Slide 1

Slide 2 Where Im From Poems A reflective and lyrical look at your past Slide 3 What Works Introduces poetry or creative writing about the self Provides models for students to mimic or use as an outlinestudents learn through imitation and following a safe skeletal structure Can introduce social and ethnic diversity in a classroom (understand and respect differences and value similarities) Slide 4 Great way to learn more about students and what they bring into the classroom Helps students with writing apprehension to begin to get some personal ideas down on paper Allows students to share both who they are and where they come from Slide 5 A Model of Where Im From Slide 6 Prompts to get you started List things you remember from around your house as a child Slide 7 List things found in your neighborhood (or relatively nearby your house) when you were young. Slide 8 List things found in your yard as a child. Slide 9 List names of relatives (these can be nicknames, pet names, things only you called them, etc.). Slide 10 List old family sayings or sayings you remember from childhood. Slide 11 List foods you remember from your youth (maybe these bring back happy memories, or maybe these are foods you only got at certain relatives houses). Slide 12 List the places you kept your childhood memories (secret hiding places, places that werent so secret, just places to store important items, etc.). Slide 13 List anything else you can remember from your childhood that stands out. Slide 14 My Where Im From Poem Where Im From I am from shag carpets That beg to be laid upon From matchbox cars and broken-in furniture To pass the lazy days of summer. I am from tomato plants Spilling red across the yard From tobacco fields Where character was born. I am from dirt roads and general stores And small town southern life From next-door neighbors Too far away to see. I am from Uncle Brother Whose name always confused me From Sawyer family reunions And country folk gettin dressed up. I am from Rise n Shine Too early every morning From Ill give you something to cry about And following through if you called their bluff. I am from spaghetti and french fries Which only made sense to us From vegetable soup Thatll cure anything that ails ya I am from photo albums Documenting life From boxes in the attic That prove I was here. I am from love A kind unparalleled From pride and thanks In knowing where Im from. ~Michael Cook Slide 15 The Where Im From Poem Works Well With Elementary Students As Well Slide 16 The Where Im From Poem Can Even Be Found In Country Music Slide 17 Time to Write!! Use your responses to the prompts and compose your own Where Im From Poem Feel free to use either George Ella Lyons poem or mine as a model to follow. You may also go your own route if you feel so inspired. Other things to keep in mind: Slide 18 A few excerpts from my own students. This always turns out to be an interesting and learning experience. Where Im FromWhere Im from Couples argue late at nighttheres a part called nigga city Kids walk around and start fightsmen and teenage boys sell drugs Strays whine and bark all nightpeople call themselves thugs Where Im fromwhere Im from ~Zaiquian Im from a place where tractorswhere turkey and hog houses Replace luxurious vehiclesare the nice, refreshing fragrance Where double-wides are betteryou wake up to Than mansionswhere duct tape and gorilla glue Where ponds are not onlyare the sure fix for anything Used for fishing, but for swimming ~Haley Slide 19 Def Poetry Jam Even Has Its Own Version Of The Where Im From Poem Slide 20 Literature supporting the Where Im From Poem: Bigelow, Bill et al., Rethinking Our Classrooms: Teaching for Equity and Justice. Milwaukee, WI: Rethinking Schools, 1994, pp. 4-5. Blum, Joshua, Holman, Bob & Pelington, Mark (Eds.). The United States of Poetry. New York: Harry N. Adams, 1996. Christensen, Linda (2008). Where Im From: Inviting Students Lives into the Classroom. Rethinking Schools, 12(2), pp. 22-23. Handouts of the Christensen article have been provided.