write to discover more?

One approach might be to have them explore the intersection of family history with larger historical events.  How was my family involved in the Civil Rights era?  What did Grandpa do during the time of the Vietnam War?  Why and how did Lola emigrate to the United States?

This approach works especially well for ages 12 and up, and is one I’ve used with advanced and adult writing students.

1.  Share children’s and YA books that portray young people involved in historical events.  Some of my favorites encourage readers to take a closer look at an era or event not widely known or studied in school.  Many include author’s notes about the author’s tie to the story and how she came to research and write the novel.

* The Great Migration by Eloise Greenfield. A series of poems about African Americans, including the author’s parents, who left the South between 1915 and 1930 for the greater freedom they hoped they would find in the North.

* The Great Wall of Lucy Wu by Wendy Shang.  Contemporary novel, set in America, about a smart, funny 12-year-old girl who learns about China’s Cultural Revolution from an elderly relative.

* The Red Umbrella by Christina Diaz Gonzalez.  Historical fiction about two Cuban children who emigrate alone to the United States as Castro clamps down on their middle-class parents in the early 1960s.   Based on experiences of author’s parents and mother-in-law.

* A Troubled Peace by L. M. Elliott.  Historical fiction focused on the chaotic years in Europe just after World War II.  Inspired by the author’s father’s experiences as an American pilot during the war.

2.  Encourage students to choose a relative and think about what they would like to ask him or her.  Have them jot down questions about a given 5-year span in the relative’s life.  What was your favorite item of clothing?  Food?  What did you and your friends like to do?  What was your favorite book or TV show?  Why?  What did you like best about living during that time and in the place you did?  What did you like least?  What was the biggest lesson you learned?  What were three historical things that happened during this time and what do you remember about them?  Is there something you can show me (photo, memento) from that time period?

3.  Have students interview their relative and write down the answers.  Then have them shape their material into a coherent piece of writing entitled something like “What Grandpa liked about  this time period” or “Grandma comes to the United States.”

4.  Share pieces with the class and have students discuss what they may have learned and been surprised by.

www.maryquattlebaum.com