Complete Memoir/ Nonfiction Unit

Recently Updated in February 2023-- New & Improved! Now includes Day-by-Day Instructions for this 3-week unit-- No prep needed!

This Memoir Unit is always a huge hit in my high school English classes! Many of my students consistently say it is their favorite unit in the class

This bundle includes 3 different PowerPoint presentations focusing on memoir writing. The first one I use is the "Show, Don't Tell" presentation where students are introduced to the idea of writing in a more descriptive and vivid way (For example: Instead of writing "It was raining" students would write "Rain drops splashed against the windows" or "Water was spraying down in sheets as she clutched her umbrella).

The second PowerPoint is a general overview of what memoir is and how to write one (one of the main assignments I use in this unit is for students to write a short 1,000 word personal memoir about a VERY specific moment in their life--> some ideas are discussed in the presentation).

The last PowerPoint explains (and gives a bunch of examples of) Six Word Memoirs, a concept developed by Larry Smith. Students essentially write their own six word memoir answering the question "Who am I?" or "If I had exactly six words to define my life, what would they be?" They create a piece of art (with their Six Word Memoir integrated into it) and I have them present them at the end. My students LOVED this assignment and I was amazed by the depth and creativity of their responses. A really fun activity! There is also a link to a TED Talk about Six Word Memoirs and an article that we read together in class.

As a free bonus in this bundle, I've included excerpts from various memoirs/pieces of nonfiction from around the world (all of them can also be found on the internet free of charge). These excerpts include a short excerpt from "Night" by Elie Wiesel, an excerpt from MLK Jr.'s autobiography, an excerpt from a volunteer who met and worked with Mother Teresa, and 2 powerful excerpts from the award-winning blog "Baghdad Burning." I created my own discussion/ analysis questions for all the excerpts which are also included.

I spend about 3 weeks on this unit with my classes and it is always a huge success. This includes 1 day of peer-editing their written memoirs and 1 day of working on their Six Word Memoir illustrations in class. Hope your students love it as much as mine did!