Curated OER
Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad: From Painting to Poem
Students analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. In this literary and art analysis activity, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of...
Curated OER
Newspaper Poetry
High schoolers cut out nouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs from newspapers and create poems using words they have found.
Curated OER
Interpretation of Poems
Students recite poetry and analyze its meaning. In this poetry interpretation instructional activity, students listen to a poem and work in groups to write what the poem is about. Students share and discuss the poem. Groups report...
Curated OER
Descriptive Writing
Students discuss the importance of using adjectives in writing. They separate into five groups, each group is given a bag with an object inside to describe using just one sense. They write a description of a Hershey's Kiss using adjectives.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan for Waiting to Waltz: A Childhood by Cynthia Rylant
Sixth graders examine the elements of writing poetry. In this creative writing activity, 6th graders discuss a book of poetry in the setting of Appalachia. Students incorporate childhood experiences into the development of visual and...
Curated OER
Haiku Poems
Eighth graders study haiku poems. In this poetry lesson plan, 8th graders write two haikus containing the standard 5-7-5 syllables content about things they enjoy within nature.
Curated OER
Love To Langston
Students complete pre reading, writing, during reading, and interdisciplinary activities for the book Love To Langston. In this reading lesson plan, students complete journal entries, go over vocabulary, answer short answer questions,...
Curated OER
Cool Melons Turn to Frogs
Third graders become familiar with the poetry of Issa. In this haiku instructional activity, 3rd graders recognize the format of a haiku and learn about the life of Issa (the poet) through focused questions, vocabulary and reading...
Curated OER
Writing Places
Students brainstorm ideas after being read a poem and then are to write their own poem and read them out loud.
Curated OER
Poems That Work!
Students are introduced to the elements of poetry. As a class, they practice the correct way to read a poem and determine the author's audience. They identify similies and metaphors and determine the rhyme and meter. To end the...
Curated OER
Poetry and Emotional Health
Students explore self-expression through poetry. In this personal health lessons students read and discuss poetry regarding teen topics of interest. Students write poems, that express empathy.
Curated OER
1900 America: Historical Voices, Poetic Visions
Students examine the United States at the turn of the century. Using primary source documents, they interpret them within a specific historical context. Using this information, they write a poem with metaphors and a specific meter They...
Curated OER
ESL: Punctuating Titles
When are titles underlined, italicized, or placed in quotation marks? Take your class to the computer lab to give them some independent practice. Here they read through the information, examples, and explanations provided. They then...
Syracuse University
Harlem Renaissance
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
Poetry Out Loud
The Tabloid Ballad
What do the theme song from Gilligan's Island, the nursery rhyme "The Owl and the Pussy-Cat," and the poem "The Shooting of Dan McGrew" all have in common? Why, they're ballads of course! Challenge your young balladeers to compose their...
McGraw Hill
Study Guide for Frankenstein
Help the class uncover the story of Frankenstein. Learners answer questions and complete activities to respond to the text Frankenstein as they read. Scholars learn new vocabulary, respond to personal and text-dependent questions,...
Oxford University Press
The Jungle Book
Most every teacher dreams of a ready-to-teach and print book study. Well, here it is! The Jungle Book novel resource includes 12 complete lessons studying poetry, author's craft, themes, characters, and more. Scholars role play, research...
Curated OER
The Old Man and the Sea: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Can you find the themes from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in other books? What about picture books? Compare the novel to a picture book with a lesson about making predictions and finding textual evidence.
Curated OER
All About Me - A Poem
Second graders brainstorm unique qualities they possess in a All About Me worksheet. They write free verse poems about things that most people don't know about them. They brainstorm descriptive words to enhance their poems and rewrite them.
Curated OER
Introduction to Theme
High schoolers investigate the concept of theme and how it fits in the writing of a poem or other type of literature. Students practice reading different poems looking critically for the theme to identify and define them.
Curated OER
Haiku: An Introduction to Writing and Discussing Poetic Form
Tenth graders are introduced to the vocabulary that is acceptable and unacceptable in writing a haiku. Individually, they are given a set of instructions in which to write their haiku and discuss how these limitations have affected...
Curated OER
Beowulf: Songs of Ancient Heroes
Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...
Curated OER
Poetry in Motion
Sixth graders answer questions about "From a Railway Carriage." They discuss different poetical forms. They work together to write a poem about travel.
Maryland Department of Education
The Concept of Diversity in World Literature Lesson 12: Author's Purpose - Yeats and Achebe
Is there such a thing as fate/luck? Can one fight destiny? As part of their study of Chinua Achebe's purpose in writing Things Fall Apart, class members answer these questions from Achebe's point of view and then from William Butler...