Curated OER
Lesson: Urs Fischer: Controlling our Logic, Metaphors, and Semantics
Kids use poetry and contemporary art to start thinking about logic and personal expression. They read Sylvia Plath's poem "Metaphor," and critically examine the art of Urs Fischer. After working though a few logic problems they write...
Prestwick House
"Because I could not stop for Death" -- Visualizing Meaning and Tone
Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...
Curated OER
Great Robert Frost Poems: Fun Trivia Quiz
This 10-question quiz tests familiarity with several Robert Frost poems. Before giving this quiz, you will want to review the questions to be sure you've covered each of the poems.
Curated OER
Definition Poems
“Hope is a tissue, wiping away your problems and fears.” Use a Definition Poem Web worksheet to model for your class how to craft a free verse poem based on an emotion. After brainstorming topics, groups use the sheet to make comparisons...
Curated OER
Figurative Language #2
Identify figurative language in sentences that have been pulled out of a text. Looking at the sentence independently, can you tell which technique is being used? How do you know? Ninth graders look at 10 sentences that show simile,...
Curated OER
The Pillsbury Doughboy
Mourning the death of the Pillsbury Doughboy (from a yeast infection and pokes in the belly), this presentation discusses the use of puns, metaphors, and polysemes. The slide show continues by discussing other popular metaphors and...
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
Santa Ana Unified School District
Early American Poets
The poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are the focus of a unit that asks readers to consider how an artist's life and changes in society influences his or her work. After careful study of Whitman's and Dickinson's perspectives on...
Curated OER
"World Enough, And Time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Students read and analyze the poem, "To His Coy Mistress," by Andrew Marvell. They identify the theme of each stanza, complete a worksheet, take an online quiz, and write about a single metaphor or image from the poem.
Curated OER
Ode to the West Wind Questions
In this literary analysis worksheet, students read the poem "Ode to the West Wind," by Percy Bysshe Shelley and then respond to 5 short answer discussion questions about the significance of wind in the poem and the symbolism of...
Curated OER
Journeys to Self Discovery
Pupils explore both physical and mental journies that result in a change or self-discovery. They write poems that symbolize a personal journey that forever changed them. They understand the importance of a central image or metaphor in a...
Curated OER
A Walk Through the Past: A Grave Undertaking
Students explore how historians construct a story out of fragments of the past; a discussion of nineteenth century poetry and art leads students to connect art and literature to their place in time.
Curated OER
Ode to a Nightingale
Students read poems about Tuberculosis by John Keats. Using the poems, they identify similies, metaphors, personification and imagery. In groups, they make connections about the author's outlook on life and how his disease impacted his...
Curated OER
Charlotte's Web
Students examine the story, "Charlotte's Web" in the nine lessons of this unit. As the students progress through the book, they will explore the story plot, setting, character, and the value of friendship.