Ongoing business/announcements Fast food essays Lots of missing electronic copies and hard copies. Yikes! Please remedy this asap! Check Q to see your status (turned in completed, incomplete, or not turned in at all) Share with meghan.zero@venturaedu.org Remember when working from home on Google Drive – if you click the “+” icon, you’ll get to Google Plus, and it’ll seem like you’re “not permitted” to use Google Drive on that computer. It’s not true – you’re just not really in Google Drive. Go back to www.google.com, click the apps button, and try it again. TKAM quizzes this week: Chapter 7-9 tomorrow, Chapters 10+11 Thursday. Makeups of any quiz so far today and tomorrow at lunch First TKAM socratic seminar is also on Thursday! Chapters 1-11; the five prep questions cover all 11 chapters (no need to answer them for each chapter)

Where I’m From Creative writing! YAY! 

What we’re doing Writing poetry! Using decision-making skills in word choice and detail selection to communicate an experience to an audience Learning about ourselves and others through perspective and point of view

Why we’re doing it This is your chance to show me what you know about characterization and setting so far in To Kill a Mockingbird I *could* have you write a formal literary analysis of these things, but let’s practice analyzing these literary devices using a more creative approach

Step 1: The Model Text Not good at poetry? You don’t have to be. We’re writing “copy changes” today Poetry where you take someone else’s forms and inject your own ideas Finished product might look like the original, but it might not, and that’s ok.

“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon 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.

Step 2: Brainstorming Using your chart of questions, spend about 6 minutes brainstorming some answers to each of the questions Record them in the “My answers” column; bullet points are fine Work individually for now

Step 3: Draft your poem Looking back at your list of brainstormed details, find places to fit these into the poem structure laid out by George Ella Lyon Write this draft in the next empty space in your journal Basic level: fill in the blanks, matching Lyon’s lines one-for-one One step beyond: follow the general format, but put your own spin on the order of the details, line length, etc.

Where I’m From by Ms. Zero, borrowed from George Ella Lyon I am from a purple lava lamp from a pool with a slide and animal hair everywhere. I am from the long brick driveway that confuses visitors (I ran into a lamppost in the 2000 Blue Camry, sixteen and newly licensed.) I am from Mom’s rose garden and the freesias in early spring whose smell knocks me over, even now, in buckets at the farmer’s market. I’m from Little House on the Prairie at bedtime and Arthur’s for breakfast from Lindsey and Merlin and Darla and Mergim and Mera and too many dogs, cats, and fish to name. I’m from endless Home Depot trips and kissing the Pismo clam and from 7 am mariachi wakeup calls on Sundays. I’m from “here’s a pearl of wisdom” and “let’s go junking” and “take an Advil; it’ll take the edge off.” I’m from funerals presided over by an imam and wailing women in headscarves. I’m from Southern California and a village in Albania and Mom’s orange scones and Grandma’s baklava from Dad’s BB gun accident, shot in his right eye by my uncle so we always have to sit on the right side at the movies. In a shoebox under my bed rested lucky charms collected rocks and Princess Di newspaper clippings the program from Alex’s memorial service and an infrequently played guitar. I am from those memories stored on a high shelf guarded by an army of plastic ponies. 1st stanza: objects in the house I grew up in and the memories/associations they bring up 2nd stanza: family references – traditions, sayings/beliefs/quotes, family members (humans, pets, alive or not) 3rd stanza: “Further back” family stuff – ancestors, locations, family members’ memories 4th stanza: More objects in my house and the significance they provide to me now (obsessions/hobbies when I was younger, mementos, etc.)

Step 4: Share your first draft Share your poem with your journal partner(s). This is personal stuff, so feel free to leave out a line or two if you’re not ready to share it Partners: tell the author Your favorite part/line The phrase/line you want to know more about

Step 5: TKAM-ify! Choose a character whose point of view you’d like to explore some more: Scout, Jem, Dill, Atticus, Calpurnia, Miss Caroline, Miss Maudie, Walter Cunningham, Burris Ewell, etc. Repeat the process, working individually for now: Brainstorm new details on your chart Create a new poem *One caveat* - try to rely on specific details from the poem, but you may need to conjecture or infer details about what this character’s backstory includes. Walk in their shoes!

A few hints… What details do the setting suggest for your poem? Maycomb, Alabama Southern US 1930’s/Great Depression What details of characterization could make it into your poem? Gender roles Racial divides Young versus old

What do we do with our drafts? Save them! Due for a homework stamp on this Wednesday, 3/18 We’ll type them in the lab (along with our literacy narratives from last Thursday) on NEXT Wednesday, 3/25 Be ready to share the results for a bit of extra credit on our open-mic author’s chair day on Thursday, 3/26