Facing History and Ourselves
Speaking Up and Speaking Out
The final lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit offers class members a way they can stand up and speak out by crafting spoken word poetry, or Slam poetry. After analyzing several examples, individuals reflect on one positive...
PBS
Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
Annenberg Foundation
Poetry of Liberation
How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...
Curated OER
Poetry Slam!
Create poems without writing! Young poets create poems using words cut from newspapers, read their poems aloud, and compile them in a book. This lesson allows the teacher to view each learner's creative process and assess their current...
Poetry4kids
How to Write an “I Can’t Write a Poem” Poem
Ever have students complain that they don't know how to write a poem? Turn those complaints into magnificent works of writing with an independent poetry lesson about not being able to write poetry.
Poetry4kids
How to Write an Exaggeration Poem
The best poetry writing lesson of all time is here for you! Learn all about the art of exaggeration with a lesson on exaggeration poems, which instructs students to use wild imagery to convey their message.
Teaching Matters
Welcome to Writing Poetry
Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take learners through...
Tiny Mobile
Poetry Creator | Verses
Construct from a canvas of words, lyrical expressions that your budding poets can share and post. Based on refrigerator magnet poetry, creative writers can develop their poetry independently, or from a given prompt from their instructor.
Curated OER
Poetry Slams and Lesson Plans
Poetry slams can lead your students beyond a focus on rhyme and meter and into the emotional pull of poetry.
Poetry4kids
Alliteration and Assonance Lesson Plan
Scholars analyze the poem My Puppy Punched Me in the Eye by Ken Nesbitt in order to locate examples of alliteration and assonance. After reading the poem, alliterative words are underlined and assonant words are circled.
Curated OER
Introduction to the Poetry Unit
Students explore, analyze and interpret one form of poetry writing called Poetry Slam. They hear several examples of unexpected poetry and view a video of "Slam Nation." The books, "Hey You! C'mere: A Poetry Slam," by Elizabeth Swados...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Clerihew
Writing funny poems is the best part about learning poetic forms! Young poets learn all about clerihews—humorous four-line poems about people—with an explanatory lesson.
Curated OER
Civil War
Historical poetry is lyrical in form and rich with content. After examining the differences between the Northern and Southern states before and during the U.S. Civil War, learners complete a Venn diagram and create an illustration of the...
Curated OER
Raptor Poetry
Students create poems about raptors. They discuss raptors and create three poems including at least two of the following: haiku, diamante, found, and acrostic. They create a classroom book of poems or conduct a poetry slam where students...
Curated OER
Introduction to Poetry
Young scholars explore poetry. They investigate the poetry al around them. Students examine poetry in order to create a deeper understanding of poetry. They read and write a variety of poetry.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Silly Song Parody
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—and it's a great way to learn about poetic structure! Young poets use familiar tunes to write a song parody based on straightforward guidelines.
Curated OER
Performance and Reflection on Listening and Speaking
Students prepare for and evaluate their performances in poetry slams. In this literature lesson, students write personal narratives about their poetry slam experiences.
Time Warp Trio
See You Later, Gladiator!
Young historians take a look at the age of gladiators, and the cultural atmosphere present when they staged their epic battles. Pupils pretend to be reporters and write newspaper articles about one of the events they stage. Then,...
Curated OER
Poetry Slam:
Students demonstrate understanding of the themes of a poem. They choose art, photos, sound, and quotes to create a multimedia presentation based upon those themes. Students read a poem aloud while displaying the slide show.
PBS
The Harlem Renaissance
A reading of Walter Dean Myers' "Harlem" sets the stage for studying the literature, art, and music of the Harlem Renaissance. The lesson begins with a review of the social, political, and economic conditions of the 1920s and 1930s that...
Curated OER
"How Many, How Much" by Shel Silverstein
Students decide on the reasonableness and relative magnitude of situations in their lives as Shel Silverstein did in the poem "How Many, How Much."
CommonLit
Common Lit: "What Teachers Make" by Taylor Mali
CommonLit.org is a wonderful resource to use in a Language Arts classroom. Each text is accompanied by guided reading questions, assessment questions, and discussion questions. In addition, students can click on words to see the...