WHERE I'M FROM

At the in-service tonight, we started off the section Memoir unit of study with a poem by George Ella Lyon called: "Where I'm From". We then had all of the participants write their own poem, using hers as a mentor text, and then share them. This is a way they could start off their Units of Study in their classrooms. Here is mine:

I am from cornfields, from Coca-Cola and graham crackers. I am from country roads. Homemade, plaid skirts; the sound of trains in the distance. I am from the peony bushes in Grandma's backyard growing tall in the Spring but cut down soon after they bloom. I'm from popcorn on Sunday night and "You've got to hold your mouth right", from Ida Mae and Jim. I'm from sharing my Lima beans with the dog under the table and playing badminton in the front yard. From "finish all your dinner before you leave the table" and "you have to tell your sister you're sorry". I'm from spending all day Sunday in church and Violet teaching us about Winky Bear in Jr. Church. I'm from Irish roots, From potato soup and red velvet cake. From the time Joanie spilled the "grunt" water when she spent the summer with Grandma. The hot pot pies Dale and I ate for lunch at Grandma's house.

I'm from all the family pictures spilling out of boxes under my bed waiting to be mounted into albums representing my family tree.