Grade 5

Memoir: Narrative Writing

W.5.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
What is the definition of Memoir?
What are the main elements of Memoir?
(This is a list of elements a memoir. Student writing
may or may not contain all elements, depending on
the characteristics developed during immersion.)

A memoir is a brief, often intense memory of an event or person. It is often a reflection that communicates a
larger meaning. Memoirs often have significance in the authors life.

Usually written in the first person (using I)

The story is significant to the writer
Usually the story will describe a memory and/or special experience and share the writers thoughts and
feelings about the memory
Generate sufficient personal ideas and experiences, including relevant descriptions and sensory details,
to adequately develop the message

Who is the possible audience?

Think carefully about the audience for the students writing. The more meaningful the audience, the
more students will invest in the writing.

What will I use for examples of memoir?

(Immersion)

Gather many examples of memoirs. Be familiar enough with the elements of memoirs to be able to
enrich it for the children.

**For additional titles see grade level Immersion

Book List on the Writing Intranet page.

What are some mini- lessons that may need to be

taught?
.

What are my expectations for instructional time and

publishing?

Grandfathers Journey by Allen Say

Thank you, Mr. Falker by Patricia Polacco
My Fathers Hand by Joanne Ryder
Roxaboxen by Alice McLerran
Dont You Know Theres a War On? by James Stevenson
Chicken Soup for the Kids Soul by Jack Canfield (read the excerpts carefully before sharing them with
students. Some of the material may be sensitive to your students.
Planning for mini-lessons during a unit of study should be determined based on ongoing observations
during writing.
Organization write a sequenced narrative with an engaging beginning and reflect on why the memory is so
important to the writer; write an ending that fits the piece
Ideas- write an engaging lead that captures interest and foreshadows the content; narrow your topic to a specific
memory about something that happened in your life
Word Choice provide some descriptive details to make the story more interesting and use words that convey
emotion; use words that convey the passage of time
Voice- develop voice as a writer through telling memories from your own life and incorporate meaningful
dialogue
Presentation- develop illustrations to reflect significant memory
The amount of instructional time it takes to complete a writing unit needs to
be pre-determined by the teacher during the planning stage of the unit.

Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH)

Elementary Language Arts
2013-2014

Grade 5
Memoir: Narrative Writing
Suggested publishing format Class book of Memoirs, individual student piece

Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH)

Elementary Language Arts
2013-2014

Grade 5
Memoir: Narrative Writing
This instructional model is not a day-by-day plan, but an overall picture of how to have students successfully write Memoir. The best units of study are those,
in which the teacher takes into account their own areas of expertise, their students curiosity, prior experiences and interests.
W.5.3: Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Your goal in this unit is to be sure that all students can generate true stories from their lives reflecting on an important event or person.
Process
Ongoing Assessment
Immerse
Read many examples of memoirs to students.
Throughout the immersion phase, check students growing
understanding by asking, What have we learned about
Have students browse and examine many memoirs with your
telling stories from our life?
guidance.
and

While charting students responses, make note of how their

During this immersion phase, begin a chart titled, What makes a
understanding of memoirs is growing (or not).
good story about a special memory from (our) life? or What is
Discuss
a memoir?
and Chart
Develop a student friendly rubric with the students to guide their
Every time you read a new text, change the color of the marker
writing. The rubric should reflect the following standards from
(shows growing knowledge). You may want to put a copy of the
the CCSS:
book title on the chart as you add insights.
Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing
As you are reading aloud or after reading a memoir, record what
a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that
the students notice about the story. For example: What is the
unfolds naturally
important event or person the writer is sharing? Take the story
apart with students and notice what makes them good. Continue Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and
pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the
to chart what the author did and remind the students that they can
responses of characters to situations
do it too!
Use concrete words and phrases and sensory details to
Keep charted responses short and meaningful.
convey the experiences and events precisely.
Make sure that students know that memories are important to

Provide a conclusion that follows from the narrated

writers and can come from anywhere at home, at school, on the
experiences or events
playground, on the bus.
Teacher
Demonstrates
Writing

Write your memoir, or a portion of it, in front of students as you:

Tell your story first to model choosing a topic, narrowing the
topic, and keeping the story short and focused
Write your memoir
Make all of your decisions in front of your students. You may
say something like this, Kids, Im going to be thinking out
loud as I write my memoir. Im doing that so that when you
write youll know what kind of thinking writers do.
Refer to the class chart often so that students see that you are
thinking like a writer by noticing what other authors have
done, always reinforcing that our stories are important to us.

Ask students, What did you notice about my writing? Check to

see if they are picking up on your writing process, for example:
Re-reading (to figure out what to say next or revisit and
rethink what youve written)
Revising as you go
Some editing as you go
Thinking about characteristics youve listed together on
the class chart

Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH)

Elementary Language Arts
2013-2014

Grade 5
Memoir: Narrative Writing
Sustained
Writing
Time

They are our special memories.

If the audience was not predetermined, negotiate the audience
with your class.
Before students begin to write have them sit in small groups
and tell their stories.
Teach mini lessons to support student needs.

When students are engaged in writing and know what to

do, the room will have an engaged working hum.
The teacher is able to conduct mini-conferences with
students.

W.5.5: With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a
new approach. (Editing for conventions should demonstrate command of Language)

Revise (hold
public content
conferences,
and/or
individual
conferences
during and
after drafting)

Celebrate the work and the writers strengths.

Focus on content first.
Acknowledge the child and the hard work he/she has put into
this piece of writing.
Use public conferences for making teaching points.
Identify what the writer needs to move forward.
Revise your writing in front of the students.

Use conferences to assess students writing progress.

Notice patterns, for example, you may need to teach
mini-lessons that support writing in sequence to tell their
stories (Organization), dialogue (Voice), and
foreshadowing.
Continually determine through observation and
discussion which focus lessons to teach to small groups
or the whole class to help students move forward.

L.5.2: Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing.
Possible agreed upon conventions may be:
Involve students so they are part of the decision-making in
Use punctuation to separate items in a series.
determining what they are able to do independently. Create an
Negotiate
Use a comma to separate an introductory element
Editing Expectations Chart that lists all of the agreed upon
Editing
from the rest of the sentence.
conventions with the students.
Expectations

Use a comma to set off the words yes and no, to set
Hold students accountable for editing expectations agreed
off a tag question from the rest of the sentence (e.g.
upon as a class.
Is that you, Steve?).
Hold editing conferences once students have done all they

Use underlining, quotation marks, or italics to

can on their own.
indicate titles of works.
Spell grade appropriate words correctly, consulting
references as needed.
Note whether students are taking responsibility for doing
most of the editing work.
W.5.6: With some guidance and support from adults, use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing as well as to interact and
collaborate with others; demonstrate sufficient command of keyboarding skills to type a minimum of two pages in a single sitting.

Publish

Think about a variety of publishing options. For memoirs,

you may want to publish little 2-3 page books with a title
page, or combine memoirs into a class book.
Share the writing with the intended audience so students will

Final published work that goes public should be as

perfect as we as we can get it.
Use the rubric that you created with your students to
score writing.

Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH)

Elementary Language Arts
2013-2014

Grade 5
Memoir: Narrative Writing
understand that writing is a purposeful, powerful form of
communication.

Adapted from: Regie Routman in Residence, (Heinemann: Portsmouth, NH)

Elementary Language Arts
2013-2014