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Unit Plan
Trinity University

The Shakespearean Sonnet

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Looking for a great lesson to teach your class everything they need to know about Shakespearean sonnets? Here's such a lesson. "Sonnet #18" launches a study of the Shakespearean sonnet. Scholars watch two Prezi presentations that provide...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Poetry As Inspiration for Composition

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
A reading of Robert Frost’s "The Road Not Taken" launches an interdisciplinary study of the connection between the meters of a poem and a melody. After identifying the number of beats in each line of the poem, young musicians use...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Presidents Song

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....
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Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Poetry and Storytelling Café

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Introducing Poetry

For Teachers 7th Standards
A silent reading session permits class members to meet individually with their teacher to discuss their text. Learners then discuss and express their observations about two poetry quotes, recording thoughts about craftsmanship, forms of...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

That Doesn’t Sound Right to Me

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Does pajamas rhyme with llamas to you? If it does (and even if it doesn't), an online lesson on rewording poetry for regional pronunciation may be helpful for you and your students.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Playing With Your Food Poem Lesson

For Students 1st - 8th Standards
What's more fun than playing with your food? Writing a poem about it! A quick and straightforward lesson guides young writers through the steps of writing a funny, well-structured poem about combining sports and food.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Rhythm in Poetry: Okie Dokie, Here’s the Trochee

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Iambs and trochees may seem intimidating to some learners, but after reading a straightforward online lesson, they'll be masters of poetic feet! The lesson includes examples of trochaic poems from Edgar Allen Poe and William Blake.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Rhythm in Poetry: More Than Two Feet

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Want to put some feet in your head? Check out an online lesson about spondees, dactyls, and anapests to bring new structure to your poetic forms.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

Rhythm in Poetry: The Basics

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
What makes a great poem sound so good? Learn the rhythmic secrets of poetry with an explanatory online lesson.
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Lesson Plan
Education Closet

West Side Shifts

For Teachers 8th - 12th Standards
Combine math, language arts, music, and dance with an activity focused on "America" from West Side Story. After listening to the song, learners compare the film to Romeo and Juliet, analyze the song's meter, design choreography, plan...
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PPT
College of the Canyons

Free Verse

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Free verse poetry is often regarded as poetry without structure, but in reality, it is a poetic form that adheres to its own poet's thought and breath patterns. Delve into the rules and famous examples of free-verse poetry with a short...
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Lesson Plan
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region

Learning English through Poems and Songs

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Exposing learners to the power of words in poetry is a stimulating way to learn languages. Songs, haikus, rhyming words, and narrative works are all employed in a resource for teaching English as a Second Language.
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Worksheet
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Winterhill School

Poetry Analysis

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Gain greater insight into poems using a poetry analysis learning exercise. Here, scholars follow steps and answer questions to dissect any poem. Topics include the poem's meaning, theme, technique, and structure, as well as personal...
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Worksheet
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Curated OER

Poems: Identifying Patterns

For Students 3rd Standards
Here is a great worksheet that contains two short poems to compare and contrast. Children will read each poem out loud and then complete three comparative analysis questions which focus on rhyme, structure, and language. Note: The...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Different Types of Poetry

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Provide pupils samples of different types of poems including haikus, narrative, nonsense, shape, and rhyming poems. In groups, class members read the poems, establish their general meaning, identify poetic devices, and rate the poems,...
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Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too

For Teachers K - 12th
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sonnets

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Explore the concept of rhyme scheme within a Shakespearean sonnet. After writing out their favorite (appropriate!) rap song and explaining why they like it, middle schoolers define a rhyme scheme. Afterward, they examine a Shakespearean...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Annotating Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 7th
Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Beyond Words: Creating Poetry with Linguistically Diverse Students

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
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...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly

For Students 2nd - Higher Ed
Here is an entertaining way to introduce your language learners to several significant grammatical structures. The children’s rhyme, There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly, contains examples of noun and relative clauses for the class...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Animal Noises

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
The Spanish song, Vengan a Ver Mi Granja, provides young language learners an opportunity to expand their vocabulary. After listening to the sounds, class members name the animals and their habitats, construct puppets of the animals, and...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Arkansas State Anthem

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Does your state have an anthem? Consider using it to launch a study of poetic imagery. Class members research the poet, the history of the song, the images presented, the format, and the tone. Conclude with a class sing-along.  
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Using Creative Dramatics With the Teaching of Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Launch your poetry unit in a very dramatic way. Divide your class into groups, and give each group a different poem. After discussing the poem, each group member selects a stanza to study. The group then develops a skit that represents...