Where I’m From Poems

ReNEW Therapeutic Program
Multiple Grade Levels
Ms. Mia & Mr. Robertson & Coach

You’re a poet and now WE ALL KNOW IT! Sometimes, poetry can feel like a difficult art-form to access but it can be such a powerful tool for personal expression. After reading and listening to poetry from George Ella Lyon, students and teachers in Mr. Robertson’s class got to know each other and build community through sharing about all of the things that make them the full and unique individuals they are today. Closing our eyes, and using multiple senses to access our memories of the places we call home, we used the prompts below (and more) to create lists:

• What do you see? Your room? A favorite place to sit or hide? A picture or stuffed animal?

• What do you smell and taste? A special family recipe? A smelly pet?

• What do you hear? Rain on the roof? Someone calling you to dinner?

To remove writing as a barrier to poetic participation, we had templates available in fun and interesting fonts that students could insert into their personal art-journals. When we created our lists to populate our poems, students were able to write (in any language) OR draw their responses and we then used our lists to fill in our template by cutting and pasting our words and symbols directly into their poems. Students could choose to get on the ‘open mic’ to read their own poems or ask that someone else read it for them.

“I am from gumbo and <drawing of mom>”

“I am from cupcakes and a brown belt in karate”

“I am from the old couch on the porch and a screen door slamming shut behind me”

(Excerpts from E, J, and M)