Where I’m FromBy: Melody Wolen

Experience:

This poem is about me and “Where I’m From,” not necessarily in the literal geographical sense. It

also includes my memories and the people that have helped to make me who I am today. This poem is

based off an example we read in class, “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon. I went through, analyzed

the example poem, and used a similar layout to create my poem. As I developed my written piece using

the writing process, I chose to add more detail and voice than the example poem, which is what truly

makes it mine.

Prewriting:

Drafting:

(Draft 1)

(Draft 2)

Where I’m FromBy: Melody Wolen

I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From “hang this to dry” and “you know how to do this”

I am from carefully planted grass.(summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)I am from my popular tree I raised from a twig

And our one row of nurtured pine trees.From acres of sagebrush and cacti, endless heat.

I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“here’s a book you’ll like”

From Megan and Jim. I’m from the try-too-hards

And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”

And “Independent problem solving.”

I’m from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.I’m from long hot summers

And cool blue watersAnd millions of family dinners.

I’m from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.

From the arthritis that slows my Grampa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.

Broken promises, with rays of hope, brave women,And loving men.

In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,

And family found.Of the first guy to say “I love you”

Who actually meant it.Puppy from my childhood, now gone.

I am these moments and memories.I am the future.

Sharing:

Revising:

Editing:

Where I’mI am FromBy: Melody Wolen

I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From, “Hhang this to dry.” Aand, “Yyou can do this too.”

I am from carefully planted grass.(summersSummers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)

I am from my popular tree I raised from a twigAnd our one row of nurtured pine trees,

I hauled endless buckets of precious waterFrom acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.

I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“here’sHere’s a book you’ll like”

From Megan and Jim. I’mI am from the try-too-hards

And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”

And “Independent problem solving.”

I’mI am from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.

I’mI am from long hot summersAnd cool blue waters

And millions of family dinners.

I am from dog kisses and warm fur,From endless walks and chewed sticks.

Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.

Precious moments I won’twill not ever forget.

I’mI am from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.

From the arthritisarthritis, that slows my Grandpa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.

Country music,music and long drives with the windows down.

Broken promises, with rays of hope, brave women,And the men that love them.

In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,

And family found.Of the first guy to saysay, “I love you”

Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.

I am the future.

Publishing:Where I am From

By: Melody Wolen

I am from neatly sorted piles folded with care,From, “Hang this to dry.” And, “You can do this too.”

I am from carefully planted grass.(Summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)I am from my popular tree I raised from a twig

And our one row of nurtured pine trees, I hauled endless buckets of precious water.

From acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.

I’m from chocolate when you’re sad and“Here’s a book you’ll like”

From Megan and Jim. I am from the try-too-hards

And the over-achievers,From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”

And “Independent problem solving.”

I am from lazy Sunday mornings, And books that are my bible.I am from long hot summers

And cool blue watersAnd millions of family dinners.

I am from dog kisses and warm fur,From endless walks and chewed sticks.

Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.

Precious moments I will not ever forget.

I am from the Okanogan Valley and Tonasket.Delicious pizza and my Dad’s baking.

From the arthritis, that slows my Grandpa’s painting.And the small town where everyone gossips.

Country music and long drives with the windows down.

Broken promises, with rays of hope. Brave women,

And the men that love them.

In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,

And family found.Of the first guy to say, “I love you”

Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.

I am the future.

Assessing:Ideas:

I would score myself as a six for ideas. My poem is focused on, “Where I’m From,” and I

maintained this main focus throughout the entire piece. My goal with writing this poem was to allow the

reader to understand what it is that makes me who I am, based on my memories and my experiences. With

my poem, I believe I successfully, “took readers on a journey of understanding,” (Spandel, 13). Another

strong component of this trait that I utilized was that of imagery. I used vivid details throughout the poem

to reinforce my main idea:

“I am from my popular tree I raised from a twigAnd our one row of nurtured pine trees,

I hauled endless buckets of precious waterFrom acres of sagebrush, cacti, and endless heat.”

Vivid, significant descriptions such as this one are what made my poem stand out, and helped the reader

to mentally picture my writing.

Organization:

I gave myself a six for organization. Both my introduction and my conclusion were provocative

and satisfying. Especially my conclusion, I purposefully ended my poem with a strong message to keep

the reader hooked:

“I am these moments and memories.I am the future.”

By leaving readers with a gratifying conclusion, I hoped to make my poem one that readers would not

soon forget. My introduction is somewhat mysterious; I start the poem with an abstract description of

laundry. By doing this I introduce my readers into my life and where I am from without explicitly saying

what I am doing.

My goal with this poem was to create a structure that would guide readers through my life. I believe I

have succeeded at doing this. Overall, my poem has seven stanzas, there is no organized rhyming

structure, but I do not believe that detracts from my organization. Each stanza builds upon on the one

before, until finally the reader has a clear picture of where it is I am from and how it has influenced who I

am today.

Voice:

I feel, as though voice was my strongest trait in this poem, I would give myself a six. When I

shared my poem, I had very positive reactions from my readers. I tried to utilize different senses so that I

would pull the reader into the poem:

“(Summers of hauling dirt, I still taste the sand)”

This poem truly mirrors my innermost thoughts and feelings. I tried to pick scenes and memories that

evoked strong emotions when I thought of them. My intention was to write with a passion that the reader

could feel, and I see myself as succeeding in that goal. I see this poem as being a piece of writing that

would make a good read aloud.

Word Choice:

For the trait of word choice, I scored myself as a five. I used repetition throughout the poem

purposefully, and I believe this was effective. I used natural language for the most part throughout this

piece, and while I believe that was successful, perhaps I could have used more unique wording and verbs

to really emphasize my point. If I had done this, I would have earned a six. I do think I did well with

using words to create a clear message and impression:

“Reading books with purring cats,And a dog to keep my toes warm.

Precious moments I will not ever forget.”

This vivid description of a comforting scene really forces the reader to picture the scene I am describing. I

believe I was close to earning a six for word choice, and am satisfied with my score of a five.

Sentence Fluency:

For sentence fluency, I gave myself a score of six. I found my poem to be easy to read, with

inflection that has voice. I included dialogue, which expressed my voice. Even though my poem does not

rhyme, it does have a rhythm to it. I provided variety in the structure and length of the lines:

“In my cupboards on my walls,Pictures of happy times, family lost,

And family found.Of the first guy to say, “I love you”

Who actually meant it.I am these moments and memories.

I am the future.”

By alternating longer lines with shorter ones, I created rhythm and variety. My repetition of the phrase, “I

am,” is rhetorically effective and emphasizes the main point of this poem.

Conventions and Presentation:

For Conventions and Presentation, I scored myself as a five. My poem is virtually ready to

publish, with maybe a few touch-ups required. The advantage of poetry is that there is creative freedom

allowed when it comes to conventions such as punctuation and capitalization. I showed control over

numerous conventions, such as punctuation for dialogue:

“From “Don’t talk and work if you can’t work.”And “Independent problem solving.”

The presentation of my poem is pleasing to the eye; I centered it on the page so that it would be

symmetrical looking. Untraditional conventions are a characterization of many poems; I do not think mine

is any different. For this reason I am not sure if this writing guide should apply to poetry, since there is no

technical standard for conventions of poetry. Conventions are a tricky trait however, it is very difficult to

receive a six, and so I am happy with my score of a five.

Reflection:

Through the completion of this assignment, I learned some new things about myself as a writer,

the writing process in general, and how this assignment and experience will influence my future writing

instruction. Typically, I do not tend to pre-write. I am someone who likes to jump write in and adjust my

writing as I go. Inserting the pre-writing step into the writing of this poem was actually helpful to me. My

pre-writing for this poem was when we discussed the poem in class, and analyzed it line by line. Doing

this allowed me to mentally plan how I could make those connections in my own poem. From there, I

went into my first hand-written draft. I do not hand-write things very often anymore, so this was a

reminder to me how useful this step can be. You can see things more clearly when you hand-write them,

which is something that I had forgotten. I usually do share my writing with someone else, so that step was

not necessarily new to me. Something that I do not usually do with my writing is separate the revising and

editing stage. This distinction is important to make. Revising is expanding and adding to your writing,

looking for sections you could improve on. Whereas editing, is when you should focus on things like

grammar and punctuation. I tend to mostly just edit, and leave out the revising step entirely. Revising is a

step in the writing process for a reason, this assignment made me realize I should revise more often.

It has been a long time since I had taken a piece of my writing through all of the steps of the

writing process. I had forgotten just how in-depth the process is. While I do not think it is necessary or

realistic to take all of my writing through this process, I most definitely understand its purpose. Assessing

your own work is a very important step in the writing process; it definitely helped me to learn about

myself as a writer. Especially about my strengths and weaknesses. For this poem, I think my strongest

trait was voice, and my weakest was probably word choice. This knowledge helps me to know what I can

improve on and what I should focus on for future assignments. Going through the entire writing process

really helps you to discover more about your writing and your skills, especially for someone like me who

does not often use these steps. Typically, I will just begin writing and then edit my writing when I am

finished. I can now see how it would sometimes be helpful to include the other steps of the writing

process in my own writing.

This assignment reminded me of the steps of the writing process, and how much they can improve

your writing. For this reason I will definitely use the writing process when I am teaching writing

instruction in my own classroom. I believe the writing process has its place in writing instruction and that

while it may not be necessary to take students through each step every time they complete a piece of

writing, it is useful to do so once in a while. Once a student completes their writing process their writing

should be ready to share. I like how this assignment had us include every step of the process and a draft of

our work at each point, that is something I would do with my students. A piece of writing should not just

be about publishing the final step; it should be about all of the effort and other steps it took to get there.

One step from this assignment that I intend to incorporate often into my classroom is the step of

assessing. By having students assess their own work you are assessing student voice. This is a great

teaching tool. You would not necessarily wants students to write our quite so much analyzing each trait,

but you could have them evaluate where they see themselves on the writing guide for each trait, and

justify their scores. This assessment tool would be easy to incorporate into nearly every writing

assignment or lesson, and would really help students see where they are at as writers. I know when I

assessed myself with the writing guide I learned a lot about my own writing. By assessing your own

writing you can see your strengths and weaknesses, which let’s you know which traits you should work

on, and which ones you have already met. All of this is great knowledge for students to have for

themselves. Students are also more likely to consider their weaknesses if they assess themselves and see it

on their own, then if you were to tell them what they needed to work on. Self-assessment helps to

reinforce student knowledge and learning and is an incredibly important teaching tool.

Overall, this assignment was a useful refresher for me on the steps of the writing process. By

watching my own writing improve with each step, I was able to see how useful the writing process can be

for students. Through the completion of this assignment, I have a concrete example of my own writing

that I can now show my future students. When I have a student who is confused about the difference

between revising and editing, I can show them my poem as an example. The steps to the writing process

can at times be confusing for students, by experiencing that for myself I will be better able to help my

students as they use the steps of writing.

Writing Guide (Traits 1-3)

Writing Guide (Traits 4-6)