Curated OER
Character Poems Self-Assessment
Use this worksheet to help your learners reflect on their work on a characterization assignment. They answer five questions about personality traits of the character of their choice as supported by the poem.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a “Backward” Poem
If you like poetry, wait till you try backward poetry! Young writers read Shel Silverstein's "Backward Bill" before writing their own funny poems that are full of backward imagery and phrasing.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem
What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.
Kansas Poets
Persona Poem
Young poets are asked to craft a poem in the voice of a first person narrator, a dramatic monologue of sorts, that reveals not only a dramatic situation but something of the narrator's character as well.
EngageNY
Analyzing Character: Who is Lyddie?
Character analysis can help readers feel more connected to a literary text. Scholars explore the topic by writing an acrostic poem about the main character from Katherine Paterson's novel, Lyddie. Then, pupils watch a short video to help...
Curated OER
Biopoem Strategy as Part of a Character Analysis for Of Mice and Men
Readers of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men will learn much “more than what (is) said to them” as they use the biopoem format and craft a poem about one of the major characters in Steinbeck’s tragic story of Geroge Milton and Lennie...
Curated OER
Novel Character Study
Students complete a character study using a database to compile information from a novel. They design a five slide presentation highlighting the character's reaction to different situations in the book. They write an acrostic poem using...
Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 1: Poem
While originally created to accompany The Cay, this poetry lesson could be used on it's own, especially if you are working on dialect. Class members conduct a close reading of "When Malindy Sings" by Paul Laurence Dunbar and listen to an...
Curated OER
Character Analysis Chart
This versatile graphic organizer could be used alongside any novel, poem, play, or story through which your class in studying character. Class members can get characters straight or describe particular characters in more detail with this...
EngageNY
Writing, Critique, and Revising: Two-Voice Poems (Chapter 14: "Las Ucas/Grapes")
Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....
ReadWriteThink
Diamante Poems
The blank page can be a huge hurdle to overcome when writing a poem. Take that hurdle away with an interactive format that enables pupils to write elegant diamante poems. After they add the first and last words in two separate fields,...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...
Curated OER
Maniac Magee: Found Poem
Instruct your readers to scrounge through the pages of Maniac Magee in search for descriptive passages or words they may use to write poetry. As they look for meaningful, sensory descriptors in Jerry Spinelli's novel, readers connect to...
Teacher's Corner
Diamonte (dee-a-MON-tay)
Did you say a diamonte? Ask your young poets to craft and polish this gem of a form poem. The fifth in a series of ten poetry writing exercises.
KIPP 3D Academy
Epic Poetry Unit
The Odyssey is the core text in this unit study of the hero's journey motif. Along the way, kids research Greek and Roman history, mythology, art, and epic poetry. The 104-page packet is perfect for homeschool or classroom situations and...
Curated OER
Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost
Middle schoolers investigate and explore the poems of Robert Frost. They read and discuss poems by Frost, define narrative and personal, write narratives in a journal, and present a dramatic reading of a poem to the class.
K20 LEARN
It’s Never Too Late to Apologize: Character Development and Theme in “The Scarlet Ibis”
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,"...
Curated OER
Looking North Of The Greek World: The Slavic Folk Poetry of The Balkans
Showing how folk poetry keeps alive national heritage is the stated goal of this proposal for a unit on the poetry of the Balkans.
Curated OER
Acrostic Poetry to Teach Font Changes and Centering
Students engage in a discussion about how to write an acrostic poem. They demonstate the ability to use a word processor by typing an acrostic poem by following instructions. Word processing skills such as, centering text, changing font,...
Curated OER
Understanding Character
Readers practice character analysis by reviewing Gary Soto's short story "La Bamba" with the whole class (anything you've read together will work). They design t-shirts that feature traits and story elements to reveal the nature of a...
Curated OER
Handout #3-Setting Found Poems
What is a Found Poem? Use excerpts of the setting presented in John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men to inspire Found Poetry. An explanation is given, and the second page houses an example of a Found Poem inspired by Black Boy, but you'll...
Curated OER
Goals and Perseverance
Define the word perseverance to have learners understand why it is important in reaching goals. Young scholars research how Martin Luther King needed perseverance to accomplish his goals. They write acrostic poems using the word...
Curated OER
Character in a Box
Partners choose, research, and analyze fictional or historical characters and design character life boxes to represent them. They also compose a rhyme royal, which they understand inductively by deconstructing examples. Based largely on...
Curated OER
A Poem for Two Voices for Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Poems For Two Voices are a great resource in any language arts classroom, whether you are studying poetry or not. Focusing on The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, this lesson prompts young authors to write a Poem For Two Voices...