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Poetry: Another Way Create Shared Meaning with Kids
By Tobi Kibel Piatek | December 12, 2008
This idea is from Making Connections student Emma B. She says that the results of this activity were remarkable.
In Linda Christensen’s book , Reading, Writing, and Rising Up: Teaching About Social Justice and the Power of the Written Word , she describes a process for helping students create their own poems modeled after George Ella Lyon’s poem, “Where I Am From.” The students read the poem and discuss it. Then, they brainstorm their favorite foods, family sayings, celebrations, items found around their homes, people important to them, and places they like to visit. The brainstorming sessions can lead to rich classroom conversations and sharing.Many teachers used this poem at the beginning of each school year as a getting-to-know-you activity—with amazing results. However, this works at any time to help kids feel more connected. (Note: Try this as a way to discover how kids celebrate their holidays.)More ideas:• A sixth-grade teacher has students write “I Am From” poems in October and shares the results with family members at the fall parent-teacher conference. He says, “It took some time for parents to really feel comfortable with a new teacher with their kids. The “I Am From” poems made conversation with the parents really relaxed, because we were going over these funny things that the kids were interested in that surprised them. Sharing the poems made all the difference.”
• A high-school teacher uses the “Where I’m From” poems to get to know her students and their families.” It is such a safe way to experience poetry. Plus, it requires so much thought about what really matters in one’s life and what the things are that have truly shaped the students into the individuals they have become.”
For instructions and examples of this activity, see: Where I Am From Poem.
Topics: Creating a Positive, Culturally Competent, Recommended reading |