Eighth Graders Create Six-word Memoirs about Their Truths

After learning about memoirs and reading the memoir This Boy’s Life by Tobias Wolff, eighth graders took on the task of writing a piece about their own life in memoir form. Students wrote about everything from their passion for sports to family trips, to important teachers and coaches in their lives. “One of the throughlines for eighth grade language arts asks the question, ‘How do we tell the truth of our lives?’” explains teacher David Jefferies. “We read This Boy’s Life, which is really about trying to come clean and tell some uncomfortable truths. And we also do an exercise involving six-word memoirs.” Students have six words to tell their life stories. Those six-word memoirs are typed up without name attributions attached, and one by one, students take turns guessing which memoir is whose. “It’s an interesting community-building exercise that ties perfectly into the curriculum,” adds Mr. Jefferies. “It always surprises students how expressive they can be about their lives in only six words. What would be your six words?” MORE PHOTOS