Are you at the start of a new school year, or are you about to introduce a poetry unit? A fantastic and engaging way to begin is by incorporating I Am Poetry Format Templates!
So often, teachers, including myself, resort to typical student information sheets, asking the most basic questions every other teacher has asked in the back-to-school season. I don’t want to be that teacher again!
Instead, I use I Am poetry format templates to make the getting-to-know-you process easier! Additionally, I gain insight into students’ writing abilities in terms of style, creativity, and overall expression. I wish I had used them MUCH earlier in my career!
Keep reading for 4 Fun Original I Am Poetry Format Templates & Activity Ideas!
Need help with Test Prep? Check out this FREE Pack of 3 Test Prep Activities to help students achieve success on standardized tests!
4 I Am Poetry Format Templates
1. 2 I Am Poems
Two top-notch poems, “I Am!” by John Clare and “I Am” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox, perfectly capture the topic of identity, which is a crucial concern for many teenagers. While these poems can be challenging for students to read due to their diction, the goal is not to understand every aspect of the poems. Most students will be able to identify the main idea and details.
Help students focus on the most significant elements and simply ask, “What is the major topic of each poem, and what does each poem reveal about that topic?
Reading with students first will help them develop their comprehension skills, and it will also later aid in writing with I Am poetry format templates.
I Am! by John Clare
I Am by Ella Wheeler Wilcox
I know not whence I came,
I know not whither I go;
But the fact stands clear that I am here
In this world of pleasure and woe.
And out of the mist and murk,
Another truth shines plain.
It is in my power each day and hour
To add to its joy or its pain.
I know that the earth exists,
It is none of my business why.
I cannot find out what it’s all about,
I would but waste time to try.
My life is a brief, brief thing,
I am here for a little space.
And while I stay I would like, if I may,
To brighten and better the place.
The trouble, I think, with us all
Is the lack of a high conceit.
If each man thought he was sent to this spot
To make it a bit more sweet,
How soon we could gladden the world,
How easily right all wrong.
If nobody shirked, and each one worked
To help his fellows along.
Cease wondering why you came —
Stop looking for faults and flaws.
Rise up to day in your pride and say,
I am part of the First Great Cause!
However full the world
There is room for an earnest man.
It had need of me or I would not be,
I am here to strengthen the plan.
I Am Poetry Format Template & Activity Ideas
After reading and analyzing each poem (summarizing stanzas, examining imagery, etc.), students might write their own poems using an I Am Poetry format using these stems:
I am someone who __________________________________________________________;____________________________________________________________________________.
I am someone who goes _____________________________________________________;____________________________________________________________________________.
I am someone who looks like _________________________________________________;____________________________________________________________________________.
You might also consider allowing your students to visualize the previous “I Am” poems or even their own poems. By examining what they themselves have written, they will be more invested in what they create, because it is all about them!
Check out this easy-to-use I Am Poetry Format & Activities Pack here!
Need more ideas for the back-to-school season? Click the post below to read!
2. I Am Not Poem
An I Am Poetry format assignment I am particularly fond of is the I Am Not Poem! Flip the script on your students by asking them about who they are not!! Before creating their own poems, check out the one below by Kristin Menke!
I Am Not by Kristin Menke
I am not someone you think of
when you think of someone cool
I don’t have that appeal some have
when they go back to school
I am not the smart kid in the room
I hide beneath my hood
I sure don’t want to sit and read
even if I should
I am not the peppy kid
I don’t have that much fun
I am not the athlete
Who will run and run and run
I am not the scientist
Who peers beneath the glass
To log every minute speck
Nah, I’ll take a pass
I am not the guy who takes
the stage in some spotlight
and sings a pretty Broadway tune
I’d die of sudden fright
I am not the girl who dresses
like those in my scroll
I am not the one who leers
and becomes a keyboard troll
I am not the one who has
all the feels on the first day
Or listens to the chatter
which repels me I must say
I am not the one who sticks out
to anyone at all
And I promise it’s okay
I’m satisfied to stay small
I Am Poetry Format Template & Activity Ideas
Your students can first brainstorm and reflect on their own lives. What do they dislike, hate, or simply have no connection to? Why?
You can cover a range of concepts such as appearance, style, hobbies, etc.
Then, students can write using the I Am Poetry format (NOT). If students need a way to start, you can use these starters:
I am not someone who loves _________________________________________________; I would rather learn _________________________________________________________.
I am not someone who eats __________________________________________________; I would rather consume _____________________________________________________.
I am not someone who chooses ______________________________________________; I would rather avoid ________________________________________________________.
Make the writing process easier and click this pack!
3. Where I’m From Poem
I absolutely love using an I Am Poetry Format that links to where students are from. And that could look like so many things.
One student might live on a small farm miles away from the school. Another student might live in a tiny house with five or six siblings in bunk beds. Others might live in an apartment complex, a block from the school, in a diverse community. You will never know unless students tell you.
Using different I Am poetry format options will help you truly know your students, especially with this Where I’m From Template!
Where I’m From
by Kristin Menke
Where I’m from, I smell chicken thighs and other glorious things in the oven with notes of paprika, garlic, onion, and cumin roasting, filling the air, penetrating each nostril until I inhale and sigh, satisfied.
Where I’m from, I see people in every room, a never-ending stream of family, drifting, floating, meandering, rushing, diving into each other through infinite conversation and commotion.
Where I’m from, I hear little children singing, my grandpa’s stories ringing, my parents’ shouts flinging, my aunties’ hands bringing every kind of dish under the southern sun into this chaotic symphony.
Where I’m from, I taste perfect saltiness, pickly bitterness, everything-that-can-be-fried greasiness, sugary sweetness, all in one magnificent array on my tongue from this one family meal.
Where I’m from, I feel warmth emanating from the humid breezes outside, co-mingling with the high blasting air conditioner inside the Florida sunroom, as we gather hands pressed into other smooth or rough, but familiar, hands as we pray.
Where I’m from, we smell, see, hear, taste, feel, and pray with everything that makes us family, everything that makes us home, everything that makes us who we are.
Template & Activity Ideas
Before writing using a Where I Am From Poetry Format, students complete this prewriting worksheet linked to imagery (description linked to the five senses).
Ask the question: What does your home smell, look, feel, sound, and taste like?
Then, you could use a template like this one:
Where I’m from, I smell __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.
In fact, students can mirror the “Where I’m From” Poem above.
Want readymade I Am Poetry Format Options? Click here!
4. Where I Live Poem
Where students live, whatever that looks like to them, is fascinating. You can never make assumptions. Districts can be reduced to zones, neighborhoods, blocks, and individual homes. There is so much to explore. You can start the process by reading this poem by Kristin Menke!
Where I Live
by Kristin Menke
When I look out my window, I see bright pink azalea bushes and just past those, a trellis filled with violet wisteria blooming out of control reaching out to passersby on the sidewalk.
When I open my door, I see carpenter bees digging into the wood awning and buzzing above my head.
When I walk out my door, I see a short concrete walkway leading to the road in front of my house.
When I glance to my right, I see my neighbor Jack’s dog, Bullet, barking at me as she has always done since we moved in.
When I peek to my left, I see my neighbor Joy walking her two toy dogs who yap and yap at anyone who dares to cross their path.
When I amble down my street, I see a family having a party with lively music blaring in the front yard and backyard.
When I stroll around my neighborhood, I see gardens filled with flowers of every size, shape, and color.
I also see cats in every crevice, cars of every make, and people of every age.
When I get to the end of my road, I see a pizza place I’ve been to once.
When I turn around, I see a park with a shining lake filled with geese honking away at each other, fighting over pieces of lake-soaked bread from a lady who comes there each afternoon.
I also see a man on a neon yellow bicycle, two women chatting while they walk, and a teenager humming to a song on his cell phone.
When I stroll back through my neighborhood, I see garbage bins overflowing with trash for pickup on Friday or “treasures” for people who pick them up the night before.
When I amble back down my street, I see a wooden swing-set outside of a brick house with an older couple holding hands.
When I stop in front of my home, I see a little white house with a metal roof.
When I peep to my left, I see Jack chiding Bullet to come back inside for dinner.
When I glance to my right, I see Joy wave at me as her two dogs pull at their leashes.
When I gaze into my window, I see my mom cooking at the stove while my dad does the dishes.
When I stride up to my door, I see a pinecone-filled wreath that should have been taken down in January.
When I open my door, I see my sisters Jo Jo and Abigail having a picnic in the middle
of the living room.
When I walk through my door, I see our dogs, Henna and Sugar, jump around each other to get to me for the first pet.
When I am at home, I feel peaceful because my family is there, making my house a home.
Template & Activity Ideas
I love this step-by-step process of truly seeing where I live. You can cut out certain elements linked to the I Am poetry format options (in this bundle), but having students critically think about where they really live can be an amazing study in attention to detail. You and your students will learn so much about each other simply by including I Am poetry format assignments!
Afterwards, you might consider having students present drawings linked to their own poems or the poems of others. See this I Am poetry format pack for help!
I Am Poetry Format Templates
Want to help your upper middle and high school students personally connect to poetry using templates for an I AM POEM, I AM NOT POEM, WHERE I LIVE POEM, & WHERE I AM FROM POEM? Check out this getting-to-know-you I Am poetry format activities bundle to guide your students in analyzing poetry, reflecting on insightful quotes, and writing about who they are and where they are from!
Use Anne Bronte’s poem “Home,” Kristin Menke’s poem “I Am Not,” Ella Wheeler Wilcox’s poem “I Am,” and John Clare’s poem “I Am!” as the foundation for the I Am poetry format writing lessons! Take time to analyze poetry in a meaningful and impactful way!
Poetry Unit & I Am Poetry Format Templates
Do your students need help with poetry analysis and I Am poetry format options? This POETRY TEST PREP ULTIMATE BUNDLE contains 22 EASY-TO-TEACH Lessons, ENGAGING Reading Comprehension Activities, STEP-BY-STEP Writing Responses, and TEST PREP QUIZZES with 235 QUESTIONS and ANSWERS (for 22 poems including “A Poison Tree,” “Annabel Lee,” “I Hear America Singing,” “The Raven,” “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” “The Weary Blues,” etc.)!
Integrate poetry comprehension, test prep, analysis, and I Am poetry format activities easily and effectively!
Need I Am Poetry Format Options? Check out my store, Kristin Menke-Integrated ELA Test Prep!
