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Me Museums make great ice breakers

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Me Museums are also terrific writing prompts

A Me Museum is a brief autobiography that incorporates props.

Traditional Me Museums are low-tech but alternatives include Life Maps which are rather medium-tech and digital stories which are high-tech.

Me Museums are icebreakers and writing prompts all rolled into one fun activity.

Me Museums make great icebreaker activities for any group at any age but are especially useful for teachers and writing groups because they offer a way for everyone to get to know each other that is interesting and fun but can also lead to some really interesting writing.

Why?

There are several reasons to use Me Museums -- especially in writing classrooms:

Great ice breaker to start off a new class
Provides fodder for writing (both for the individual while creating their Me Museum and many are inspired by stories of others)
Teaching opportunities:

There are many assignments that can be built on this information

Writing is about choices (limiting number of items to include, time to present, etc.)
Writing prompts to explain the choices they made (why include, why not include, etc.)

Begin with a story

One way to get people thinking about their Me Museums is to read them this story about a little boy collecting clues to help his friend get her memory back

Wilfred Gordon Mcdonald Partridge (Bright Stars)

by: Mem Fox

Amazon Price: $998.99 (as of 06/02/2012)

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge

I typically use this wonderful children's book as a way to introduce the Me Museum to my students.

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge creates a collection of items to help his friend (an old lady) remember.

Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge (Public Television Storytime Books)

by: Mem Fox

Amazon Price: $5.74 (as of 06/02/2012)

Think about the container

When planning your assignment think carefully about how much time you want to allow for each "Me Museum" presentation. A time limit is good and so is limiting the number of items that people can include in their me museum (especially for children). Another important consideration is the container for each me museum. Some me museums instructions come with a brown paper bag and include directions to decorate the bag. Other me museums can come in containers limited only by the imagination and interest of the presenter.

“Stay focused and be selective...this is the highlight reel not the main feature!”

My Me Museum Instructions

Gather a number of items that are symbolic of various important parts of your life. Be selective and make your choices very carefully!

Be individual and allow your personality to show through.

Some examples of things you might include: photographs, keys, toys, collectibles, books, music, food, etc.

Then share your items with the group explaining the story behind each item -- be focused and concise

“Be concise...yours is not the only story that will be shared!”

Show and Tell

This is a quick digital story version of a Me Museum that tells the story of my life in just 7 searches. What would your story look like if you had to pick just 7 search terms to sum it up?

Deanna's Digital Story: by dmascle | video info

0 ratings | 74 views

curated content from YouTube

Life Map Instructions

On a large piece of paper (poster size) draw a map of your life noting the important "landmarks" along your life path.

Share the map with the group explaining the stories behind the landmarks.

Be selective when making your map and concise when sharing it!

Some life maps are real places with little stars on key places while other life maps are more figurative using terrain (mountains and valleys) or weather (thunderstorms, tornadoes) to highlight key points. What does your life look like?

“Let your personality shine through!”

Digital Story

A digital story can be a high tech Me Museum, Life Map, hybrid, or new creation. There are a number of choices of technology (I couldn't begin to list them here but give you 3 examples below) and in some cases (such as the google search video) your choice of technology dictates a certain direction.

Just as with the other options: be selective, purposeful, and concise!

Important!

Be purposeful...

...your choices can tell us a lot about you and your life

Examples

Two digital stories I have made

Meet Deanna: Learn all about me!
Searching for my story: The story of my life

Tools For Digital Stories

These are the tools I used to make the digital stories above but there are many more options out there!

Search Stories: Create a video using Google search tools and share it far and wide
Prezi - The zooming presentation editor: Prezi is the zooming presentation editor

Digital Stories on Squidoo

Another tool and some examples

Who Is Deanna Mascle: Deanna Mascle is a writer, teacher, researcher, and student.
Deanna Mascle: My entire professional life has been focused on writing -- growing as a writer myself as well as helping others grow as writers.Learn more about my work and my scholarship here.

Do you use Me Museums in your classroom?

Questions, tips, and tricks for using Me Museums in writing classrooms

Reply

John_Michael Mar 14, 2012 @ 2:27 pm | delete

nope... I have no classroom, but this is a great idea

Reply

DianaHarper May 4, 2011 @ 7:41 pm | delete

My first time also. I see using it with the Boy Scout communication badge, or having students create a Me Museum for a historical character. Blessings!