Read the following poem to students before assigning the I Am From poem.
Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush the Dutch elm whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.
I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded -- leaf-fall from the family tree.
Where I'm From by George Ella Lyon
I am from clothespins,
from Clorox and carbon-tetrachloride.
I am from the dirt under the back porch.
(Black, glistening, it tasted like beets.)
I am from the forsythia bush the Dutch elm whose long-gone limbs I remember as if they were my own.
I'm from fudge and eyeglasses,
from Imogene and Alafair.
I'm from the know-it-alls and the pass-it-ons,
from Perk up! and Pipe down!
I'm from He restoreth my soul with a cottonball lamb
and ten verses I can say myself.
I'm from Artemus and Billie's Branch,
fried corn and strong coffee.
From the finger my grandfather lost to the auger,
the eye my father shut to keep his sight.
Under my bed was a dress box spilling old pictures,
a sift of lost faces to drift beneath my dreams.
I am from those moments-- snapped before I budded -- leaf-fall from the family tree.
The point of this assignment is to encourage students to think about how their culture differs from their friends' cultures, despite the fact that we all live in the same area. It will give students a chance to learn a bit more about one another, as well as to learn more about themselves.
When students have typed and printed out their own poem, instruct them to use markers, crayons, or colored pencils to decorate their paper.
Below is the rubric that will be used to grade the students' poems:
When students have typed and printed out their own poem, instruct them to use markers, crayons, or colored pencils to decorate their paper.
Below is the rubric that will be used to grade the students' poems: