Curated OER
Concrete Poems
Concrete poems, or shape poems as they are sometimes called, are the focus of the eighth lesson in this poetry unit. Young scholars examine several examples of concrete poems and consider how the shape contributes to the poem's meaning.
Curated OER
Personification
Spongebob Squarepants helps teach middle schoolers about personification! After discussing the human characteristics demonstrated by the cartoon character, scholars identify the personification in poems by Emily Dickinson and Langston...
Curated OER
Poetic Devices
Introduce middle schoolers to poetic devices with a instructional activity that asks them to find examples of alliteration, anaphora, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and personification in various poems. Young scholars craft examples...
Curated OER
Mood
Young scholars learn how to distinguish between the mood of a piece of writing (how the work makes the reader feel) and the tone (the writer's attitude toward the material) in the sixth lesson in a poetry unit. After watching two very...
Curated OER
Theme
A study of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If," launches a lesson about theme. Class members read Kipling's poem and poems by other seventh graders to identify the themes.
Curated OER
Revision
Young poets learn the value of using a thesaurus when crafting and revising poems. They examine poems rich in figurative language and then a revised version with the figurative language removed. To demonstrate what they have learned,...
Curated OER
Tone
Identifying the tone in a piece of writing can be tricky. Readers don't have the advantage of studying the images and colors used in a painting or the instruments and sounds of a song. The second instructional activity in this poetry...
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 lesson 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 what...
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 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...
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 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 Am"...
!["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...
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.