Slice of Life Genre Study

By: Katelyn Turnbull Anchor/ Mentor Texts: "Chicken Soup for the Soul" by Jack Canfield "Come On, Rain" by Karen Hesse "Big Sister, Little Sister" by LeUyen Pham "When You Visit Grandma and Grandpa" by Anne Bowen "Camping" by Nancy Hundal "The Fun of It: Stories from the Talk" by Lillian Ross Writing by Linda Hoye found at http://lindahoye.com/ What I notice List: First person point of view Expression of thoughts and feelings Narrow plot Observational Commentary on life Uses a lot of imagery Non formal style of writing Often includes pictures Gives insight to the authors life Often written in dialogue Sometimes draws on others works Close Analysis of Sharpening Our Saw by: Linda Hoye (found on her website post on 4/26/13) This work is a great piece of Slice of Life writing. I like this piece in particular because it contains a lot of elements that make up a good slice of life. This piece is written in first person point of view and talks a lot about the authors life and what is happening in her life. Hoye is reflecting on her busy life and then references Stephen Coveys work The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People that she read awhile back. She includes the seven main points in her slice of life. She also includes her favorite quote from the work and explains what it means to her. At the end of the writing she talks about sharpening the saw. This just means giving yourself some time to appreciate things in life before you get back to the grind. She writes in a conversational tone and includes details about her life. At the end, she includes a picture of her sharpening her saw. Guiding Questions: What topics do writers of this genre address?

Writers of this genre can address a wide variety of topics. There really isnt a limit to what they can write about. Most slice of life writing reflects of some aspect of life or an observation. Slice of life writing kind of reminds me of blog writing for enjoyment. What kinds of work do writers of this genre need to be able to do? Slice of life writing comes from the heart. The writing style is an expression of thoughts and feelings. Writers need to be able to be thoughtful and reflective on the things around them. They need to be detail oriented and willing to share their observations. How do writers craft this genre to make it compelling for their readers? In order to write a compelling slice of life piece, writers need to include detail in their writing. They also need to include personal experiences. Slice of life writing is very conversational and not formal. The writing should be reflective. Mini-Lessons: 1. Title: Using Sensory images in writing. Name: Writers, today I will be giving you some advice on how to make your readers feel what you are writing. Here is what I mean. Teach: (this mini lesson is based off of this Read Write Think lesson http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/creating-feastsenses-with-30785.html) Provide examples of texts that are rich in sensory images. These can be found under the mentor texts on Read Write Think. Pick out phrases from a few a couple different works to share with the students. Talk as a class about what is so special about the phrases that were highlighted. Engage: Share your piece of Slice of Life writing and ask the class to point out a sentence or two that could use revision and work on it as a class. Link: Have the students turn to their own work and highlight one sentence that could be revised to include sensory images. Have students exchange papers with a peer and do the same thing. Have them work in pairs to enhance their language in the two or more sentences that they highlighted. 2. Title: Being conversationalYou should be good at this! Name: Writers, today we are going to do something that you are very good atconversation! This doesnt mean that all we are going to do is talk all period. Here is what we are going to do. Teach: Bring up examples of Slice of life writing and read aloud one piece to the class. Ask them to point out some of the differences between a slice of life and a

narrative. Have a conversation about conversational tone. They should bring up that slice of life is more conversational. Engage: Next, invite the students to try out writing in a conversational tone in their writers notebook. Have them write a concluding piece on how it feels to write in a non-formal conversational tone. Link: Invite the students as well as yourself to take a stab at writing a conversational piece. This could be done on a class blog. 3. Title: Noticing the little things Name: Writers, today we will be taking a little adventure to notice the little things. Here is the plan. Teach: Have the students grab their writers notebooks and something to write with. This may be difficult but tell the students that they are not allowed to talk once we leave the room. Tell the students to write down observations that they notice while walking. Take the students outside to walk around the school or if you have a short nature trail that would be nice as well. As the teacher, model by writing as you walk. Engage: Once back to the classroom, ask students to share some of the little things that they noticed. Share your list with the class. Discuss why it is important to pay attention to little things and how to reflect on them. Link: Ask the students to brainstorm some slice of life topics that could come out of the activity. Have them choose one that they think they could write a nice slice of life piece on. 4. Title: Writing from personal experience Name: Writers, today you will be experiencing a few things without sight and Im going to ask you to write about experience. Here is what we are doing. Teach: Have about 5 boxes with holes in the top. In each place random object such as a bowl of spaghetti noodles, a bowl of M&Ms, a scented air freshener and a cd player with headphones. This is to chime into the senses other than sight. Have students put on a blind fold one at a time and go through each box and experience each sense. Engage: Have each student write about their experience with each box and describe their feelings and reactions. Have them be reflective about what they experienced. Link: After all of the students have had time to reflect individually, open it up to a class discussion. Discuss how this activity gave insight on how to be reflective and write about your senses other than just how something looked.

My Piece of Slice of Life Writing: Basking in the Sun It never ceases to amaze me how much joy a dog can bring me. My dog, Roxy, who is now a year old cracks me up! While writing this lesson, I look out my second story bedroom window to see her basking in the sun. She just looks so content napping in the sun. I picture myself basking in the sun but then shuttered at the thought of bugs crawling all over me. Gross! I swear Roo (As I call her for short. As if Roxy isnt short enough) can just sleep anywhere. I guess that is the nature of a dog. I call her name and she frantically looks everywhere for me. This is my favorite game with her. It probably confuses the poor creature but I find it entertaining. And I am the bossRight? Well sometimes I suppose. I tap on my window and she immediately looks at me. Her ear fuzz is blowing in the wind and it looks as if she is smiling at me. Her good mood puts me in one as well. Oh to have the life of a dog

Slice of Life Reflection and Evaluation Name:__________________________________ 1. How did the idea for your piece start? Date:_______________

2. Which Slice of Life piece influenced your own writing the most and why?

3. Tell me about your writing process. Was this a stressful process or did the writing just flow from your mind?

4. Which activity that we did in class had the biggest influence on your understanding of Slice of Life writing?

5. How does this piece or genre of writing fit into the journey of your writing life? What did you learn from this writing?

6. Where does this piece need more improvement? If you had a larger amount of time to work on this piece what would you go after first?

Scoring Rubric

Name:_______________ Date:_______________ Period:_______________ Scoring Rubric for:________________________________________ Scoring Criteria Exceeds the Meets the Does Not Yet Standard Standard Meet The Standard Gives insight to the writers thoughts/feelings/emotions/ experiences

Use of sensory images and imagery

The work is written in a conversational tone

The topic of the writing is not too broad

The plot is narrow yet focused