Sees the world through a lens: Six Word Memoirs

Explaining six word memoirs to elementary students can be a bit challenging because many of the examples and teaching materials that have been prepared are geared to an older audience. I have found it best to create my own and find a few examples on the web. Smith Magazine is the home of six word memoirs. They highlight classroom projects, produce books, and provide background information. There are also Pinterest Boards.

I wrote these:

Seize the world through a lens*

Day by day my life emerges

It's not over, turn the page.

They wrote these:

Approaches learning like it's an adventure

My place is with the animals

The future holds my past and present

Words are precious, use them wisely

Life is made up of pages

I love in search of memories

Climbs to peaks to find adventure

Cake is good, cupcakes are better

You compose your own best seller

Devour a book, not literally

Find your passion, and follow it

I get hooked on books easily

Your mind wanders to the impossible

You keep hiding form the truth

Every single location, a new destination

Every book you read, you exceed

Imagination is more powerful than knowledge

Sports is all I see daily

Life is seen through different perspectives

September starts slow, much to come

A beat that never stops beating

I see world from pitcher's mound

Horseback riding begins with falling off

My world revolves around home plate

My life's on a music stand

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Prior to writing their own, I showed my students these examples:

 Six Word Memoirs created by last year's 5th graders. 

I pulled these from Smith Magazine's Twitter contest calling for six word memoirs.  

I pulled this from The International Literacy Association site and a video produced by a teacher.

The students will be using one of four technology tools (Animoto, Storybird, PicLits, and Read Write Think) to share their memoirs. I will be posting the final projects next week!

*I had originally written "sees the world through a lens," but a students suggested that I change it to "seize the world through a lens." I like it so much better! Two heads are better than one (That's my six word memoir for that experience!)