Formats for 2007 Poetry Project

The third week's poetry format is a new one. When I post this on the website, I cannot include the poem from George Ella Lyons, because I don't have permission to publish it on the web, even for this purpose. This is an article that might be helpful to read before doing week #3's format. This article is specifically about 8th graders, but I think the same kind of teaching works well with primary, and is the kind of thing I have done in the past.

NWP

I came across the idea on a friend's blog. I think it will be loved by some children, and difficult for others. That's why the format can be very open ended. To stay true to the theme of this poem, I think one only has to think about things that defined who one is. For a girl growing up in the 50s, it might be Dick and Jane readers, curly perms, piano lessons, Howdy Doody on the radio, milk at the door, peddlers sharpening knives and selling needles, and the Korean War. Whenever we grow up, there are definite icons of that time.

Helping students to define the things that have influenced them is really a matter of guiding a discussion about what they remember from earlier years, and family is a big part of that. You may have children from family situations that are less than perfect. Try to encourage them to think about their favorite things from earlier years - flavors of ice cream to colors of crayons. These don't have to be "happy" poems, and for some children, they might not be. You know your children best, and where to lead them in this discussion.

The ending is the trickiest part of this poem. The last stanza would have been fine without the final three lines, but the definitely add something. Help your children find the best line for the ending. This is a poem where lines can be shifted around and the poem will not suffer for it. This is definitely a poem that will benefit from revision. I revised mine several times, and used the thesaurus!

"Where I'm From" appears in George Ella Lyon's Where I'm From, Where Poems Come From, a poetry workshop-book for teachers and students, illustrated with photographs by Robert Hoskins and published by Absey & Co, Spring, Texas, 1999. The book can be purchased here. George Ella Lyons is an Appalachian author and poet with a long list of children's books to her credit.

Each of us is from a place that is more than a dot on the map. Every experience that we can recall has left its mark on who we are. Nobody is from Clorox, but can't you smell the laundry room at the poet's house as a little girl?

Read Where I'm From. Then, write your own version-- where you're from. There's a format at the end of this message, obviously meant for older children. However, I don't see why younger children couldn't do a version of this. Just reading some examples to them may help them get started. Brainstorm some things which your children might use as a jumping off place, such as product names, plants, kinds of food, personality traits, aphorisms, etc. Have children think about things their parents always say, oral history in the family, traditions the family has, places they've lived.

The poem does *not* have to include all the things in the format.

Here are a couple of examples from me.

I am from crab grass,
Green clippings begged from neighbors.
Planted and watered, tended
To make a lawn.
I am from coleus, fuschia and emerald,
From coxcomb, fuzzy and ticklish,
From zennias in the middle and
Hollyhocks in the back.

I am from Sunday School in pinafores,
From black patent Mary Janes,
From the Old Rugged Cross,
And Praise the Lord, Amen.
I am from Sunday solos in quavery voice,
From Vacation Bible School verses,
Learned and rewarded with plaster fruit,
And a zippered White Bible from Mama.

I am from Spic and Span,
From white gloves,
From scrub brushes
Used on hands and knees.
I am from the lumber business
And the bullwhip that cracked.
I am from a smoke house that burned
Taking everything with it.

I am from grandparents
Married in Mena, Arkansas,
From parents married in Texas
And buried there, too.
I am from sisters who were beautiful
When I wasn't,
And from brothers who were tall
To my short.

I am from farmers and lumbermen,
From native people and voyagers,
From canners and quilters,
And hard workers.
I am from memories and visions,
From Irish and Scots.
I am fulfillment
Of immigrant dreams.

Susan Nixon, March 21, 2008

Here's the sample from my friend's blog. She gave me permission to use it. You can see that she sticks to one influence in her life - sewing.

I am from spools of thread, from Singer and bobbins.
I am from the organized chaos of journals.
I am from cotton, linen, clothes and the store.
I am from looms and knitting, from mother and grandmothers and aunts.
I am from traditional and experimental, from patchwork and applique.
I am from functional utility, necessity and thriftiness.
I'm from creative urgency, needles and pins.
From quilting bee, the bunkhouse, and the feed sack dress.
I am from the closet, the cedar chest, the bed. . . .

Donna Royer

Simpler version:

I am from ham and sweet potatoes,
From pineapple cheesecake,
And chocolate bunnies
With no ears.

I am from California
From the mountains and the trees,
And the icy lakes
Filled with fish.

Susan Nixon, March 21, 2008

Longer version (don't think it has to be followed perfectly!)

I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.

I am from the _______ (home description... adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)

I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).

I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).

From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I'm from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

This is a borrowed idea, not mine, but a great idea to get students moving into more of the heart zone of poetry. You might be surprised what you find as you rummage around in those dusty old trunks--your personality, your family history and traits, and the places you've called home--as you complete the poem with your own memories and facts.

Shorter version:

I am from ( favorite foods)
From (favorite dessert)
And (favorite other treat)
(Something about that treat).

I am from (state where born)
From (two things about the state)
And (third thing about the state)
(Something about that third thing).

You can see that you could make additional verses like this in other categories, if children wanted to.