Thank You, Glasgow

Monkeyboy had a poetry assignment due on Friday.

From up in his room, he e-mailed it to me down by the laundry machines and the PC on Thursday. (The printer's not networked).

I've done some reverse engineering to understand how he came to write one of the six pages of different types of poetry.

It starts with a very good lesson plan here.

The kids read this wonderful poem, by George Ella Lyon.

Then, under the supervision of a masterful 7th grade English teacher, the students write their own poem, in the same style.

Here's Monkeyboy's:

Where I'm From
I'm from the adrenaline of close escapes
from the oppressed of a dictatorship
I'm from the sight of the mountains
4000 feet above them

I'm from the smell of new ink toner
from wondering how a machine works
I'm from tasting a Hershey bar
and bearing the secrets of where my chocolate stashes were to my grave

I'm from lawyers who aren't evil
but who get paid a million dollars lower than those who are
I'm from the sight of sheet music
and playing it until midnight

I'm from wacky stories told at the dinner table
and from outgrowing shoes every 2 months

And I'm from all my ancestors, who have made me who I am.
__________
I'm all verklempt. Tawk amongst yawselves.