Worksheet
Curated OER

Natural Similarities and Opposites in Two Poems by Joseph Ceravolo

For Students 5th - 6th
In this antonyms and synonyms learning exercise, 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 the...
Lesson Plan
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Virtual) Poetry Slam

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create a "virtual poetry slam." This project can easily be implemented at any grade level where students have created short pieces of personal writing. They write, edit, and revise a short piece of poetry or personal writing.
Lesson Plan
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Personal Poetry Books

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Learners work in the classroom and in the computer lab to produce a Personal Poetry Book.
Lesson Plan
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Famous Poems and Poets: Enjoy the World of Words

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Class members select a culture from a provided list and research the customs, beliefs, traditions, clothing, and environment of this group. They then create an idea web and craft this information into a poem. The lesson is short on...
Lesson Plan
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Deciphering the Mechanics of Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
After a review of poetic terms, groups are given an object and they create a poem using a simile, a metaphor, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, and personification. Groups then exchange objects and repeat the process. Consider...
Lesson Plan
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Creative Writing: Haiku

For Teachers 8th
Haikus by Basho, Buson, Issa, and Shiki are used as models for a brief lecture on the importance of poetry in Japan's history and the structure of this poetic form. Students then go on a nature walk, record impressions, and return to the...
Lesson Plan
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Creepy Read Week

For Teachers 8th
Here's a clever technology twist to writing in the round. Participants rotate through a series of computers adding to stories and editing by keystroke and mouse click. "Locked" forms prevent the loss of stories filled with suspense and...
Lesson Plan
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Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices by Paul Fleischman

For Teachers 1st - 3rd
Do your young readers know that poems can be performed as a team? They listen to a few examples from Paul Fleischman's book Joyful Noise: Poems for Two Voices, paying attention to how the how readers work together....
Lesson Plan
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Animal Acrostic

For Teachers 2nd - 5th
In this animal acrostic worksheet, students read a short poem. Afterward, they answer questions about the poem and then write their own acrostic poetry. Students share their poetry with a friend, and guess what type of animal is described.
Lesson Plan
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Guided Reading: Three Little Pigs (Plus Wolf: Javalinas)

For Teachers K - 3rd
Guide your class through reading various versions of The Three Little Pigs. Talk about the traditional story line and then discuss a different point of view: Maybe the wolf was just an innocent bystander! This lesson plan, which has...
Lesson Plan
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Poetry Cyberbook

For Teachers 8th
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. 
Lesson Plan
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"Leap, plashless": Emily Dickinson & Poetic Imagination

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students examine different poems from Emily Dickinson. They practice listening for meter in the poems and make connections between the texts. They also practice their own creative writing skills.
Lesson Plan
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Introduction to Modernist Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
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 lesson plan.
Lesson Plan
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Mini Beasts and Dialect

For Teachers 5th - 6th Standards
Discover the differences in dialect. Inquisitive minds read poems and discuss how words or phrases are different in standard English and other dialects. Using a dictionary, class members locate the definition of each word, find...
Lesson Plan
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1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...
Lesson Plan
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Learning Refrain and Verse

For Teachers 1st
Instruct your young musicians on the terms verse and refrain. They listen to two songs, and point out the verse and refrain as they occur. Students then play drums when they hear the verse and the refrain. Note: Song lyrics, sheet music,...
Lesson Plan
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Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
Worksheet
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"The Great Figure": Theme of Technology and Modernization

For Students 8th - Higher Ed Standards
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...
Worksheet
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"The Great Figure": Theme of Time

For Students 8th - 12th Standards
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. 
Lesson Plan
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Introduction to Poetry Lesson Plan

For Teachers 7th - 10th
Analyze poetry in a group setting. Middle and high schoolers read lyrics to a Tom Petty song and free write about the song's tone, setting, and speaker. They then complete the same activity in a group setting using seven poems. The...
Lesson Plan
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Poetry Walk

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Explore with your class the purposes and author's intents for poetry titles. First you read several brief poems to the class and discuss how the authors may have chosen the titles. Then small groups read title-less poems posted around...
Lesson Plan
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Using Pre-reading Strategies: Infer

For Teachers 8th - 12th
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...
Lesson Plan
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Lyrics Analysis Guide

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Assist your learners as they unravel the wonders of lyric analysis. This resource breaks down the analysis process by hook, verse, and chorus. Each is briefly defined and is used to look at any song's lyrics in a systematic way.
Worksheet
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What's Important to You?

For Students 2nd - 4th Standards
What are the most important things to your second graders? Learners read the poem "There Isn't Time" as inspiration to list things that are important to them. They list five things they would like to do in order of priority....