I’ve enjoyed reading Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, so much so that I have finished the book in its entirety already. Rosenthal’s entries in the book are short and witty, making it an easy and delightful read. Some of my favorite spreads/pages are pictured below:
Rosenthal’s book showed me that anything can be a journal entry. Journal entries don’t have to be deep or long, they can be short and light-hearted (refer to the first and third images above). This idea is something that students should be shown/told as well. Students can be writers and not have long, elaborate entries. The six word memoir is a great example of this. A six word memoir is a group of six words that the author feels describes him/her. Expose students to examples of six word memoirs like the ones below:
Allow students time to write their own memoirs and time to share with peers or the class. While students are working, you should be working on yours as well. Students need to see their teachers participating in the writing, as it portrays that writing is important. Also, the teacher will have a memoir to share with the class as well. My six word memoir is:
“STILL TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT.”
I think that this memoir perfectly describes myself in the particular stage of life that I’m in. I’m in my early twenties and I’m about to transition from being a student to being a teacher. I’ve been a student my whole life and now I’m going to be a full time educator that’s on the other side of the classroom. I’m in the process of finding a job and figuring out where I’m going to end up. Nothing is set in stone yet- thus I’m still figuring things out.
After students have written their six word memoir, they may choose to illustrate their writing.
Children's Literature Blog 
Abby,
I love all the entries you bring attention to from Textbook: Amy Krouse Rosenthal. I also have learned a lot from this mentor text, especially the fact that journal entries do not need to be long, drawn out reflections. I have started writing more in my notebook, mostly because I now feel ok with jotting down short entries — journaling doesn’t seem like too much of a daunting task.
I relate very closely to your six-word memoir! I feel like we are all out here just trying to figure life out. I definitely feel like I have a lot more to figure out in this whole “adulting” thing.
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I loved the quote from AMKR. “Just look at us, doing our own thing and trying to matter.” Everyone has their own path in life. š You will be an amazing elementary teacher.
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