Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry (SMART Board Lesson)
Let music and poetry collide in this well-orchestrated language arts lesson plan. After studying program music and C. Debussy's Prelude to an Afternoon Faun, view the attached SMART board lesson plan to read through "Fog" by Carl...
Curated OER
Introduction to Modernist Poetry
Students examine the concept of modernism. They analyze different modern poetists writings and identify the context in which the poems were written. They write poems of their own to complete the activity.
Curated OER
Poetry Coffeehouse
This resource contains a vague plan for a poetry unit conducted at an elementary school during the month of February. Although this plan does not included detailed instructional strategies, this does outline a basic unit, some creative...
Curated OER
Sound poems
Third graders write a class poem based on the use of sound to create effects. They investigate use of onomatopoeia and how to write in a tight structure.
Curated OER
Giving with Imagination
Demonstrate gift giving as an act of caring about someone versus gifts for show (or gifts from the purse). Elementary learners practice giving gifts from the heart by creating a poem for someone special to them.
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: Ode Poem
Walt Whitman's "Captain, My Captain" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" provide seventh graders with examples of odes. After reading and discussing these and other examples, young poets craft an ode and respond to the ode of a...
Baylor College
Body Strength
Your young learners will discover how muscular strength and endurance can increase with this truly hands-on activity! Beginning by writing an acrostic for the word strength, class members then engage in tracking their ability to squeeze...
Novelinks
The House on Mango Street: Biopoem
Young poets demonstrate their understanding of a character from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street by crafting a biopoem that captures the essence of this person.
EngageNY
Peer Critique: Use of Evidence in the Two-Voice Poem
Peer editors review critique expectations before offering feedback on each other's two-voice poems. They record their feedback on peer critique recording forms, and then begin revising their poems.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Sor Juana, la poetisa: Los sonetos
Examine two of Sor Juana's sonnets in depth. Learners first listen to an audio recording or a reading of the sonnets and then analyze the structure and form, paying attention to elements of the Baroque and el gongorismo. Assess student...
EngageNY
Peer Critique of “Inside Out” and “Back Again” Poems
Class members closely examine the use of words in the poems "Inside Out" and "Back Again" to determine if different words would create more powerful poetry. They then conduct peer reviews of the poems they created and offer suggestions...
Curated OER
Definition Poems
“Hope is a tissue, wiping away your problems and fears.” Use a Definition Poem Web worksheet to model for your class how to craft a free verse poem based on an emotion. After brainstorming topics, groups use the sheet to make comparisons...
Curated OER
The Raven
After a close reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" individuals copy the rhythm and rhyme scheme and rewrite the final stanzas of the poem.
Curated OER
Clicking Your Way to Poetry: Composing Word Association Poems with the Visual Thesaurus
Use a Visual Thesaurus to compose word association poems. Discuss poetry and word association, create word maps, then practice creating poems based on playful word associations. A perfect way to celebrate "Poem in Your Pocket Day" (April...
Curated OER
Poetry SLAM: Youth Verse Competition
Use this model, based on urban youth poetry competitions, to create an engaging venue for your poets to share their work out loud, with expression. Build class community, have fun, and celebrate your authors' original verse. Resource is...
Curated OER
The Poetry Archive
Listening to poems about feeling lonely and feeling like an outsider set the stage for a group activity that focuses on Stevie Smith's "Not Waving But Drowning." Groups examine the three stanzas of Smith's poem separately and identify in...
Curated OER
Impersonating Great Poets Using "Science Verse" by Jon Scieszka
A great way to bring poetry and parody into your language arts classroom, this lesson mimics famous poems based on Jon Scieszka's Science Verse. The activity not only allows the class to see examples of poem parodies, but to create their...
Curated OER
Symphonic Poetry
Young scholars interpret the themes in Tchaikovsky's Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, create a 6-line poem based on the themes in the Romeo and Juliet Fantasy Overture, and define musical terms related to the study of programmatic...
Curated OER
From Light to Dark and Back
Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
Lincoln is in the House! ("Name-Dropping" Poems and the Power of Connotation)
“What’s in a name?” Just about everything. Barack Obama, Vincent van Gogh, Justin Bieber. Famous names evoke a multitude of reactions and poets often use the names of famous people in their works precisely because names carry...
Poetry Society
The Jumblies
Who would ever think to go to sea in a sieve? Only Edward Lear's Jumblies! The poem "The Jumblies" is the inspiration for these poetry reading and writing activities that ask learners to think about how strangers are different, consider...
Curated OER
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells
Students read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...
Curated OER
Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades
Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.