National Endowment for the Humanities
In Emily Dickinson's Own Words: Letters and Poems
Analyze the depth and beauty of American Literature by reading Emily Dickinson's letters and poems. The class analyzes Dickinson's poetic style and discusses Thomas Wentworth Higginson's editorial relationship with Dickinson. They pay...
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...
Curated OER
The Poetry of Chinese Immigration
Numerous people from China immigrated to the US during the era of industrialization and expansion. Provide your class with a glimpse into the life of a Chinese immigrant through the poetry they left behind. They then compose a poem of...
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Found Poem Worksheet
If you're teaching your class about the cycle of life and want to include a poetry element, consider this exercise. It provides a link to a Found Poem (a poem created from others' words, but an original idea) that includes words...
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A Sad Song about Greenwich Village: Poetry Analysis
This is a nice learning exercise for beginner poetry explicators. The poem, "A Sad Song about Greenwich Village" provides the avenue for exploring rhyme, paraphrasing, interesting diction, description, main idea, and title.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Practical Criticism
As an introduction to literary criticism, class members recreate I.A. Richards' close reading experiment. Individuals select a poem, paraphrase the story, focus on the imagery used, consider what the imagery adds to the tale, and...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You
Middle schoolers complete a unit of lessons that explore the poetic voice of Langston Hughes. They define voice, read and analyze various poems by Langston Hughes, and complete journal entries for each instructional activity.
Curated OER
Preparing for Poetry: A Reader's First Steps
Learners examine denotation and connotation in language, and paraphrase a poem. They read and analyze a sonnet by iam Shakespeare, analyze the attitude and tone, paraphrase a poem, and create a thesis about a poem based on textual evidence.
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Lesson 3: A Poem's Theme
Leaf by Leaf: Autumn Poems by Barbara Rogasky is the foundation of this lesson on theme identification. Critical thinkers read three different poems from the book then attempt to find the message the author is sending her readers. They...
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Poetry Introduction: Reading Strategy and Response
Fifth graders analyze a poem. In this poetry analysis lesson plan students read a poem, analyze it, and write a response. They write about their own thoughts on the poem's meaning and any feelings they have about the poem.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Walt Whitman to Langston Hughes: Poems for a Democracy
Explore the idea of democratic poetry. Upper graders read Walt Whitman, examining daguerreotypes, and compare Whitman to Langston Hughes. They describe aspects of Whitman's I Hear America Singing to Langston Hughes' Let America Be...
Curated OER
Poetry Reading and Analysis Worksheet - As You Like It
Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each...
Curated OER
African Phoenix: Poetry Worksheet
"African Phoenix" is a poem with strong imagery and voice. The class will read two poems then draw an image of what they feel the poems mean. This is a good way to spark critical analysis.
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Poetry Reading and Analysis Worksheet
"Things are not what they seem" in this poetry activity, which discusses Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's "A Psalm of Life." Your students will see the world through the eyes of the transcendentalists after analyzing the meaning, context,...
Alabama Learning Exchange
Poetry-English 9
Are your readers lost in the world of poetry? Show them this basic presentation to study elements of a poem. They learn the importance of the title, paraphrasing, connotation, tone, shifts, and theme.
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Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem
Students analyze poetry. In this cultural perspectives lesson, students read the poem "Soccer Until Dusk" by Mark Brazaitis. Students analyze the poem and consider the cultural perspective it reveals.
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Natural Similarities and Opposites in Two Poems by Joseph Ceravolo
In this antonyms and synonyms instructional activity, students look in two short poems by Joseph Ceravolo to find opposite or contradictory statements that express many sides of a feeling. Students answer 25 short answer questions about...
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Poetry Cyberbook
Emerging poets design a website and then post seven original poems as well as their written critique of these poems. Although the resource mentions Inspiration and FrontPage technologies, any software could be substituted.
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"The Great Figure": Theme of Technology and Modernization
Learners respond to four short answer and essay questions based on themes in the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams. The poem itself is not included, but the questions could lead to some very interesting class...
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"The Great Figure": Theme of Time
Click on and read the poem "The Great Figure" by William Carlos Williams, and then answer the four short answer and essay questions based on themes therein. A link to the summary and analysis questions is also included.
Curated OER
Using Pre-reading Strategies: Infer
Use this resource to support your class practicing inference with poetry and visual art. The plan calls for an examination of "The Scream" by Edvard Munch and the "Mona Lisa" to promote speculation about artist's intent. From there, it...
Curated OER
Fire and Ice Questions
After reading "Fire and Ice," have your class answer these seven thought-provoking questions. Some questions ask readers to connect with the text while others require the learner to reference the text in order to provide an answer.
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"Playing in the Snow" - Reading Comprehension (Poem)
Have your English language learners puzzle through this activity. Class members read the incomplete poem about playing in the snow and use the given words to complete poem. This is challenging since some of the spaces are ambiguous. Ask...
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CTBS Reading Practice #1
Expose your class to a variety of excerpts of poetry with a reading practice activity. There are four excerpts from different poems included in this resource; there are three to five related questions for each poem. Learners read each...