Curated OER
What Is Poetry?
The first lesson of 12 in a poetry unit asks class members to develop their own definition of poetry. After crafting a response, they examine a variety of examples and decide if the resources are or are not poems.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "The Metier of Blossoming" by Denise Levertov
Poetry analysis need not be a lugubrious exercise for young learners. The approach used with Denise Levertov's poem, "The Metier of Blossoming" is one of close observation, of noticing and reflecting on the words, phrases, and images the...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “Crisscross” by Arthur Sze
Arthur Sze's poem "Crisscross" launches a activity that asks scholars to use their observation skills. They first draw an image that reflects what crisscross means to them. They then examine a photograph of a lightning strike and list...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Instructions on Not Giving Up" by Ada Limón
What do the myth of the phoenix bird and Ada Limón's poem "Instructions on Not Giving Up" have in common? Young scholars create a list of what they notice about both the myth and poem, then consider what the similarities might indicate...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by E. E. Cummings
Scholars engage in a role-play exercise, compare their demonstration to a time-lapse video, and to a poem by E.E. Cummings. The ensuing discussion asks learners to consider the similarities among the three.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" by Ed Roberson
A free write, an image of magnolia leaves, and the Ed Roberson's poem "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" ask scholars to use their noticing skills to reflect on the lesson plan beauty teaches about loss and grief.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth
William Wordsworth's poem "Lines Written in Early Spring" lets learners sharpen their observation skills. Class members first closely examine the image "Flowers in Front of an Abandoned House in Demerino, Russia," listing what they...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Know Your Literature Genres
Open the library for young readers by introducing them to the main genres and sub-genres. A podcast and two presentations identify the characteristics of the different genres. Groups then sort through a box of books and, using evidence...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
Character Changes Lesson and iPad Assignment
Round, flat, static, dynamic. As part of a characterization study, scholars review the different types of characters and create a slide show demonstrating how a dynamic character in a story they have read changes throughout the tale.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: Leadership and a Global Stage
Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is, among other things, the study of a ruler's ambitions. Young scholars watch videos, read articles, and keep a Commonplace Book while studying the play. At the end of Act III, pupils stage the play that...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: Assess
To assess what scholars have learned throughout a five-lesson poetry unit, seventh graders first craft a Shakespearean sonnet based on a poem they have studied. In part two of the assessment, scholars complete a four-texts performance task.
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: Sonnet Poem
Two sonnets provide seventh graders with examples of Shakespearean sonnets. After discussing the story of the poems and analyzing their rhyme scheme and rhythm, young poets craft a Shakespearian sonnet and share their work with two...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: Ode Poem
Walt Whitman's "Captain, My Captain" and Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" provide seventh graders with examples of odes. After reading and discussing these and other examples, young poets craft an ode and respond to the ode of a...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: Metaphor Poem
The second lesson in a five-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to construct a metaphor poem. First, pupils examine Emily Dickinson's "The Railway Train" and identify the metaphor. They then select an object and an animal and craft a...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
7th Grade Poetry: I Am Poem
A study of Alfred Noyes's poem "The Highwayman" opens a lesson plan about narrative poetry. Scholars read the poem and compare it to the animated video version using a worksheet. Learners look at models and use a template to craft an "I...
!["From Citizen, VI [On the Train the Woman Standing]," Claudia Rankine Lesson Plan](http://content.lessonplanet.com/resources/thumbnails/456347/large/u2nyzwvuc2hvdf8ymdizltazlte3x2f0xzeyljexljq2x1bnlnbuzw.png?1679080322 "\"From Citizen, VI [On the Train the Woman Standing],\" Claudia Rankine Lesson Plan")
National Endowment for the Humanities
"From Citizen, VI [On the Train the Woman Standing]," Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine's poem "From Citizen, VI [On the Train the Woman Standing]," asks readers to consider direct and more subtle forms of prejudice. After discussing the format of the poem, its tone, and the emotions expressed, class members...
Academy of American Poets
Incredible Bridges: “Cotton Candy” by Edward Hirsch
Read it, hear it, see it, do it! Young poets experience Edward Hirsch's memory poem, "Cotton Candy," by first closely reading the poem silently, then aloud, watching a video of the poet reading it, and crafting their memory poem of an...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: Assess
Eighth graders craft a Petrarchan sonnet and respond to a performance assessment to demonstrate what they have learned in this five-activity poetry unit.
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: A to Z Poem
A two-part instructional activity asks eighth graders first to draw connections between the myth of Aengus and William Butler Yeats' poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus." In the second part of the instructional activity, writers craft an...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: Sonnet Poem
The third lesson of five in an eighth-grade poetry unit has young scholars comparing Shakespearean sonnets with Petrarchan sonnets. To begin, they examine the different structures of the two forms and their different rhyme schemes. After...
Biology Junction
Cell Reproduction
Cycles exist throughout nature, and the cell cycle compares to a life cycle of any other living being. A worksheet and presentation discuss the concepts of cell reproduction through the cell cycle. They cover each phase individually and...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: Catalog Poem
After conducting a close reading of Billy Collin's poem "Forgetfulness" and responding to questions on a worksheet, young poets craft catalog poems and share their work with a partner. The lesson ends with the partner using the provided...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: Narrative Poem
The first lesson of a five-lesson unit designed for eighth graders has class members reading and watching a video of Edgar Allen Poe's narrative poem, "The Raven." They then craft their narrative poem, illustrate it, and share their work...
Teach Engineering
Cosmic Rhythm
Young engineers turn poets with a hands-on activity that challenges them to apply the concept of rhythm to crafting a poem.