Poetry 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 selfexpression 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'mfrom 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 chicken
Sticky from the dripping ice pops
Cleaned off by the swipe of my pink washcloth
I am molded by the cement of my foundation
Of 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 tree
That appeared every summer
I am as strong a woman
As the baritone of my grandfathers voice
I 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 counter
As 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 me
I 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
…I come from some glowing embers
Dance across the pages
Amidst the ashes
Alive today as
Of many fires
They were then
Who sparked their
…
Faith and hope in
I come from every land you are from
A kind and loving G-d
I have been there
And ignited once more
I have endured the tortures of the evil
A torch of pride
The vile curses of villains
A large and growing nation
Who sought to destroy
To pass on
All that I have stood for
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!”