An insightful (and fun:-) writing prompt

Calling all ELA teachers, parents, poets, and writers! Do you want to:

• explore the inner terrain of you
• connect with your students/child/children
• inspire self-exploration and self-awareness

If the answer is a resounding YES to any or all of the above, you’ll want to keep reading:-)

For the Educator

Whether you are an ESL secondary teacher or Language Arts teacher to 1st graders, the activity I’m shortly going to suggest will boost:

• insight
• emotional intelligence
• creativity
• language development
• self-esteem

So, what’s the activity? Hold onto your academic seats…

I Am From

Students of all ages love a creative activity that offers a rare combination of form and freedom. Enter the I Am Fromwriting prompt.

Just having a sentence stem soothes yet challenges the novice to the experienced writer.

Bonus points — while your students are waxing creative, two big things are developing:

• a positive association with writing
• a connection between teacher and student

When a student is given the verbal water wings of a sentence stem, they can “swim” with an idea.

Sentence stems promote students’ confidence and provide a focused theme for them to explore.

For the Lover of Words

The I Am From is no ordinary I Am prompt. Oh dear lover of words, just look at the beckoning use of the preposition “from” teasing us to respond.

The I Am From writing prompt is an invitation to explore our soul’s journey.

This is your chance to weave those unspoken thoughts into a tapestry of verbal color as intricate and mesmerizing as wonderful you.

I’ll be running a writing camp for the next couple of weeks. Their ages range from 5–14. So, I’ve created an I Am Frompoem as a model for them.

Poetry is to writing what a trailer is to a movie.

Poetry gets to the heart of a matter, literally pulling on the gamut of emotional strings just long enough to let us know there’s more lying many leagues below the sea of our psyche.

Poetry is the sampler; prose is the buffet.

My Poetry Sampler

I am from
metal swings,
plastic-covered couches,
and station
wagons

I am from
dogs barking
at mailmen,
8 millimeter films,
and fireflies
on summer nights

I am from 
45 records,
playing hopscotch,
and Mr. Softy’s 
ice cream truck

I am from 
building forts
cartwheels,
and the end 
of the Vietnam War

Whether you are a teacher or lover of words (or both:-), I hope you find the I Am From prompt inspiring.

Abundant Living