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
Alphabet Photo Book
Students brainstorm words that start with each letter of the alphabet, take digital pictures of words that start with assigned letter, and use iPhoto to create class alphabet book.
Curated OER
Narrative Writing for Publication
Seventh graders create an original narrative story in a diary or journal format involving a fictional character with conflict, plot, resolution and falling action within the story line. They follow the steps of the writing process with...
Curated OER
Alphabet Photo Book
Students use iPhoto to create a class alphabet book. After the teacher reads several alphabet books to the class, students brainstorm the names of objects that start with each letter of the alphabet.
Curated OER
Why Transition?
Help your class transition into better writers with this lesson plan, which guides them through the process of adding transitions to increase sentence fluency and organization. The activity is designed for a classroom with a SMART board,...
Curated OER
Revision Checklist for the Accordion Essay
Encourage your class to revise their writing and check over their work by requiring them to complete an organization checklist. The checklist, created specifically for a accordion-style essay, asks writers to look over their formatting,...
Write At Home
250 Ways to Say "Went"
Getting tired of seeing went over and over again in student writing? Banish boring verbs with a list of 250 different substitutes for that mundane word went. Organized in alphabetical order, words such as bustled, inched, and tottered...
Houston Teachers Institute
Alice in Wonderland: Nonsense and Logic in Literature
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland is known for its fantastical imagery and nonsense verse. This unit plan offers a basic exploration into nonsense verse through poetry and teacher read-alouds. It incorporates activities involving poetry...
Curated OER
Who's Confused? Not Me!
The class works together to tackle easily confused words. Each learner receives a word and he or she must create a flashcard with the following things: the word, its definition, an original sentence that uses the word, and a picture...
Curated OER
Grab Your Reader: Great Leads
Get your readers' attention with this Six Traits of Writing lesson plan. First, young writers draft ideas in an organized manner utilizing words, sentences, and multiple paragraphs. They also use voice to fit the purpose and audience and...
Curated OER
Eliminate Weak Verb-Adverb Combinations
Encourage your writers to use sob instead of cry loudly to trade in adverbs for strong verbs. Improve your middle and high schoolers' writing with this humorously written lesson which demonstrates how to remove excessive adverbs.
Curated OER
Lesson Plan 2: Good Novel, Bad Novel
What are the characteristics of a good piece of writing? What makes a story interesting? Give your pupils a chance to define the qualities of good novels and what they see as the qualities of bad novels. Class members record these...
Curated OER
The Last Lecture: Power Word Search
Powerful verbs. Significant nouns. Great adjectives. Readers of The Last Lecture conduct a power vocabulary search and create a list of words drawn from the text that will be used to craft a found poem.
Curated OER
Getting Ready to Write
Young scholars watch an online slideshow that shows Cornelia Funke's transition from an illustrator to a writer. They discuss her writing process from the way she gathers ideas to how and where she writes. Next, they work in groups to...
Curated OER
A Character's Decalogue Using "Because of Winn Dixie"
Students read the book Because of Winn Dixie and then create a personal decalogue, which is a list of 10 personal beliefs. In this decalogue lesson plan, students then write a decalogue of a fictional character and write a story based on...
Teacher's Corner
Cinquain (sink-ain)
The cinquain, a five line, fixed-form poem that features one subject, is the focus of the third exercise in a series of ten poetry writing resources.
Curated OER
Multi-cultural and Multiple Perspectives Literacy Lesson
Third graders compare their thoughts about Africa before and after reading an associated book. In this cultural understanding instructional activity, 3rd graders write down their thoughts about Africa. They receive information from the...
Curated OER
Using Lists to Generate Ideas
Students create lists about a topic that they choose to generate ideas for writing without worrying about grammar or punctuation. In this lists lesson plan, students first create a list about snow with their teacher.
Curated OER
Cloud Haiku
Students listen as a haiku is read by the teacher, determining what season is being portrayed in the poem. Students work together as a class and create a model haiku, then complete a worksheet, completing their own poem. Students will...
Carolina K-12
The Revolutionary Times
Be sure to grab a copy of the Revolutionary Times! Scholars take a step back in time to report on topics set in the revolutionary period. Events include the ride of Paul Revere, the Battle of Saratoga, and more.
Curated OER
Journal Writing
Students examine the published diaries of Anne Frank, or Zlata Filipovic, to gain an appreciation for journal writing, a form of autobiographical writing in which the writer records personal thoughts, feelings, and experiences. They...
Curated OER
From Memoir to Expository Writing with Advanced English Language Learners
Students create a memoir. They compare writing with story telling and personal experience. They analyze how they learn, so they can begin to look critically at their own learning.
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
A Mini lesson on Semicolons
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Letter from Birmingham Jail" serves as an exemplar for a mini-activity on semicolons. Working alone or in small groups, class members first circle all the semicolons in the letter, and then consider how...
Curated OER
Using Each Trait to Improve Student Writing
Students study examples of each trait in literature. They discuss how each trait adds to the craft of writing and practice revision of a writing piece with a particular trait in focus. They rate their writing on the trait of Ideas using...