Curated OER
Deciphering the Mechanics of Poetry
After a review of poetic terms, groups are given an object and they create a poem using a simile, a metaphor, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, and personification. Groups then exchange objects and repeat the process. Consider...
Curated OER
A Little Alliteration
Second graders study rhythm, rhyme, and alliteration in poetry by completing various activities. In this language arts lesson, 2nd graders practice recognizing alliteration and then create their own poem using alliteration.
Curated OER
Poetry Beyond Words: Creating Poetry with Linguistically Diverse Students
Models of and directions for how to write 20 different types of poems are featured in an NCTE resource. The introduction to each form highlights the embedded concepts. For example, tongue twisters encourage poets to use alliteration and...
Curated OER
Poetry Walk
Explore with your class the purposes and author's intents for poetry titles. First you read several brief poems to the class and discuss how the authors may have chosen the titles. Then small groups read title-less poems posted around...
Poetry Society
How do Poets Use Language?
Why do writers choose the language they do? Here's a resource that has the poet himself answer that very question. Joseph Coelho explains why he chose the words and images he used in his poem, "If All the World Were Paper."
National Park Service
The Poet's Toolbox
If you need a lesson plan for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through...
Curated OER
War Literature
Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...
Curated OER
The Poetry of Giving
Learn about philanthropy and poetic conventions with an inclusive lesson about Bill Gates. After learning about Mr. Gates' humanitarian efforts in the world, sixth graders use alliteration, onomatopoeia, rhyme, rhythm, and refrain in...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...
Curated OER
Poetry: A Picture of Feelings
Students take a field trip to a place of interest. After the trip they share with a partner their most memorable memory about it. Later, they paint a picture representative of the trip and illustrate it with a poem using at least two...
Curated OER
Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Curated OER
Awesome Alliterations
Students review examples of alliteration in Shel Silverstein's poems. They are assigned a letter of the alphabet and then write an original alliterative poem using that letter.
Curated OER
Alliteration
In this alliteration worksheet, 4th graders write alliterations with their first names, find rhyming patterns in poems, and more. Students complete 4 activities.
Curated OER
Always Allow Alliteration (part 1)
Students identify letters and sound that are being alliterated in a text they are given. In this alliteration worksheet, students also create alliteration in words and sentences.
Curated OER
Lesson Six: Always Allow Alliteration (Part Two)
Second graders practice alliteration. In this alliteration activity, 2nd graders listen to poetry that has alliteration in it and discuss what they hear. They create their own alliterations in small groups.
Curated OER
Patterns in Poetry: Part 2 -- Sound
Students understand a variety of poems listening for sound letter correspondence, rhyme scheme, assonance, and alliteration. In this language arts lesson, students practice listening and reading skills to complete patterns in...
Curated OER
Polished Poetry: Strange Zoo
Fourth graders use an online word list editor and software to create opening lines for a poem. They select and edit these into a complete, polished poem about an animal. They investigate parts of speech and alliteration.
Curated OER
Poetry for the Common Good
Students identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. In this philanthropy lesson, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Students construct their own...
Curated OER
Use Digital Photos of Scary Things to Inspire Poetry Writing
There's nothing like a provocative image to inspire a creative writing session. In the language arts instructional activity presented here, middle schoolers bring in digital photos of scary objects, such as a big spider, or a hornet's...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Walt Whitman: From Song of Myself
Looking for a resource that models how to read and analyze a poem? Check out this packet that uses sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" to demonstrate how to paraphrase, note literary elements, and identify the poet's inferences.
Curated OER
Poetry: Techniques & Form
Ninth graders explore poetic technique and figurative language in this ten lesson unit. Comparisons are made between a variety of forms of poetic expressions and the lives of several poets are studied.
Curated OER
Figurative Language iMovie
In order to understand figurative language, learners read 5 poems, each exemplifying a different literary device. They discuss and write responses to each poem. They then choose one literary device which they will use as the basis...
Curated OER
Creative Writing: Children's Building Blocks
Your class can participate in a writing program involving four building blocks. By exploring words, sentences, writing forms, and story organization, they improve their creative writing skills throughout this year-long unit. Early in the...
Curated OER
Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense
Introduce your class to the delights of nonsense poetry and explore literary devices with the writing of Edward Lear. Learners identify rhyme and meter as well as figures of speech, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in "The Owl and the...