Mr. Hollman’s 5th grade class

Finding Six-Word Memoirs was a happy accident for Lee Hollman, a fifth-grade special education teacher at The Helen Keller School in Bronx, New York. Hollman, who has been teaching for 13 years, was searching for a writing project that would be succinct, yet sufficiently challenging for this class.  

The previous essay assignment that Hollman used for years was tedious. “I was tired of the same old, same old,” he says. “Some special needs kids lacked essay writing stamina.”

Six-Word Memoirs proved to be a fitting alternative to more formal essay writing for Hollman’s students. “They would not have to write a full essay, but they would have to make every word and every detail count,” said Hollman.

Hollman’s class is particularly tech-savvy when it comes to integrating new platforms for communication in the classroom. After finding a template at Liquid Literacy, Hollman used a SMART Board to project the students work for everyone to see.

“They loved it. They especially loved when we put their words on their screen. It was one of the few works that everybody agreed on,” said Hollman. From there, the Six-Word concept gained momentum with the students, who soon had the short-form bug.

Their response was refreshing: “Many of them are self-conscious as writers, they’re self-conscious about handwriting,” said Hollman. But the Six-Word template and the use of SMART Boards and graphic organizers helped the students feel justified in their authorship. The students could proudly claim their Sixes.

The enthusiasm for Six Words has jumped from classroom to classroom in the Bronx as Hollman shares his students’ work with his colleagues. Now, not only are the students in special education writing Sixes, so too are the gifted students. As Six-Word Memoir fever spreads throughout their school system, Hollman hopes to create a Six Words-inspired fest, of sorts, in the coming year.

It is particularly significant that the Six Words movement within these Bronx schools began in Hollman’s classroom: “There’s a stigma attached to special ed,” explained Hollman, “but we brought Six-Word Memoirs to the forefront of their attention and that’s quite an achievement.”

This 5th grade class of nine is a close-knit group that Hollman describes as the “little engine that could.” Six-Word Memoirs is thrilled to be one of the tools helping these students advance.  

 —Hailey Stangebye