North Olmsted Makes History, Then and Now

ONE COMMUNITY; SIX WORDS PROJECT DOCUMENTS

One Community; Six Words
Can you tell your life story in just six words?  The legendary American author Ernest Hemingway thought so. "Baby shoes for sale. Never worn," wrote Hemingway.  When Larry Smith, the founder of Smith Magazine, discovered Hemingway's literary invention, he saw in it the potential for bringing people together around  this simple yet profound method of storytelling. Beyond that, Smith hoped that the writing of six word memoirs and reading of those written by others  would foster both greater self-awareness as well as greater empathy.  As Larry Smith, founder of what has now become the six-word memoir movement, said, "Everyone has a story; what's yours?"

With this in mind, our NOMS 8th graders will engage in a year-long inquiry project that will take them through the historical experiences of the land and people of North Olmsted, Ohio.  Students will first select some dimension of our community's history, research it though primary and secondary sources, and finally communicate their findings in the form of six-word stories told from the first person perspective of the people and land that compose our community.  To see our topics of inquiry, click on the buttons below each of the images that follow.

To learn more about the origin and writing of six word memoirs, explore the video and the link below.  If you would like to send us your own six word memoir for inclusion in the collection we are presently curating, please email teacher Claudia Bestor at [email protected].  

To visit Smith Magazine's six word memoir project click here: sixwordmemoirs.com

Peruse the Finished Products of Our Students' Inquiry 

Click on the buttons under each image to check out our gallery of learning!
Project Goal:
Using student-driven inquiry, our 8th graders at North Olmsted Middle School will research and curate the history of our community's land and its inhabitants and represent these histories as first person 6-word narratives, which taken together will tell the story of our community in a way that is fresh, insightful, and succinct, yet accessible to all. 

Useful Online Resources

Click on the following links to learn more about the history of North Olmsted, Ohio.

Essential Questions

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