“ I Am From” Poems: An easy, insightful homeschooling project during chaotic times
Tags: Covid Diaries, Curriculum, Homeschooling, Poetry, Parenting

Will you join my child’s origin poem project for deeper connection?

Many of us are pressed to create meaningful, alternative educational experiences for our kids this year. Some of us are seasoned homeschoolers who miss their usual outings, community involvement, and gatherings. Some of us are watching our children struggle with remote schooling and the lack of human connection. Some of us have jumped feet first into the at-home schooling experience and are still searching for the right curricula. I’ve found one project this month to be profound, engaging, and just the right level of multidisciplinary for our middle schooler: the origin poem.

I came across this genre during a diversity inclusion workshop earlier in the year when all the speakers introduced themselves and their background by presenting origin poems. They left me with profound gratitude for the power of the written and spoken word and deep appreciation for the many walks of life from which we all come.

Our kiddo likes project-based learning in manageable chunks, so here is how we proceeded. This approach can easily be adapted for any student with basic reading and writing skills and made increasingly complex for advanced learners.

Step 1: I first provided a brief explanation of the “I Am From” poems to my 13-year old son. I read him two versions — one of the most revered, original ones and a contrasting one by a teacher, found at: https://kellyhaskins.weebly.com/uploads/4/0/8/8/40884997/i_am_from_poem_templete.pdf This offers a chance to discuss Americana, economics, and lesser known poets. At the top of the document, you can also find the template we chose to use for our own poetry.

Step 2: For our second lesson chunk, we read sample poems from this site: https://www.sps186.org/downloads/attachments/44633/Where%20I%20am%20From.pdf. I chose to read these out loud to my student to help him hone his listening skills, and then we spent a lot of time discussing the details. My job as learning coach was to ask questions, such as: What impressed you most about this poem? What do you conclude about the poet? What resonates with your own identity? What’s very different from your own experiences? What feelings does this evoke? How does this poem relate to what’s happening in our community/country/world socially/politically? What can we learn about history? What raises questions for you? That document provides an additional helpful template. You can omit parts, replace parts, or use as is.

Step 3: For the next lesson, I deliberately chose this example of an origin poem: http://atypicalfamilia.com/where-im-from-poe/ I wanted my son to hear a different voice and a contrasting cultural background. This example allowed for some insightful discussion about hardships, intra-family communication, immigration, and language. We concluded this learning session with some social-emotional connections to the author. Essentially, I just asked: How does this poem make you feel? What do you think it was like to grow up in this home? What might have been the good things? What might have been the challenges? Due to the questions my son asked, we spent some time consulting maps (a little venture into geography) and online dictionaries (foreign language, anyone?) For older teenagers, I would recommend an investigation of other representative, crucial voices in American literature, such as the acclaimed and wonderfully spicy novel The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros and also Fresh Ink — An Anthology edited by Lamar Giles for “twelve label-defying stories.”

Step 4: It was then time to draft our own poems. This part, as expected, took a little nudging, so I printed out the template and let my son fill in the ideas that first came to mind. For the second and third rounds, I asked him to proofread for mistakes and edit for content in a way that would make the poem as personal and specific as it could be.

Step 5: The last step consisted of him typing up his work, making any last-minute adjustment, and formatting it. He chose not to illustrate his poem. Drawings, photos, and other creations could be a wonderful approach for kids who love to express themselves through visual arts. I then asked him to read his final version out loud to our family to practice speaking skills (insert applause), and the poem has been displayed on our fridge since. Off and on, it kindles additional family discussion about values, traditions, and our ancestors. With my son’s permission, here’s a copy of the final product.

Optional: As his mama and learning coach, I chose to accompany him on this journey and wrote my own origin poem. I cherished the opportunity to dive into family history and anecdotes and to forge a meaningful bond with my teenager.

Step 6 — is on you: If you’re open, it’s your turn. If you’re still reading this — whether you know our family or not — and feel inclined to participate in the origin poem project, regardless of your age, writing abilities, and background — please jump in headfirst. We’d love it if you would share it with us, too , when finished. This way, our poem project can take on a dimension of virtual yet deeply personal connectivity during this challenging time.

The big lesson?

Write and learn on, and most importantly, be yourself.