Thanks Stacey, Tara, Dana, Beth, Anna and Betsy!
I introduced the Slice of Life with students yesterday. They wrote, broke into groups, and shared. From my observations in one group, it seems that they "got it", and were willing to try describing a piece of their lives. I kept it low-key, and we'll write again tomorrow. This group does have good writing experience, but now the challenge is to get them to narrow the focus, revise in all the different ways to revise to make the writing good. Step one, step two... and on! Exciting!
And I wrote too:
There are those who say that messy desks open up paths to creativity, but I'm wondering. My desk at school is not messy, but is piled high, and no, I'm not going to show you a picture of it, but I am going to discuss one tiny slice of my life that occurs about twice a week.