Mrs. Nixon’s Third-Graders’ Six-Word Storybook
Sunday, August 3rd, 2008
Since we launched the six-word memoir challenge on SMITH in late 2006 and then published a book of our favorites, we’ve seen amazing things happen that, literally, were not quite what we were planning. From a reverend in North Carolina who preached six-word prayers to a midwestern book blogger who created a six-word memoir “meme” that still races across hundreds of thousands of personal blogs, six-word memoirs have taken on a life beyond our wildest expectations.
But nothing has been as inspiring as the stories of six-word memoirs being taught in classrooms around the world. And it’s one thing to get an email from a high school teacher in Ohio; it’s another to head to school yourself. This spring, my nephews invited me to come speak to a couple of their classes. I spent the day back in my South Jersey hometown, walking the same halls from three decades ago, and talking to a shockingly attentive bunch of kids about why storytelling is awesome. I was reminded that teaching is really tough—and just why people do it. I saw that six graders are intense and intelligent little beasts, and that third graders are simply brilliant (”Always in trouble, not really troubled”—and this from an eight-year-old boy on the spot). Click below for a book that emerged from my nephew Noah’s classroom. There’s nothing I cherish more in this wonderful world of six.
Thanks for sharing those 3rd grade 6 word memoirs. They are terrific.
Beautiful!
This is fantastic! I’m going to add the information about your Grade Three book to the page I have written about the book http://www.squidoo.com/yourlifesentenceinsixwords.
Brenda
[...] You can also see it full-sized here. [...]
Our grade 5/6 really enjoyed this book - we were impressed with some of the language used by grade 3 kids.
We were wondering though, how did you make the electronic book? Is it an online site?
Really love the electronic book!!
Amazing……….! I’m an ESL teacher assistant in Junior High. What a BRILLIANT idea…brought tears to my eyes.
I will pass this on.
Jody Collins
Seattle WA
This is the sight that I want to go to in the lab Friday
[...] ones that come from Mrs. Nixon’s Third Graders are also hilarious/awesome/super wise beyond their [...]
Nice outfit, nice jewelry, great dance!
Nicole Langevin :]
Nice outfit, nice jewelry, great dance
[...] the world, students, teachers, churches, and nonprofits organizations with names like the Hypoparathyroidism [...]
[...] Six-Word Memoirs takes on a life bigger than Hemingway or SMITH Magazine could have imagined. From classrooms to funerals, sports sites to spinning classes, theater groups and churches across the land, [...]
[...] the world, students, teachers, churches, and organizations with names like the Hypoparathyroidism Association (devoted [...]
[...] is a website with some more 6 words [...]
[...] three classes of sixth graders and Mrs. Nixon’s third graders, which created this amazing six-word memoir book of their own, I was asked to talk to students at my high school in Moorestown, NJ. It’s [...]
[...] three classes of sixth graders and Mrs. Nixon’s third graders, which created this amazing six-word memoir book of their own, I was asked to talk to students at my high school in Moorestown, NJ. It’s [...]
Dear Lar,
I love this story!
Love, Mom
thanks for putting it on the website
Loved what I could read, but can’t read book properly.
I’m a teacher of the children of incarcerated parents. I’d love to show them this book and do one like it. Trouble is, I can’t display it on my machine (mac 10.4 with safari or firefox). Any chance I could get my hands on a pdf version.
I’m inspired! Thank you!
hi, bye don’t to cry tell your mother don’t to die
all fun
I’d really like to read this, but I can’t get the book to work. I can see the front and back, but I can’t turn pages.
pages don’t turn, firefox chrome or IE
Found the words fun, funny, surprising!
Point the mouse/arrow on the right, lower corner of the book. The corner “lifts up”. Drag the mouse/arrow left to turn pages….
Enjoy!
[...] especially like the idea that teachers are using this experiment as a writing and discussion project for their students: “I’m [...]
[...] http://www.smithmag.net/sixwordbook/sixword-storybook/ [...]
to open the third grade book…just left click the upper right corner to open the book and turn the pages.
[...] amazing, as talking the third graders about storytelling. The class later sent me their own book of Six-Word Memoirs, Not Quite What We Were Planning: Six-Word Memoirs by Mrs. Nixon’s Class, which I digitized and posted on SMITH. It’s the most amazing document I have from the SMITH [...]
[...] of thousands of people have shared their own short life story at smithmag.net, as well as in classrooms, churches, and at live Six-Word “slams” across the world. The Six-Word Memoir exemplifies the [...]
What program did you use to create this storybook? We are hoping to create something similar with our students. Thanks!