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Writing
DLTK

Writing Limericks

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
Scholars are lucky to stretch their poetry writing muscles with a worksheet that challenges them to compose two limericks—one about a boy and the other about a dog. 
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Activity
Facing History and Ourselves

Bio-poem: Connecting Identity and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Writing a bio-poem is a great way to have young scholars go below the surface and reflect on who or what has made them who they are. Check out this richly detailed lesson that provides step-by-step directions for crafting a bio-poem.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Memorial Day Poster Poem

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Does your class know about the meaning of Memorial Day? Discuss the history of the holiday in this lesson, which prompts elementary and middle schoolers to create word webs of ideas about the holiday. Additionally, they create poems...
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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

War and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing a Historical Poem

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students work together to research a historical event. They create their own poems based on their research. They share their poems with the class and discuss the historical event further.
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Activity
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Black Laws" by Roger Reeves

For Teachers 6th - 12th
After investigating the Black Lives Matter movement, class members do a close read of Roger Reeves' "Black Laws." They write down words and phrases that rhyme, consider the kinds of rhymes used and their function in the poem. Scholars...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning." They...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Discovering Angel Island: The Story Behind the Poems

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...
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Lesson Plan
Anti-Defamation League

Social Justice Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Learners gain insight into how songs and poems express feelings of injustice. They also learn about literary devices and types of poems and make a personal connection when they write their own free verse poems about injustice.
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

St. Patrick's Day Old School Limerick Writing

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Bring in Poetry Month a little early with a little St. Patrick's Day rhythm and rhyme.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Rhythms in Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Rhyme, rhythm, free verse, imagery: Do these words describe poetry, or jazz music? The answer is both! A resource explores these similarities as scholars watch a video, engage in discussion, read author biographies, write poetry and...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Poetry of Liberation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
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...
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Worksheet
Teacher's Guide

Valentine's Day Acrostic Poem

For Students K - 6th Standards
L is for loving this Valentine's day acrostic poem in which class members use letters from the word love to guide their creative writing. Four different versions for you or your scholars to choose from make this poetry activity a win for...
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Lesson Plan
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Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation

Making Your Mark: Free Verse Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Using the insight they have gained into the experiences of detainees at the Angel Island Immigration Station, young poets create their own free verse poems that they feel captures what it may have felt like to be an immigrant interned on...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Biographical Poems

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Students write a biographical poem about themselves. They observe a teacher-led demonstration, write an autobiographical poem and a biographical poem about a famous person using a template form, and display the poems side-by-side.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Tamales on Christmas" by Christian Robinson

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
A lesson spotlights the poem "Tamales on Christmas" by Christian Robinson. Scholars discuss their favorite foods and then examine a lively picture of a family preparing tamales. After listening to the poem twice, learners participate in...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Alice Paul" by Katharine Rolston Fisher

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Powerful women need not look like Wonder Woman. After writing a paragraph about a strong woman they know, young scholars examine images of Alice Paul and then do a close reading of Katharine Rolston Fisher's poem "Alice Paul." Finally,...
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Lesson Plan
Crafting Freedom

George Moses Horton: Crafting Virtual Freedom Through Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
What is "virtual freedom"? How about "enslaved entrepreneurship"? Class members will learn about these terms and much more as they read the poems and examine the life of George Moses Horton.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry of War and Peace

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read and discuss the poem "In Flanders Fields," then write poems evoking images of peacetime. They practice the techniques of writing poetry while using textual imagery to create visual images.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
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Lesson Plan
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Facing History and Ourselves

Speaking Up and Speaking Out

For Teachers 6th - 12th
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Palm of My Heart: Poetry By African American Children

For Teachers 1st - 6th
Elementary students explore African American culture by reading children's poetry. They read the book, The Palm of My Heart which features poetry by an assortment of young African American boys and girls. Students define several...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Playing Vocabulary Basketball

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Learners view a slide show featuring famous athletes and educational institutions that have played a part in the history of basketball. They participate in a game in which a basketball is tossed from person to person as facts and...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "November 2: Día De Los Muertos" By Alberto Ríos

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
Scholars examine a colorful and detailed picture, then view an engaging video in preparation for reading the poem "November 2: Día De Los Muertos" by Alberto Ríos. Learners discuss their observations, feelings conveyed, and the...

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