PBS
Exploring Selected Haiku by Issa
If your class doesn't know what a haiku is, show them two examples from the Japanese poet Issa (both included here), and have them make some observations. How long are they? What is the structure? A video and a list of questions help...
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
Curated OER
"Forms" of Poetry
Poetry isn't all sonnets and rhyming couplets! Introduce your class to three fun types of poetry: shape poems, acrostic poems, and diamante poems. Each type is explained, and an example is provided. Challenge your class to write one in...
Curated OER
Dance: Sharp and Smooth Energy Qualities
Students use different qualities of movement to express themselves. In this lesson on movement, students use different qualities of energy and then use their experience as an inspiration for writing poetry.
Curated OER
Nurture Poetry
Students create a poetry book. In this poetry lesson, students write a cinquain poem, name poem, haiku, limerick, and preposition poem. Â
Curated OER
Out of the Dust: Background notes about the novel, The Great Depression, and The Dust Bowl
If your class is reading the historical fiction novel, Out of the Dust, then you are in luck. Here are a few slides that will help you provide historical context for the book, as well as define main characters, setting, symbolism, and...
Curated OER
St. Patrick's Day Old School Limerick Writing
Bring in Poetry Month a little early with a little St. Patrick's Day rhythm and rhyme.
Curated OER
Poetry Workshop: Fixed Form Poems
Encourage the poetic genius in your young creative writers with a poetry workshop. Fix form poems (cinquains acrostic poems, octopoems, hello/goodbye poems) provide a framework and encourage vocabulary development as well as an awareness...
Curated OER
Camels Theme Unit
In this Camel themed worksheet, learners create an alliteration, an acrostic poem, and work with similes. The unit consist of three pages of language arts work, based on Camels.
Education Oasis
Creative Writing Unit: Analyzing, Interpreting, Discussing and Writing Various Genres of African-American Literature
A six-week unit takes high schoolers through various works of African-American literature, including poems, plays, and short stories. The lesson plan format includes a week-by-week description of activities, goals, materials, and...
Curated OER
Paper Cranes
Paper folding is a great art form that can be incorporated into cultural, mathematic, and art lessons. This resource includes the full instructions needed to fold a paper crane, as well as a Haiku poetry idea. Tip: This activity would be...
Curated OER
Acronyms--Characters in The Hobbit
Have your class create acrostic poems for characters in The Hobbit. First, define acronyms and work together to complete sample acronyms for their own first names. Students then research specific characters in the novel and create...
Curated OER
Computer Lesson
The writing of Haiku poems is the focus of this language arts lesson. In it, the basic elements of Haiku poetry are presented, and then a step-by-step set of instructions on how to create a Haiku poem along with an illustration is...
Curated OER
Whittling Out Haiku
Inspired by magazine photos, your young writers hone word choices to create a meaningful haiku. Charged with brainstorming 100 words associated with a photo of their choosing, they whittle their list to the top 10%, make three sentences...
Curated OER
Haiku and Cinquain
As you introduce your scholars to haiku and cinquain poetry, give them plenty of opportunity to practice. This brief worksheet gives an example of each, then scaffolds the syllable breakdowns for writers to create two poems of their own...
Curated OER
Different Types of Poetry
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,...
Curated OER
"Feathers"
Students examine the character traits of kindness and responsibility using the book "Feathers" by Heather Forest. They play a "Mystery Bag" game with feathers, and answer story comprehension questions. Students then complete an acrostic...
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
Poetry Vocabulary
Consisting of a thorough and straightforward list of poetry terminology, the first part of this presentation would be a good introduction to a poetry unit, or a review for an upcoming poetry project. The list of terms is quite extensive,...
Curated OER
Friendship Cinquains
Learners discover that a cinquain is a simple five-line poem that follows a pattern. They interview a friend and use what they learn to write a cinquain about that person. As an added touch, each of the poems are written inside the shape...
Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian In Your Classroom: The Music in Poetry
Take poetry off the page and put it into terms of movement, physical space and, finally, music with this series of three lessons from the Smithsonian Institution. This resource introduces students to two poetic forms that originated as...
Curated OER
Creating a Peace Poem
Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. For this lesson on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to express their...
Curated OER
Lesson 1 - Expressing Ourselves in Writing
Students write Haiku poetry as they learn to express themselves in writing. In this written expression lesson, students use the writing process to develop their ideas in poetic form. They write about a picture or object that they bring...
Curated OER
Listening to Poetry: Sounds of the Sonnet
Students investigate how sound influences meaning in poetry by listening to sonnets. They write an analysis after listening to and reading sonnets.