For our first week together at Dulles, we talked about the people and places we come from, beginning with the poem “Roots” by Clint Smith. On Tuesday, students thought about what they have in common with their family members and what sets them apart. We then wrote a poem as a class, to which everyone contributed one line. On Thursday, we read Nikki Giovanni’s “Knoxville, Tennessee,” and students wrote poems of place.
Ms. Jackson/Ms. Walker
6th Grade
Roots
by everyone
I like to write.
I have eyes from my dad.
I like football.
I come from the eyes of the brown.
I run track and do cheer.
I have my mom’s dark brown eyes.
I like playing my game.
I’m from Jamaica.
I look exactly like my cousin.
I have fourteen siblings.
With my will and others’ way, I don’t know where I really come from.
I come from Mississippi and Chicago.
I am from Chicago.
Shanya P.
I grew up
in Chicago
my neighbor
hood lit
Chicago the
best city.
Jamyia J.
When you go to Chicago you can always go downtown
they got good food
and good stores
we got the best stuff downtown
and we got the best chicken
some of the Chicago ppl can dress
Terrance W.
I like Chicago
because the food
and the sights to see
I love the people
and they see respect
Philly
Jim Shoe
Chicken
Baked mac
Orlando H.
I am from a block I like to play ball
and football and I like Baba’s food
and I see a lot of things
and I have a lot of friends
