1. Mark Twain Life on the Mississippi

2. - Born Samuel Clemens in Florida, MO in 1835 - Grew up in Hannibal, MO, where he enjoyed playing in swimming holes, building homemade rafts, and exploring nearby woods - His father died of pneumonia when Samuel was 11, so Samuel was forced to work to help the family Growing up on the River

3. Thinking Back Visualize a favorite place from your childhood. Write down as many words as you can to describe that place.

4. Looking for Adventure -Worked for his brother Orion at age 16 writing humorous articles in a newspaper - He traveled the United States, and eventually left for South America to seek fortune on the Amazon River

5. Adventure Use your brainstormed words to write about a time when you had a childhood adventure. This could be real, fiction, or a combination of the two

6. From the River to the World -Clemens sailed the Mississippi on a steamboat instead, first as a captain’s apprentice and then as a pilot - His pen name “Mark Twain” is a riverboat term that means “two fathoms deep”

7. What’s Your Pen Name? -What career would you choose? Use this to help you determine a pen name -Your pen name should relate to your future job: Example: Mark Twain = “Two fathoms deep” - Give a one sentence description explaining your pen name

8. Success and Sorrow -Twain married Olivia Langdon in 1870 - Wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn while in Connecticut - Became rich, but invested poorly and later became bankrupt -The last 15 years of his life were filled with sorrow as his wife and two children died

9. Your 8th Grade Legacy How do you want to be remembered as an 8th grader? Write a short paragraph describing how you want your teachers and other students to remember you as an 8th grader.