Written on June 8, 2007 at 11:57 am by SusieJ

I Am From: Through the Eyes of Children

Filed under blog, clean, holidays {13 comments}

You can read this I Am From Poem here, and your can follow the guidelines below to create your own.

So what if it’s the last week of school — they think they’re home free!! Mini-Mall is over. The Egg Drop Done. But they’re not getting out that easy!! We give them one last writing assignment: Turn George Ella Lyon’s Poem, you know the one, I Am From, into their own good-bye to Elementary School.
Here are some excerpts:

I Am From the Pink Pearl Erasers and Oriole Pencils,
I am from the Chautauquas and Pods
I Am from blacktop only on rainy days, and the Barrington Rock
I am from the Bobcat, the fish tank, the Buckeye Tree, and the Ash Tree
I am from rooms that are too hot, and rooms that are too cold
I am from Tuesday’s Donato’s Pizza, and Friday’s Bosco Sticks
I am from Mini-Mall, and from the Principal’s “Make it A Great Day,” and “Please Pull All the Way Up.”
I am from Kids for Critters, and the “Student Staff Basketball Game”, and “Wacky Wednesday.”
I am from the Golden Rule and Warm Fuzzies
I am from the School Newspaper, “The Times,” and the backpack where I keep my Journal.
I am ready for Jones.

You can write your own version of George Ella Lyon’s poem. Follow these instructions:

I am from _______ (specific ordinary item), from _______ (product name) and _______.
I am from the _______ (home description… adjective, adjective, sensory detail).

I am from the _______ (plant, flower, natural item), the _______ (plant, flower, natural detail)

I am from _______ (family tradition) and _______ (family trait), from _______ (name of family member) and _______ (another family name) and _______ (family name).

I am from the _______ (description of family tendency) and _______ (another one).

From _______ (something you were told as a child) and _______ (another).

I am from (representation of religion, or lack of it). Further description.

I’m from _______ (place of birth and family ancestry), _______ (two food items representing your family).

From the _______ (specific family story about a specific person and detail), the _______ (another detail, and the _______ (another detail about another family member).

I am from _______ (location of family pictures, mementos, archives and several more lines indicating their worth).

13 Comments

Gift of Green says:

June 8, 2007 at 11:10 pm

Gosh, I just love I Am From. That was the first piece I read of yours and it made me an ever-lasting fan.
Carpet Tiles says:

December 3, 2010 at 1:47 pm

last time, i joined a writing contests on the internet and i won a small price for writing a nice piece of writing “:*

Life is Good, Life is Great - susiej says:

June 10, 2007 at 9:22 am

[...] a ceremony.) Before they left elementary school, they wrote their very own, I Am From Poems, and I share them here. And, you can watch a you tube video of the balloon arc, that took 4 hours to make, with not enough [...]
bleedingespresso.com » where i’m from (inspired by george ella lyon) says:

March 28, 2008 at 1:20 am

[...] reading my thoughts below, do yourself, your well-being, and everyone around you a favor and use this form to guide you in writing something of your [...]
Lulu’s Laundry Blog » Blog Archive » Thatâ€™s Where I Come From says:

April 4, 2008 at 12:13 am

[...] you can arrange into a poem of your own.Â And like Bleeding Espresso, I used the poem format that SusieJ so kindly offered up to create my own [...]
Where I am From | My Bella Vita says:

April 30, 2008 at 3:01 am

[...] wrote a poemÂ modeled after George Ella Lyon’s, “Where I am From.” She included a form you can use to collect your own thoughts, and finding myself in a momentarily ambitious state, and [...]
I am from — Susiej says:

June 9, 2009 at 9:07 am

[...] I WON! The George Ella Lyons I Am From Writing contest. For instructions for writing your own George Ella Lyon poem, read here: [...]
control de flotas says:

October 30, 2011 at 11:48 pm

Promoting your website…

Way too many organizations really don’t spend on website marketing not to mention advertising campaign so one can clear up open conflict along with fabrications from a number of people….
I’m from… « A Room of One's Own says:

April 12, 2012 at 12:30 pm

[...] like this today at Tales From the Reading Room. She got it from Charlotte’s Web, who saw it at Susie J’s blog back in 2007, where I believe this originated. I wasn’t blogging back in 2007, so I thought I’d [...]
TSS: I’m From « Prescription: Reading says:

April 15, 2012 at 9:46 am

[...] Own. She saw it at Tales From the Reading Room, who got it from Charlotte’s Web, who saw it at Susie J’s blog back in 2007, where I believe this originated. I loved reading Jillian’s, and couldn’t [...]
Blackjack « My other book is a Tolstoy says:

April 21, 2012 at 9:20 pm

[...] Own, who saw it at Tales From the Reading Room, who saw it at Charlotte’s Web, who saw it at Susie J’s blog. Share this:TwitterFacebookLike this:LikeBe the first to like this [...]
My Weekly Writing Wish for You « dodging commas says:

May 11, 2012 at 2:26 am

[...] enjoyed. At my mother’s request, I went through the lovely connections all the way back to the original “how to write an ‘I am from’ poem” and promptly did so … Since then, there has been serious contemplation around where I am from [...]
“I Am From…” « Love The Bad Guy says:

May 29, 2012 at 8:50 pm

[...] of these talented ladies wrote a poem using the “I am from” format they found on Susie J’s Blog, who provided the basic [...]