Essential Questions

• What does telling our personal stories do for us?

• How can writing lead to self-awareness and self-acceptance?

• What does belonging mean to me?

• How can we challenge ideas of what is ‘normal?’

• How do neurodivergent people contribute?

Learning Intentions – Upon completing this Module, students will:

• Be able to describe how telling our own stories ground us.

• Define how self-acceptance and belonging relate.

• Explain how writing is an important mode for communicating human experience.

• Employ art as an aesthetic tool to communicate messages about important historical and contemporary issues.

• Apply literary devices and poetry writing to express place, experiences, and landscape.

• Be able to articulate the role of writing in building self-awareness and enabling self-expression.

Success Criteria

• I will accept who I am and practice using my authentic voice.

• I will look for the treasures in others, understanding that each of us, typical to neurodivergent, brings something of value to the table. 

Learning Outline

This 3.5-hour module is based on the video presentation by Masha Shukovich. It can be taught as a whole learning experience, or in chosen sections as time allows:  

• 45 minutes: Launch Activity–Our Stories Ground Us

• 20 minutes: While Viewing– X-iting Yugoslavia and Finding Home

• 20 minutes: Post-Viewing– What Does It Mean To Belong?

• 110 minutes: Demonstration–  Where I’m From Poetry

• 30- 60+ minutes: Making Connections– Arts Integration Project - That Thing You Are Writing Is Awesome! 

Supplies for Pre-Viewing and Viewing and Post-Viewing Activities: 

Recognizing Masha’s Authentic Voice  Worksheet

Supplies for Demonstration ‘Where I’m From’ Activity

The Origins of Poetry Chapbooks” (scroll down to the ‘Origins of Poetry’ section

Appendix A: Where I’m From’ Original Poem by George Ella Lyon Handout

Appendix B: Where I'm From_Student Samples & Brainstorming Handout

Appendix C: Where I’m From: Write Your Poem Handout

Optional Teacher Resources:

Where I am From: Analyzing the Poem Teacher’s Resource

Literal vs Figurative Language

Supplies for Art Integration ‘Chapbook’ Activity

• Low Tech Modality- classic printed book with DIY binding: paper and pen, or computer and printer. (tutorial on using a saddle stitch binding technique) 

• High Tech Modality- digital chapbook made with PowerPoint, Google Sites, etc.

Printed Chapbook Examples

e-Chapbook Examples: 

From My Father’s House

Winter’s Tales

Launch Activity–Pre-Viewing: Our Stories Ground Us

[20 min]

[Learning Intention 1]

Procedures:

• Hook: Think, Pair, Share: Put students in pairs and ask them, “If you were to tell a story from when you were younger, what would it be? (10 min)

  1. Take turns telling each other your story

  2. Why do you think this story matters to you?

• Open the discussion up to the class. Have a few volunteers share the stories they heard with the class, along with why the story mattered to their partner.  

• Ask Students: After hearing these stories and the many others we each heard in our pairs, is there a common theme we could pull for why these stories matter to us? Reiterate the reasons students said they mattered. Ask students if it would be fair to say that these stories all give us a sense of belonging? Discuss. 

• Tell Students: We are about to watch the next three videos featuring Masha Shukovich- author and storyteller.  She comes from Yugoslavia, which is in the Balkans, (show students the Balkan countries on a map (Serbia, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania, Bulgaria, Romania). And as you can see, there is no longer a country (since 1992) called Yugoslavia. Masha refers to it as “X-Yugoslavia” and says that it is hard to come from a place that no longer exists.  Ask students why they think that is? Family and relatives are all dispersed; culture and language have been diluted, or damaged or destroyed; memories of war cause mental stress; hard for anyone else to relate; loss of sense of belonging; a sense of being lost and a great sense of loss, etc. 

• Writing has helped Masha embrace her past, and find her authentic voice, or in other words, settle into self and understand what belonging means and that she does belong.

While Viewing: X-iting Yugoslavia and Finding Home

[30 min]

[Learning Intention 2]

Procedures:

• Read this introduction to students: Award winning author and storyteller, Masha Shukovich, found home in Utah after her country Yugoslavia broke apart during the war in the 90’s. In this module you will hear excerpts from her current novel, A Taste of Names. It is through her writing that Masha shares the true and unique aspects of herself, that once pegged her as weird. For one, she is a synesthete– her senses cross and sound may mingle with sight and taste with touch. She also has an intimate relationship with nature –water, ravens, mountains, springs, and lakes all manifest through her pen. It is only now that Masha has begun to embrace her Balkan ancestry, and live the rich culture from where she stems.  Masha takes us on a personal journey of discovering her voice through writing and storytelling, with a quote and message to students:”You're only free when you realize you belong no place– you belong every place. No place at all. The price is high; the reward is great.” Maya Angelou.  “If you ever felt that you didn't belong, like I did so many times. I hope this quote fills you with a sense of power and a sense that you matter, words matter, and that that belonging is within your reach.” Masha.

• Pass out the ‘Recognizing Masha’s Authentic Voice’ worksheet.

• Tell Students: Fill in anything you can on your worksheet after watching the Introduction video. As you watch the next three videos, jot down more thoughts about the topics listed on the handout. 

• Play Video 2: Masha Shukovich: X-iting Yugoslavia, Video 3: Belonging, and Video 4: How I Learned to Accept my “Unusual Brain.” (assuming you played the intro video before starting the module).

• Give students a few minutes to finish writing down what they learned on each of the topics listed on the worksheet.

Post-Viewing: What Does It Mean To Belong?

[15 min]

[Learning Intentions 2,3]

Procedures: 

• Tell Students: Masha ends by quoting Maya Angelou (BIO)You only are free when you realize you belong no place — you belong every place — no place at all. The price is high. The reward is great.” -Maya Angelou

• Ask Student: What did Masha say about belonging? That she never fit in, not even in Yugoslavia growing up. She was different. She was told she was weird. She could taste things she saw. She wanted to ask questions she never dared ask like how do you make friends. Once in the US she felt ashamed of where she came from; who she was. When her professor at University in Texas praised the folktale she turned in as an assignment, a story she heard as a young girl in Yugoslavia, she rolled her eyes. She didn’t get that he was appreciating her for who she was. Once in Utah she connected with nature and started to understand and appreciate who she was. She started opening up through her writing, finding her voice and a sense of belonging.  

• Tell Students: Belonging is not about fitting in. It’s not about becoming like other people to be accepted. Belonging is about being yourself. It’s about being okay with yourself. It’s about liking who you are. That is the essence of Maya Angelou’s quote. You can only truly belong and be free when you accept yourself for who you are, as you are. When you belong to you, no one can take away that belonging.

• Invite students to share what they wrote on other topics listed on the Finding Your Authentic Voice handout. What did Masha say that resonated with you? 

Demonstration: Where I’m From Poetry

[90 min]

[Learning Intentions 4,5,6 ]

Procedures:

• Tell the students: We are going to practice writing as a way to explore ourselves and particularly where we are from. Thinking about where we are from is about more than a place but rather includes our experiences, our landscapes, and more. Writing this poem will help us tell a small piece of that story and get you thinking about what ‘geography’ truly represents.

•  Pass out the ‘Appendix A: Where I’m From’ Original Poem by George Ella Lyon’ Handout

• Have volunteers read the 3-stanza poem out loud to the class. Ask students what they think the poem is about. Discuss. 

• Use Analyzing the Poem Teacher’s Resource to discuss this poem further in terms of its meaning, structure, and techniques such as anaphora, alliteration… Explain that they will write a poem using this poem as a framework to express their own sense of place, including experiences, and landscape. 

• Tell Students: Before we write our poems, let’s take a look at a few student samples and do a prewriting brainstorming exercise.  Pass out the ‘Appendix B: Where I'm From_Student Samples & Brainstorming’ handout.  Read through the student samples and discuss. Read through the prewriting brainstorming section and give students 10 minutes to think about the place they are from. Have them jot down some ideas for each brainstorm prompt. 

• Pass out the ‘Write Your ‘Where I’m From’ Poem’  handout. Your poem will be 3 stanzas long just like the original Where I’m From poem we just read by George Ella Lyon. Be sure to use figurative vs literal language when writing your poem. (*For a quick lesson on this use Literal vs Figurative Language.) 

• Have students fill in the blanks on the handout and then write or type up their poem.

• Put students in groups of three to read their poems to each other.  After each poem is read, have each group tell the poet their favorite line and have each poet discuss the meaning of their poem. (optional) 

• Have a few volunteers share their poem out loud with the class and discuss the meaning of their poem.

That Thing You Are Writing Is Awesome! [60+ varies depending on length of chapbook assigned and whether they write in class]

[Learning Intentions 4,5,6 ]

Procedures:

• Tell students they are going to write a chapbook on any topic that interests them. What is a chapbook you ask?

• Read “The Origins of Poetry Chapbooks” (scroll down in this ‘Origins of Poetry’ section) to students: 

  • Chapbooks date back to sixteenth century England. A written account from Cambridgeshire in 1553 describes “lytle books' ' sold by peddlers, likely containing lyrics to sung ballads. The price of these books was low—typically a penny or a halfpenny—and they provided cheap entertainment for the masses, although there’s little evidence that the books themselves were mass produced. The term “chapbook” dates to 1824, and it takes its name from “chapman,” an English word for an itinerant peddler or tradesman. (The root word “chap” shares its origin with the word “cheap.”) 

  • Chapbooks were not always synonymous with a collection of poetry; some chapbooks contained short stories, thought-provoking nonfiction, fairy tales, lyrics, flash fiction, creative nonfiction, illustrations, and liturgical text from religious tracts. Chapbooks enjoyed high popularity until the mid-nineteenth century, when they were somewhat supplanted by the availability of cheap daily and weekly newspapers. 

• Tell Students: In a nutshell, they’re small books! Chaps usually hold 20 to 40 pages (or shorter!) and give writers a chance to send their work into the ether before creating a full-length book. You might recall that Masha is writing a novel called The Taste of Names, but before she is ready to put the whole book out there, she is presenting excerpts (like chapbooks) to the public to get feedback and reactions to her writing- sort of testing the waters.  

• Tell Students: It is common for a single chapbook to be organized around a single theme—for instance love, winter, death, New York City, etc.  The topic is entirely up to you! (You might allow students to write shorter Chaps, time dependent.) The goal is for you to write about something interesting to you and to speak your truth. Like Masha, you are on a journey to find your authentic voice. 

• Show students a few examples of Chapbooks: https://www.timeout.com/newyork/books/10-chapbooks-to-read-now (Vet the ones you want to show them prior as some topics might not be classroom appropriate.) Though traditionally Chapbooks are printed, today there are e-Chapbooks as well. Decide whether the class Chapbook will be:

  1. Low Tech Modality- classic printed booklet with cover art and DIY binding (tutorial on using a saddle stitch binding technique) 

  2. High Tech Modality- digital Chapbook.  Show students a few examples: 

     1. My Fathers House

     2. Winter's Tales

You can design your e-Chapbook using Word, PowerPoint, or create a website in Google Sites (free). 

• (Optional) Teach mini lessons about literary devices such as imagery, figurative language, alliteration, consonance, dissonance, assonance, and repetition. 

• Think, Pair, Share. Have students brainstorm topics they want to write about and in pairs share their ideas. Once they have their idea, have them pitch their idea to you so you can give them feedback on their topic and then greenlight the idea. 

• After students have written, workshopped, and revised their chapbooks, celebrate with an “author’s chair,” where students share their chapbooks with the class. Other options to share:

  1. Publish them as a collection for the school library.

  2. Create a website that hosts the collection.

  3. Hold a ‘chapbook’ slam (online or with a live audience).

• Ask Students: Do you feel the chapbook you wrote is in your authentic voice? Explain.

Invite students to “dig deeper” on these topics by providing additional options for research and reflection on writing and finding  identity and authentic voice.

Artist Excerpts: Read Masha’s writing/listen to her stories:

• https://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2020/04/what-water-remembers/

• Children of Biafra

• Things with Souls

• We Were Made for These Times

• Verbless (featured on KRCL's RadioACTive's PoetryStill Happens)

Performances

• Utah Arts Festival Performance 2023

• Excerpt from The Taste of Names Read by Masha Shukovich

• TED Talk: America Ferrara_My Identity is a Superpower, Not an Obstacle (13:53min)

Writing Activities For Youth 

• Lessons for Emergent Writers- includes place-based, multimedia writing activities for youth of all ages.

Books

• The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron: Provides a twelve-week course that guides you through the process of recovering your creative self. It aims to dispel the 'I'm not talented enough' conditioning that holds many people back and gives you a starting point to unleash your own inner artist.

• A Maze Me by Naomi Shihab Nye – This volume can serve as poems of encouragement to girls for cultivating their own way of being in the world, and as poems of discovery for seeing how many truths they share with others.

Films

• The Shape of Water - An other-worldly fairy tale, set against the backdrop of Cold War era America.

Websites

• National Writing Project: The Write Time: Writing teachers from across the NWP Network interview young-adult and children’s authors about their books, their composing processes, and writers’ craft.

• Center for Documentary Expression and Art (CDEA)- Deeply shaped by the explosion of interest in America’s multicultural history and life that followed the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the Center for Documentary Expression and Art (CDEA) is an independent, non-profit organization that creates, supports, and promotes documentary expression, documentary art, and documentary studies.

• Cutthroat: A Journal of Arts: Includes online issues, writing contests and more. They are dedicated to providing a safe space for a diversity of writers. 

• The de Groot Foundation: Passionate about investing in writers and the literary arts, The de Groot Foundation believes non-violence, diversity, inclusivity, and cooperation make a more beautiful world.

Articles

”Ashleigh Allen: Why I Write”:I began writing poetry as a child because I felt alive differently when I wrote. The page offered me a place to create on my own inventive terms, at my own pace, and under my own evolving directions. As a teen…