Strategies

I Am From

3 Min Read  •  Theatre Strategy

The best introduction you will ever hear does not start with a name and a fun fact.

It starts with an image. A specific kitchen table. A particular smell. A grandmother’s hands. A street corner. A sound that only exists in one place in the world.

This week’s strategy, I Am From, invites students to introduce themselves through the specific details of their lives, inspired by the George Ella Lyon poem of the same name. They write it. They perform it. And the room gets very quiet, very fast.

Step 1: Share the Mentor Text

Read George Ella Lyon’s “I Am From” aloud to the class, or share a student-created version from a previous year if you have one. Ask students: what do you notice about the kinds of details the poet chooses? (Specific objects, places, family phrases, smells, names, not general statements like “I am from a loving family.”)

Step 2: Brainstorm the Details

Students spend 5 to 8 minutes listing specific images from their own lives: objects in their home, phrases their family uses, places they know deeply, foods, sounds, smells, names of people. Quantity over quality at this stage. The more specific, the better.

Step 3: Write the Piece

Students draft a short piece (8 to 12 lines) using their list as raw material. Each line should be specific and concrete. Encourage them to resist generalities: not “I am from a loving family” but “I am from Sunday dinners that lasted three hours and always ended in an argument about something small.”

Step 4: Perform for the Class

Students stand and read their piece aloud. No props, no staging. Just voice, presence, and the words on the page. The class listens in silence. After all pieces have been shared, invite brief reflection:

  • What image from someone else’s piece stayed with you?
  • What surprised you?
  • What did you discover you have in common with someone you did not expect?

Cross-Curricular Applications

🧪 Science – Have students write an “I Am From” piece from the perspective of a cell, an ecosystem, or a natural cycle.

➗ Math – Have students write the piece from the perspective of a number, shape, or equation, built from its real mathematical properties.

📚 ELA – Use the strategy as an entry point into the study of imagery, specificity, and voice in writing

🌍 Social Studies – Ask students to write a version from the perspective of a historical figure, a place, or a specific era

🎨 Visual Art – Have students choose the single most vivid image from their piece and translate it into a drawing, collage, or symbol.

Want More?

Happy creating and connecting! View all of our previously shared strategies and start using arts integration and STEAM today.

Or, access our Instant Engagement Strategy Pack and earn 2 PD hours just for implementing what you learn.