I AM....

As part of  a poetry lesson, English Language Learners wrote a poem titled “I AM.” The objective of this poem was to facilitate students’ exploration of their identities, their hopes and emotions. Through the four language domains of reading, writing, speaking and listening, students learned the concept of empathy, reflection and self discovery.

Students were given a poem template with sentence starters along with a description of what they should include in each line.

Next students jotted their thoughts on sticky notes so they could choose what they wanted to say when it came down to filling in their poem. This step was important because only one response could be written on each line. When students didn’t know which to choose for a particular line, they looked back at their notes and reflected what they wanted to share. In choosing only 1 thing, I gained insight into what they felt was most important.

Students create poster to accompany their poem

Finished product tells a great story about the student

Once poems were completed, they read them aloud to their classmates. Presenting to the class helped the kids gain  appreciation and respect of the diversity of their experiences, feelings, and aspirations of their classmates. It also gave them an opportunity to recognize that although they have differences, they also have many things in common.