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Week 3: What Are You Really Writing About? Discovering the Inside Story
After reading chapter 3 of this mentor text, Dorfman and Cappelli wrote about how students needed to discover their own territories. I felt this related to heart maps which were brought up later in the text, but a different way to bring them up! Heart maps Ihave learned are essential I feel like! Students can use these heart maps they created to always go back to if they get stuck. During one of my previous internships, students got the chance to create their heart map during the first week of school. The teacher always reminded them that if they had free time, they could always write about something in their heart map. Another important topic I read about in chapter 3 of this text was about, The Point Versus the Topic. "Consider taking a few moments to pause and guide students in thinking not just about the topic but also about the point that is being made" (Dorfman and Cappelli, 61). I thought this was so important because this helps students learn about the author's purpose!
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 -- leaf-fall from the family tree.
My Where I'm From Poem!
I am from porch's
I am from big hills and non-grassy yards
(sweet, quiet, and homey)
it looks worn, but new
I am from cactuses
the sunflowers
(pretty and bright)
I am from the card games and obnoxious family holidays
from Toni and Tony
and Tony
I'm from the camping loving and celebrating family
​
From to be nice and loving
I'm from Asheville, NC
(burgers and pizza)
from the jokes my mom thinks are funny
the stubborness of my little sister
from the framed pictures hanging in the den
I am from the crazy, fun-loving family
Shortcut, by Donald Crews is a beautiful book about 7 kids who decided to take a shortcut to get home instead of walking along the road. Trouble soon hit them though while they took this "shortcut" by the train tracks. This shows that no matter what, a shortcut may lead to more trouble and pain!
Important Resources!
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Dorfman, Lynne R, and Rose Cappelli. Mentor Texts Teaching Writing Through Children's Literature, K-6. 2nd ed., Strenhouse Publishers, 2017.
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Crew, Donald. Shortcut. Mulberry, 1992.
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