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Handout
Wikimedia

Wikipedia: Refrain

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
Wikipedia article about the poetic device and musical term called refrain. It mentions a number of forms that use refrain as well as giving some examples from poems and songs.
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Unit Plan
Vocabulary.com

Some Helpful Poetry Terms

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This site contains a list of 24 poetry terms. Teachers can digitally assign this list to their students to reinforce the spellings, pronunciations, and meanings of these words
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Website
Other

Lyricalworks: Poetry, Poesy, Lyricism

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A site that gives an explanation of lyric poetry, and explains their differences from epic poetry. Includes a link to an example of a lyric poem.
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Website
Sonnet Central

Sonnet Central

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A comprehensive site dedicated to the English sonnet. Site includes numerous pages grouped by country of origin and historic period. Also included is literary criticism of various sonnets and advice on how to write a sonnet. Click on the...
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Website
Other

Middle school.net: Shakespeare Analysis & Slide Show

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Check out this informative site featuring an analysis of Shakespeare. The objective of this activity is for students to analyze a sonnet and present their findings via slide show. This lesson integrates technology into the curriculum.
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Article
Other

Petrarch and Laura: Peter Sadlon: How to Write a Sonnet [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This is an 8-page PDF article on "How to Write a Sonnet" by Peter Sadlon. It provides background information about sonnets, discusses the two main kinds of sonnet Italian or Petrarchan form and English or Shakespearean form. It explains...
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Handout
Emory University

Emory University: The Limerick

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
This site gives a good description of limerick. Features details about the rhyme scheme and the different forms of limericks. References to the bawdy nature of this verse form.
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Handout
University of Toronto (Canada)

University of Toronto: Representative Poetry Online

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A glossary of literary terms, primarily dealing with poetry, with definitions.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Found Poems/parallel Poems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Young scholars compose found and parallel poems based on a descriptive passage they have chosen from a piece of literature they are reading.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Lonely as a Cloud: Using Poetry to Understand Similes

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Students identify similes in poetry and gain experience in using similes as a poetic device in their own work.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: In the Poet's Shoes: Performing Poetry and Building Meaning

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Build a greater understanding of poetry and poet's voice. Develop and interpret a poem for a oral performance. Links include presentation rubrics and participation rubric.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Poetic Form and Structure

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
This online lesson makes use of concrete poems to teach the structure and form of poetry. Uses a "Columbus Day," theme for the lesson, but can be used any time of the year.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Strategy to Define: Identify Poetic Terms

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Online lesson plan offers teachers the ability to teach a "Four-square," strategy technique for poetic terms. Students explore websites and define terms such as alliteration, assonance, simile, and rhyme.
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Website
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Ballad

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "ballad" poetic form. Short examples included.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Elegy

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "elegy" poetic form. Example included.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Epics

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "epic" poetic form. Short examples included.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Free Verse

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A concise and thorough explanation of the term "free verse" in poetry. Provides a definition, differentiation from "blank verse," and an example from Walt Whitman.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Ode

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "ode" poetic form. Short examples included.
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Handout
University of Victoria (Canada)

The U Vic Writer's Guide: Literary Term: Sonnet

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
The University of Victoria's English department gives a comprehensive definition of the "sonnet" poetic form.
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Lesson Plan
University of Oregon

Pizzaz, Creative Writing & Storytelling: Bi Directional Spiraled Poems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
This PIZZAZ (People Interested in Zippy and ZAny Zcribbling) lesson plan will engage students in writing twist poems. Examples of ideas for these types of poems are provided. Variations of twist poems are listed as a way to provide for...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pbs: Language Arts: Lesson Plans: Language Arts: Shakespeare's Sonnets

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
The purpose of this instructional activity is to help students cope with unfamiliar language in Shakespeare's sonnets and to help them understand and appreciate both what he says and how he says it.
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Unit Plan
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Holt, Rinehart and Winston: Elements of Literature: Poetry You've Got Rhythm [Pdf]

For Students 9th - 10th Standards
A short but informational worksheet for students on the rhythmical sounds of poetry. Includes information about the different types of meter and feet, and allows students to make connections and analysis.
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Alliteration in Headline Poems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
In this lesson, students will learn or review the topic of "alliteration" in writing. Then each student will create a 25-word headline poem that contains at least three examples of alliteration. [Requires Adobe Reader.]
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Read Write Think: Finding Figurative Language in the Phantom Tollbooth

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Contains plans for four lessons that use The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster to teach about figurative language. In addition to objectives and standards, this instructional plan contains links to handouts and to sites used in the...