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Overview
This extension activity prompts students to write a poem about where they are from. It is designed to form or strengthen student-teacher relationships and get to know each other. Setting the stage by building relationships is what determines how your year is going to go with students.
Activity Time: 45 min for the activity and 45 min for presentation of poems.
Rationale
If you don’t have a strong connection to the students by getting to know them then oftentimes they do not want to learn. It is designed for all students of any age. I believe that this extension can be relevant to any student because it focuses on who they are as individuals. The “I am from” Poem should be done before any of the DAILy lessons to get to know the students. The Poem is a getting-to-know-your-class pre lesson activity. It is not connected directly to any of the DAILy lessons, but teachers can use student responses to tailor their instruction towards students' cultural background knowledge and personal interests. Knowing them and their backgrounds is a critical piece of developing culturally responsive pedagogy but it is not the only component. After knowing your students' backgrounds and interests, a teacher then applies this to customize lessons that incorporate their backgrounds or allow students to bring in their cultural perspectives into assignments.