Silas Marner Memoirs

My sophomores girls just finished the novel, "Silas Marner", by George Eliot.  The plot of the story was intriguing to the students, and they took the heart the meaning, felt compassion for Silas and all the events that occurred in his life and the father he ended up being for Eppie.

Throughout reading the story I asked the girls to write journal entries as if they were Silas Marner.  Asking them to place themselves in Silas Marner's shoes, and to write out his thought processes from the events in his life.

Upon completion of the novel, and after reading numerous journal entries and loving reading their "Silas Marner-thoughts"I wanted to be able to take it a step further.  I explained to the students what a memoir is (a collection of memories).  Their assignment then was to walk through the entire book of
"Silas Marner", from his time in Lantern Yard, his reasons for leaving, what he thought, all the way to Eppie's wedding day explaining what went through his mind giving away his daughter, his one true love.

The girls loved it, and wrote several pages.  Without computer access and opportunities to practice typing or forming a word document, I then allowed them time to type it up.  After their final drafts were complete they presented their memoirs to the class, and I compiled them together to make a book of their memoirs.  They feel proud of themselves when they look at it, and were able to share them with our principal.

I was inspired by a fifth grade class from the late 70's I read about.  A class researched, read about, took field trips of the sea and then worked together to write a book entitled "Our Friends in the Water".  The teacher spoke of her class' ownership of their learning and their participation, and how it motivated them to work even more.  I wanted to provide for my students a similar experience.   I read of this class in "Reading, Writing, and Learning in ESL: A Resource Book for Teaching K-12 English Learners" by Suzanne F. Peregoy and Owen F. Boyle.