 My name is Shelby and I am a poetry teaching artist and I'm really excited that we just get to sit down together and write today. Our theme for this lesson is going to be who will I become. So we're going to be writing about ourselves. We're going to be writing about the future, imagining the future, imagining ourselves in the future. So it's going to be kind of an epic journey. I'll admit it. But the only thing that you need to bring on this journey is something to write with, like a pencil or a pen or whatever, and something to write on, some paper or a notebook. All right, I hope you've got your materials and that you're ready to do some magic on the page. And we're going to do a warm up. So for this warm up, what I'm going to do is I'm actually going to repeat the same question over and over as a prompt to you. And the question is going to be, who are you? And this is a prompt that's borrowed from the teaching artist, Sean Ginwright. And what you're going to do is every time I ask it, I want you to write a different word. So I'm just going to give you a couple of seconds. I'm going to say, who are you? Then you're going to write a word. Who are you? Or a couple of words or a phrase. And the point is to just keep writing. Don't judge yourself. Just the first thing that comes to your mind, that's what you write on the page. Okay, so let's go for it. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Keep writing, whatever comes to your mind. Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Who are you? Okay, good job. The hardest part's over, because I know that's kind of weird to hear the same thing over and over. But I wonder if you noticed anything about as you kept writing, the further you went, sometimes people notice, they go deeper and deeper into who they are. So thank you for doing that warm up. And now, before we keep writing, we need to get a little bit of inspiration. So I'm going to read you a poem that is on our topic of Who Will I Become? And this is a poem called Blueprints by Sarah Holbrook. Will my ears grow as long as grandpa's? What makes us look like kin? Tell me, where'd I get my long eyelashes and where'd I get my chin? Where'd I get my ice cream sweet tooth and this nose that wiggles when I walk? Where's I get my dizzy daydreams and my foot-rolling sidestep walk? Did I inherit my sense of humor and these crooked, ugly toes? What if I balloon like Uncle Harry and have to shave my nose? How long after I start growing until I start to shrink? Am I going to lose my teeth someday, my hair, my mind? Do you think I'll be tall or short or thin or bursting at the seams? Am I naturally this crazy? Is this something in my genes? I'm more than who I am. I'm also who I'm from. It's a scary speculation. Who will I become? So inspired by Sarah Holbrook, you all are going to write a poem that is going to be a series of questions. But don't worry, I'm going to give you the questions, but you're going to finish the questions, all right? So I'm going to give you some starting lines and I just want you to write the first thing that comes to your mind. And you can use some of the images or ideas or words that you did during your warm-up if you get stuck. All right, first line. When I grow up, will I be dot, dot, dot? Will I be tall? Will I be daring? Will I be adventurous? Whatever comes to your mind, go for it. Okay, let's keep writing. Next line I want you to finish. Why do I have blue eyes? Why do I have this really loud cackle? Where does that come from? Finish that line. Go for it. Where did I get my dot, dot, dot? Where did I get my sense of humor? Where did I get my love of dogs? Where did I get my strange fingernail shape? Whatever it is, whatever comes to your brain, go for it. I become dot, dot, dot. You could think of something like who you're going to be when you grow up. Will I become a firefighter? Will I become a sailor? Will I become a poet? Or it could be more like a characteristic. Will I become brave? Will I become bold and wild and true? Whatever comes to your mind, go for it. Now these last two lines are not going to be questions, they're going to be statements. So finish this statement. I am, go for it. Okay, the last line. I will be. And you can write a couple of things like a list and don't put pressure on it. Just whatever comes to your brain, let that take you to that future. I will be. Finish up that line. Good job everyone. You literally just manifested some weird wild future that you didn't even know existed before you started writing. No big deal. I would love to know what you wrote. I'm very curious what future you conjured in your free rights. But since I'm not with you, I really want to encourage you, if you feel like it, no pressure to maybe go share this with someone in your house or you could call someone on the phone or video chat someone and share them, share with them the poem you just wrote. And in that spirit, I'm going to share the poem that I just wrote with you. When I grow up, will I be wise enough to be strong and soft? Why do I have a fear of being big in my joy? Where did I get my love for histories, sadnesses? Will I become green and brave like the trees? I am a lilac parade. I will be the entire circus tent of giggles. Thank you all so much for writing with me. Again, my name is Shelby, and I just have huge gratitude for you sitting down to write today for practicing future telling for practicing rhyme and repetition by using these same starting lines over and over. Great work and have a great day.