1. Label a new section in your notes
First They Killed My Father
FTKMF

2. Objectives Answer critical thinking questions in response to the text
Analyze the development of a complex character
Identify the elements of fiction/figurative language
Increase vocabulary knowledge and cultural proficiency
Compose self-text-world connections

3. First They killed My Father
“This book left me gasping for air…”
This is a story of the triumph of a child’s indomitable spirit over the tyranny of the Khmer Rouge; over a culture where children are trained to become killing machines…”
“A gripping narrative…”
“Chillingly evocative… a straightforward, unblinking account…”
First They killed My Father
Loung Ung
“A riveting memoir… An important, moving work that those who have suffered cannot afford to forget and those who have been spared cannot afford to ignore.” – San Francisco Chronicle

4. Memoir
A historical account written from personal knowledge or special sources
How one remembers one’s own life
A collection of memories

5. A memoir is not what happens, but the person to whom things happen Virginia Woolf
Memoir is a window into a life William Zinsser
Memoir is not the whole head of hair, but one or two of the strands of hair Jean Little

7. 6 Word Memoirs Ernest Hemingway (American Author) was challenged
To write a full story in 6 words. His response:
For Sale: baby shoes, never worn.
If you were given this challenge, what would you write about? Would it be sad? Funny?

8. 6 Word Memoirs “One life. Six Words. What’s yours?”
You have 6 words. Create your own 6 Word Memoir. Capture a moment of your life. What’s worth sharing?
Step 1: Brainstorm in your notebook

9. Loung Ung
“From 1975 to 1979– through execution, starvation, disease, and forced labor– the Khmer Rouge systematically killed an estimated two million Cambodians, almost a fourth of the country’s population.
This is a story of survival: my own and my family’s. Though these events constitute my experience, my story mirrors that of millions of Cambodians. If you had been living in Cambodia during this period, this would be your story too.”

10. Brief History of the Khmer Rouge
Pol Pot leader of the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge Communist party took over Cambodia in In charge of the Cambodian Genocide – at least 1.5 million Cambodians died.
Goal? To transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich people, no poor people.

11. Life under the Khmer Rouge Regime
Abolished
Money
Free markets
Schooling
Churches
Universities
Shops
Government buildings (turned into prisons)
Private property
Public/private transportation

12. Exploring the Novel
You will be in charge of your novel. Treat this book with respect. You will be charged if you lose or ruin the novel.
Take a moment now to explore the cover, reviews, summary, maps, and family tree.
On your notecard, jot down a few notes, documenting your exploration.
What do you notice?

13. Exit Ticket: Name/Class Period on your notecard
List 2 things you hope to learn or gain from our FTKMF unit?
Notecard: Lined side Exit Ticket Blank Side Memoir