Residential College in the Arts and Humanities
Poetry Lesson Plans
Need some ideas for poetry lessons? Check out this packet loaded with suggestions for elementary, middle, and high school writers.
Curated OER
7th Grade Poetry Project
Ask your pupils to explore the sounds, forms, and language of poetry by putting together a portfolio of their own work. In a binder, learners collect the poems listed on the second page of the assignment sheet. Each individual creates a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“House by the Railroad”: A Painting and a Poem for the Common Core
Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading of the two...
Curated OER
Synonyms - How Authors Make Comparisons
A very good 13-slide presentation on similes and metaphors is here for you. It introduces young poets to each term, gives examples, and prompts them to work together to identify similes and metaphors in several different sentences.
Curated OER
Literary Terms
Seriously, 93 slides of literary terms? Yes, and well worth the time, although perhaps not all at once. The beauty here is in the concise, easy-to-understand definitions for such well-known terms as imagery and personification, as well...
Curated OER
Similes and Metaphors
Pupils examine poetry to identify the use of metaphors and similes after the teacher defines what they are. They decide how they can use similes and metaphors to describe different pieces of fruit. Finally, they write poetry about the...
Learning for Justice
Maya Angelou
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...
Curated OER
Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
Students examine how Tennyson and Noyes use words to paint vivid pictures. They read and analyze two poems, complete an online scavenger hunt, complete a worksheet, and write examples of alliteration, personification, metaphor, simile,...
Curated OER
Analyzing Poetry
Use this poetry analysis worksheet to help your learners understand a poem of their or your choosing. This resource asks class members to summarize the poem and analyze it by looking at voice, word choice, imagery, and theme. The...
Curated OER
Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
Students analyze poems by Tennyson and Noyes. They identify examples of alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, metaphor, and simile. Students create examples of alliteration, onomatopoeia, personification, metaphor, and simile.
Poetry4kids
Creativity Exercise - Describe the Sky
Scholars stretch their writing muscles with an exercise that asks them to describe the sky using similes and metaphors.
Curated OER
An Introduction to Poetry Using Color
Middle schoolers complete a variety of poems that focus on many different literary techniques and styles. As part of this experience, students share their portfolios with adults in the school and at home.
Curated OER
Similes, Metaphors, and Personification
Eighth graders explore figurative language, specifically focusing on similes, metaphors and personification. They work on the web to identify poems that demonstrate simile, metaphor, and personification, then analyze how it enhances...
Curated OER
Pictures in Words: Poems of Tennyson and Noyes
Eleventh graders describe and analyze the effects of poetry on readers. They participate in an Internet scavenger hunt, an exercise involving interpretation of poetry through visual art, and an opportunity for students to create their...
Curated OER
It's Not Always What It Seems to Be!
Students write metaphors. In this literary devices lesson, students discuss metaphors and how they are used in literature. Students read the poem "Song of a Dandelion Pushing up Through an Urban Sidewalk Crack" and determine any...
Curated OER
Painless Poetry
Students choose two poems they like and share them with the class. Then they write their own poems using various forms.
Curated OER
Emotion Similes
Students define what a simile is before writing a poem that is based primarily on similes. They brainstorm and write the poem using the give format. They write drafts, revise and present a final poem.
Curated OER
Fruit Writing
Students who have recently learned about similes and metaphors practice putting them in their writing. They get a better understanding of how similes and metaphors can be used by practicing the usage of them in their own personal...
Curated OER
Figurative Language
Students put poetic interpretations back together to explain the poem. Starting with cliches, students learn what various phrases mean. They analyze words, phrases and levels of meaning.
Gwinnett County Public Schools
Analysis of the Tuck Everlasting and The Birchbark House Text Exemplars
Looking to introduce some text-based questions into your ELA lessons? Practice the kinds of skills the Common Core demands with the seven text-based questions and the essay prompt provided here. Designed to be a three-day lesson, day one...