How does exploring stories and other texts help us understand ourselves and make connections to others?
- How do we form and shape our identities?
- How can we use key moments experiences in our own lives to create a personal narrative?
- What do we reveal about our own identity by telling our own story?
- What is revealed about someone through story?
In this 'All About Me' unit students will begin the year by telling their own story. We will explore the power of descriptive writing in the 'Where I'm From' poem, Identity Portraits or Boxes, and a personal memoir.
Getting Started . . . Let's learn about identity
Activity One: My Name by Sandra Cisneros
Activity Two: Identity
In groups come up with a list of how you would define identity.
Activity One: My Name by Sandra Cisneros
- Read "My Name" by Sandra Cisneros
- In groups you will answer the following question:
- What does she think about her name? What does this reveal about her character?
- Class discussion
Activity Two: Identity
In groups come up with a list of how you would define identity.
- What is identity?
- How do we define ourselves?
- How are we defined by others?
Activity Three: Identity Web
Writing Journal: Create an identity web that shows a number of important things about yourself. We all have 'external' and 'internal' factors that make us who we are.
External factors can include:
Internal factors can include:
Writing Journal: Once you have completed your 'Identity Web' look it over and answer:
Writing Journal: Create an identity web that shows a number of important things about yourself. We all have 'external' and 'internal' factors that make us who we are.
External factors can include:
- Age
- Gender
- Physical Characteristics
- Background (Race, Nationality, Hometown, Place of Birth)
- Hobbies and Interests
Internal factors can include:
- Relationships with family, friends and members of the community
- My feelings about myself
- Personality traits (e.g. quiet, hardworking, caring)
- Cultural background
- Hobbies and interests
- Experiences
Writing Journal: Once you have completed your 'Identity Web' look it over and answer:
- What parts of your identity are most important to you? Why are they important to you?
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"Hands" by Sarah Kay
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The Original "Where I'm From" Poem
Written 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. |
Activity Four: Line By Line
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