There are a plethora of approaches to know our students well; we use numerous forms of engagement, rigor, voice and choice, equity, diversity, inclusion and multiculturalism to honor all our students. Educators encourage song, music, foods, clothing style, geography, flags, and even worship recognition to partly have our students express their particular place in society. We should also include educational strategies where our students incorporate their deep reflective contributions, and analytical concerns with participatory resolutions at the local, national and global levels. Which is one example educators can use to hook our students into knowing they belong in our learning milieu and our world at large? How can we discover a way to incorporate the rightful presence of our entire student body? Consider integrating a Six Word Story method into your educational practices; the Six Word Story technique suggests supportive ways for each of our students to fully belong. Let’s journey together to either review a Six Word Story you may have written in high school and/or college yourself, or hop on board to become familiar with this impactful and all-encompassing process.

     The Six Word Story can be geared toward a mini memoir, if you will. The writer will choose six words to tell a story about him or herself; these well-selected six words will disclose a significant aspect of who the writer is. The Six Word Story can be quick and pleasurable; it is a full narrative told in six words. MasterClass.com (August 2021) documents how the Six Word Story is as memorable with emotional themes as extended stories: from humorous to dramatic, blue to frightening, and give the reader a sense of what’s happened.

     A way to spark student interest in crafting their own Six Word Story is to model using notable stories. A moving Six Word Story made popular by author Ernest Hemingway, “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.” (many speculate if the debatable Hemingway story tells that the baby has no parents). Some connected Hemingway subject matter to a student issue that could perhaps be: still waiting for adoption, fighting immigration laws, left in a cage in Tijuana, abandoned at Rio Grande, survivor of a fire, etc. Further illustrations of the Hemingway Six Word Story student links could be the portrayal of the rising Oscar winning actress born in impoverished circumstances like actress Hattie McDaniel, or 77 years later, Viola Davis, and even Halle Berry’s tumultuous beginnings. There are other possible, imaginative, hopeful Hemingway Six Word Story associations that students can make, such as: pretending to be the son of an enslaved mother who becomes the writer, physician, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist, Dr. James McCune Smith. The many scenarios can show our students how they can say something profound about themselves in a reaction to a topic. Educators can bring excitement by getting students to create their own Six Word Story; our students will leap from marginalization to a sense of empowerment.

     Award winning associate professor, Dr. Gholdy Muhammad (author of Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy [January 2020]) recommends four pursuits in her text and lectures; Six Word Story is one entry aspect Dr. Muhammad offered while holding teaching and learning chats at the NYCDOE District 19 Fall 2021 Conference. Dr. Muhammad shared the Six Word Story approach as a way to embrace all our students in the learning process with the identity development pursuit; here, Muhammad described how our students can learn to value themselves and others.

     It is possible to have a world where educators recognize all of our students’ deep thoughts, contributions and their very capable talents. Some activities that we can use Six Word Story for are writing prompts, introductions, reflections, notetaking, data collection, building capacity and projects. We can have students place their Six Word Story in a journal, on response sheets or sticky notes, and digitally on Padlet, Dotstorming, Lino, Wakelet, Scrumblr, Pinside, and Flipgrid. We educators will support our students with opportunities to thrive in, with dignified lives, and to create a better world for all of humankind. The Six Word Story is a continuation to help gain honest articulation where self-identification and meaningful actions can be embedded across the curriculum.

References

MasterClass staff. August 2021. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-an-unforgettable-six-word-story

Muhammad, Gholdy. Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy. Scholastic Teaching Resources, 2020.

NSPDK, INC. THETA CHAPTER
Basileus, Donna Sowerby
2022 NSPDK Krinon Theta Chapter Title: “Our Voices Do Matter”
by Theta Soror Public Relations Director Yvette Grant