Self, Family, and Culture into “I” PoemsPoetry Workshop for English Language

Learners and Teachers

Mi-Hyun Chung & JungKang Miller

Faculty, Mercy College

George Ella Lyon: Writer & Teacher http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

Where I'm From 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. By George Ella Lyon (1999)

Rationale

Imitating the style of a poet while creating one’s own original work has been encouraged both in K-12 schools (e.g., Dunning & Stafford, 1992; Koch, 1980, 1990) and in higher education (e.g., Ruzich, 1999; VonBergen, 2001), in order to teach students how to write poetry and lower their anxiety about the genre. Tompkins (2008) also supports using a model poem to familiarize inexperienced writers with the structure and theme of the poem.

More importantly, poetry writing as a classroom methodology may bring back the meaningful way of learning English language to ELL students (Hanauer, 2012).

Hanauer, D. I. (2012). Meaningful literacy: Writing poetry in the language classroom. Language Teaching, 45(1), 105-115. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/S0261444810000522

Rationale, continued

We have used this method mostly in our graduate courses such as Multicultural Children’s Literature, and we have done this for several reasons.

First, through writing and sharing poems of personal memories, family or cultural history with others, we wanted the students to open up to one another and to feel a sense of community in the class (e.g. forming a mutually supportive group for ELLs). Writing and sharing poems, especially “I” poems, can be a good way to engage in conversation, exchanging reflective and critical thoughts. “I” poems or first-person narratives can be powerful because the students express their own voices, and other students can relate well to such voices (Kucan, 2007). Therefore, through this kind of exercise, learner autonomy can be promoted as students reflect on their developing identities and their sense of who they are and how they relate to the world (Kumaravadivelu, 2006).

Second, we also wanted the teachers to experience what their young students would go through when it was their turn to write. By writing themselves, the teachers become better able to understand their students’ experience (Augsburger, 1998). More specifically, as Dewey (2005) explains, we expected writing poetry to be an aesthetic experience, providing an opportunity for self-expression and appreciation by others (also see Jackson, 1998).

Finally, we hoped that by sharing their cultural heritages reflected in the poems, the teachers might become more open to multiculturalism (see Ruzich, 1999) and obtain some level of multicultural awareness. We also see this as a way of encouraging English Language Learners with diverse backgrounds to reflect on cultural practices including their own and to express their thoughts.

Steps of Writing Where I’m From Writing the Where-I’m-From poem is part of the cultural heritage project we

make the teachers in our graduate classes complete. In the cultural heritage project, we ask them to conduct a small piece of research on their own ethnicity, culture, and family history. Methods of conducting the cultural heritage research include, but are not limited to, using the internet, and formal or informal interviews with family or community members.

Based on what they learned from the research, the teachers are then told to write a poem parallel to the Where-I’m-From example. There is little guidance given to the teachers in writing the poem.

We first read aloud the poem written by George Ella Lyon, hand out a copy of it to each person, and simply ask them to write a poem following that style. But I sometimes inform them about what the poet did when she first created the poem, e.g., “I decided to see what would happen if I made my own where-I'm-from lists, which I did, in a black and white speckled composition book. I edited them into a poem” (Lyon, 2009).

After writing, the teachers share orally what they wrote with their classmates. In addition, they show the written piece to others so that they can respond to other people’s poems in writing.

This procedure can occur in small groups or in a large group, depending on the class size. Sometimes, as a conclusion to the writing process, the class selects one part from each student’s poem and combine them into one class poem that contributes to the sense of community in the class; despite our differences, we can contribute to making one community.

Where to Go, “Where I’m From”

Suggested by Lyon http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html

While you can revise (edit, extend, rearrange) your “Where I'm From” list into a poem, you can also see it as a corridor of doors opening onto further knowledge and other kinds of writing. The key is to let yourself explore these rooms. Don't rush to decide what kind of writing you're going to do or to revise or finish a piece. Let your goal be the writing itself. Learn to let it lead you. This will help you lead students, both in their own writing and in their response as readers. Look for these elements in your WIF poem and see where else they might take you: Remember, you are the expert on you. No one else sees the world as you do; no one else has your material to draw on. You don't have to know where to begin. Just start. Let it flow. Trust the work to find its own form.

Where to Go, “Where I’m From” (Continued)

a place could open into a piece of descriptive writing or a scene from memory. your parents' work could open into a memory of going with them, helping,

being in the way. Could be a remembered dialogue between your parents about work. Could be a poem made from a litany of tools they used.

an important event could open into free writing all the memories of that experience, then writing it as a scene, with description and dialogue. It's also possible to let the description become setting and directions and let the dialogue turn into a play.

food could open into a scene at the table, a character sketch of the person who prepared the food, a litany of different experiences with it, a process essay of how to make it.

music could take you to a scene where the music is playing; could provide you the chance to interleave the words of the song and words you might have said (or a narrative of what you were thinking and feeling at the time the song was first important to you (“Where I'm Singing From”).

something someone said to you could open into a scene or a poem which captures that moment; could be what you wanted to say back but never did.

a significant object could open into a sensory exploration of the object-what it felt, sounded, smelled, looked, and tasted like; then where it came from, what happened to it, a memory of your connection with it. Is there a secret or a longing connected with this object? A message? If you could go back to yourself when this object was important to you, what would you ask, tell, or give yourself?

Sample… I am from the staircase,That cradled me as I cried when my mom left every morning.

I am from the housecoat,Blue cotton and soft slippers my grandmother wore

I am scented with the smell of bacon,Greasy from the fried chickenSticky from the dripping ice popsCleaned off by the swipe of my pink washcloth

I am molded by the cement of my foundationOf my blue house with the iron fence that comforted me

I am strong like the pillars surrounding the front porch That allowed me to sit on it with family.I am as consistent of the porch light that was put on Every evening when the street lights came on

I am as sweet and ripe as the pear treeThat appeared every summer

I am as strong a woman As the baritone of my grandfathers voiceI am as seasonal as the baseball game That was on the television each year...

I am as filled as the cup that held grease after cooking,As normal as the fly swatter on the counterAs irrational as all four of us crowding into bed when space was available...

I am me because where I am from is all around me.I am me based on the environment that encased meI am me simply because this is where I am from…

Sample (Parts)…

I am from marches and posters

“Impeach Nixon Now” and

“Veterans Against the War.”

(When Daddy wore his ugly green jacket and hat)

I am from my stuffed gray elephant named Watergate.

Sample (Parts)… I am from ancient scrolls

Of parchment yellowed by age

Black inked letters

Dance across the pages

Alive today as

They were then

…

I come from every land you are from

I have been there

I have endured the tortures of the evil

The vile curses of villains

Who sought to destroy

All that I have stood for

…

…I come from some glowing embers

Amidst the ashes

Of many fires

Who sparked their

Faith and hope in

A kind and loving G-d

And ignited once more

A torch of pride

A large and growing nation

To pass on

For the future

Sample (Parts)…

I’m from rice and curry,

From hot summer walks with no shoes

So that my feet burned.

I’m from mangos, guavas and papayas

And hating apples because I ate too many.

I’m from being impatience and procrastination.

I’m from a melting pot of Christianity, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam.

Sample (Parts)…

I am from espresso and shamrocks. I have dark olive skin but long golden locks.I am Sunday mass and soda bread, dry, But I am also Independency Day and hot apple pie.  I am roasted peppers and tomatoes jarred for the year. I am the St. Patrick’s Day Parade that brings lots of cheer. Dad’s side is from Italy, Mom from Ireland. I am a little of both and plenty American.

I am strong and bold, yet timid and shy.

I am a person where many contradictions apply.

I am feisty, impatient, nurturing, and sweet.

I am a teacher, a wife, a friend, another face on the street.

 

A woman of thirty; not quite old,

Yet plenty of adventures and many stories told.

Proud of who I am and where I have been.

Concluding Words

We asked the teachers in our graduate classes to write the poem in the hope that they would invite their students to do the same. It is well argued that it is important for a teacher to write regularly. Teachers who write can help students in writing because they understand the hardships and the rewards of writing and, hence, can guide their student through the process of writing by sharing their experiences, teaching the value of writing, offering useful feedback, and providing a supportive community for writers (Augsburger, 1998).

Imitating poems are widely accepted writing practices in schools. Through this kind of less-intimidating experience, we expect teachers and students alike to overcome the anxiety of writing a poem or the dislike of the poetry genre itself, and to realize that they could be poets themselves. We believe that many teachers in my classes indeed overcame the anxiety about writing poetry and could enjoy teaching the genre of poetry to younger students. As one teacher remarked: “Thank you professor, for the agreement and the comment on my poem. This month I will be beginning a unit on poetry along with the 3rd grade bilingual teacher….It will be fun and thanks to this course, I am able to feel more comfortable instead of feeling it [teaching poetry] being a chore!”