1. WARM-UP
Complete the “Where I’m From” pre-writing handout. Answer all the questions as FULLY as possible.

2. “Where I’m From” Language: Identity & Culture
EQ: Who am I? How can I write a narrative text that expresses who I am?
Standard: Write NARRATIVES to develop real and imagined personal experiences.
*What kind of writing is NARRATIVE?

3. “Where I’m From”
Today you’re doing a rough draft. Use your pre-writing, as well as the warm-up from Friday, to help you.
You may use the template provided or take the poem in your own direction. (If you don’t use the template, the length must be the same.)
Focus on using IMAGERY and SENSORY DETAILS – your reader should see what you see, smell what you smell, feel what you feel, etc.

4. “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyons
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.

5. “Where I’m From”
I am from thick blonde hair From health food and organic everything's I am from free Irish and Spanish spirits (who taught me how to become an individual) i am from candle sticks being thrown into doors From loving and hating my sister fighting, screaming and carrying her up the stairs as if it were yesterday I am from death metal from guitars, double bass, and growls I am from "Let's get stoned!" to "no, i quit" from gauged ears and rainbow hair I am from love, gay pride and acceptance from tattoos, blood and gore
I am from Oregon and New Mexico From Portland to Taos from painful divorces and strength (I will never forget that day)
I am from headbanging and screaming From long hair and walls of death I am from experience and ignorance From crying for hours and partying until the break of dawn
I am from photographs, videos, and memories Of long lost friends, new friends, and the family i will always have.

6. “Where I’m From”
I am from a breakfast, where the bacon and sausage was previously raised in the backyard, and the scrambled or sometimes fried eggs had just been gathered earlier in the week . And homemade biscuits, not from a can. And isn’t complete without a glass of sweet tea, the southern style. I am from a family: Dad that feeds all the domestic animals And hunts wildlife for our own consumption. Mom who works her 7-3 job , and cleans, does laundry, and prepares the meals. Two brothers, Michael and Matthew, to wrestle with, usually against my will. To play games with or whatnot in our empty time; Them making me into what I am today. Grandparents that have been through a lot, but never letting it show , and their still continue to move forward attitude I, myself, feeling closer to them than to my own mother and father.
I am from the beautiful southwestern Virginia, where no matter what direction you look toward, it’s just as amazing as the other.
Where during the fall the leaves change color, and drop from the trees creating an array of beauty.  Taking drives along the Blue Ridge Parkway, just to stop and take in the glory, or play a game of Frisbee. A town so small that gossip goes around , where there is always someone in your business. From the waterfall, where we would skip school  to be astonished by the movement of water. I am from  A place that no matter how hard one tries,  They can never take it away from ME  Because it has grown to be a part of who I am  And that cannot be erased. I am from Carroll County, Virginia.

7. Final DrafT Instructions
Your final draft must be published in ink (handwritten in blue or black, or typed).
Your final draft must be illustrated in some way, to represent what you wrote about.
Your final draft is due on FRIDAY, 1/24.
You will receive two grades: 1) Writing,
2) Speaking/Listening (circle reading).