A couple of years ago, a fellow Gifted and Talented teacher, Michelle A., introduced me to these brief biographies by showing me the book Not Quite What I Was Planning. I was immediately intrigued, and went out to buy my own copy. There is something deeply moving about the power of six words to tell an entire life story, and I looked for ways to incorporate it into my classroom. Apparently, Michelle and I weren’t the only ones who saw the potential of this writing technique. It has taken classrooms by storm. On this site, a teacher explains how she used the idea with her second graders, and gives instructions for the classroom activities. (Be sure to click on “Expand to Read More”.) And at Smith Mag, there are lots of examples and ideas – even 6-word questions. And Daniel Pink has a variation on this idea, as well, with “What’s Your Sentence?”. I would not recommend that you set younger students loose on any of these resources, as there are some mature topics discussed, but you can gather plenty of appropriate ideas to jumpstart their creativity.
Six-Word Memoirs
