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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Sweet and Savory Writing: Descriptive Writing

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Nose Like a Cherry: Understanding Similes and Metaphors

For Teachers 7th - 8th Standards
Clement Moore's "Twas the Night Before Christmas" models the power of descriptive language for middle schoolers. They identify the similes and metaphors in the tale and consider what these descriptions add to the story's emotional...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

My Love Is Like Figurative Language: Figurative Language in Romeo and Juliet

For Teachers 9th Standards
My love is like an anaconda. Huh? Scholars investigate similes, metaphors, hyperbole, and personification used by writers to express feelings. They examine lyrics from songs and lines from Romeo and Juliet and consider how the use of...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

It’s Never Too Late to Apologize: Character Development and Theme in “The Scarlet Ibis”

For Teachers 9th Standards
Sometimes saying I'm sorry just doesn't cut it. Scholars examine a series of apology poems, songs, and stories and consider each speaker's regrets. Using what they have learned, they analyze James Hurst's short story, "The Scarlet Ibis,"...
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Lesson Plan
Global Oneness Project

The Importance of Indigenous Language Revitalization

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Middle schoolers consider languages as representations of cultures and the importance of preserving various languages, especially the rapidly disappearing languages of indigenous peoples, in a lesson plan that tells the story of Marie...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

You Think You Have Problems: Perspective in Multi-Genre Literature

For Teachers 10th - 11th Standards
Young scholars are asked to reflect on how personal experiences might influence points of view and perspectives. They read poems and biographies of the poets and then match the poem to the poet. To justify their matches, learners...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Where I'm From: Poetry

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
We carry memories of where we're from; tweens and teens can capture these memories by first listening to several memory poems and then crafting their own. They analyze literary devices other poets use, brainstorm a list of images they...
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Unit Plan
1
1
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Anne Frank’s Tales from the Secret Annex Teacher Guide

For Teachers 7th Standards
Frequently banned, often challenged, a mainstay of middle school curriculum, Tales from the Secret Annex, is the featured text in the seventh unit in the Teacher Guide Core Knowledge Program. The 134-page guide includes an introduction,...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Incredible Bridges: “Translation for Mamá” by Richard Blanco

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Who or what do you miss? That's the question that launches an activity that asks writers to craft a paragraph filled with sensory details that shows how they feel. Next, they listen to Richard Blanco reading his poem, "Translation for...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Brushstrokes: Communication/Using Descriptive Language

For Teachers 7th - 11th Standards
Sometimes a picture reflects a thousand descriptive words. To illustrate the importance of sensory words in descriptive writing, scholars listen to a song and craft a painting in response. After sharing their work with the class,...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

A Multimodal Approach To Edgar Allan Poe Using Drawing To Understand An Author's Style

For Teachers 8th Standards
True! Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" makes readers nervous. But how? Young scholars create a drawing while listening to a reading of Poe's eerie tale to understand how writers create the mood of their stories and what their writing style...
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Activity
PBS

Reading Adventure Pack: Money

For Parents 3rd Standards
Money is the topic of a reading adventure pack. Third graders read two books—one fiction, one non-fiction—and complete a series of activities. Learners draw an item they wish to save money for, examine coins to start a collection, and...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a  poem on the same subject...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pandemic Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Links to other pandemic poems are provided in the optional extensions
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Unit Plan
Trinity University

Framing Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The big idea in this poetry unit plan is that structure and content work together to create meaning. Class members learn how to identify and mark the metrical patterns and line lengths used in poems. They study the structure of various...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Learning for Justice

Maya Angelou

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise", offers young scholars an opportunity to consider how poets use literary devices to create powerful messages. After a close reading and discussion of the poem, class members reflect on how they can...
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Unit Plan
Academy of American Poets

Voice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Four lessons make up a poetry unit that introduces high schoolers to spoken and written poetry. Class members also examine poems as social commentary and connect these poems to various novels and plays. A great way to incorporate poetry...
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Unit Plan
Simon & Schuster

Classroom Activities for The Odyssey by Homer

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
A 15-page packet details three activities designed to engage scholars in Homer's The Odyssey. As they read, pupils use a graphic organizer to record examples of several literary terms found in The Odyssey and contemporary culture. Groups...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Mid-Unit 2 Assessment: Analyzing a New Narrative about a Natural Disaster, Part I

For Teachers 5th Standards
Scholars complete a mid-unit assessment by analyzing a narrative text, In the Middle of the Storm. Learners determine the gist of the text, identify synonyms, make inferences, and answer text-dependent questions to demonstrate...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Analyzing Images and Language: Inferring about the Natural Disaster in Eight Days

For Teachers 5th Standards
Pictures often reveal different meanings. Scholars analyze the images in Eight Days and discuss how they add meaning to the text. Readers answers questions about how specific colors are used to create different emotions. Learners then...
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Interactive
Arcademics

Furious Frogs

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
A multiplayer learning game challenges scholars to match words making antonym pairs. 
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Unit Plan
University of British Columbia

Pondering Poetry and Playing with Words

For Teachers 9th
First-year High school scholars explore the world of poetry with an 11-lesson unit that examines a range of poetry forms and tries their hand at crafting their own poems. Young poets then collect their work in a portfolio that they...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Introducing Metaphors Through Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Metaphors are word pictures, creating images in our brains that draw readers to consider how two seemingly unrelated items are alike. Poems by Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, and Naomi Shihad Nye provide learners with an opportunity to...
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Activity
Digital Public Library of America

The Poetry of Maya Angelou

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Maya Angelou's work reflects her passion for life, civil rights, and justice for all. A collection of 12 primary sources provide scholars with insight into this amazing woman. The set includes photographs, articles, recordings of...