Curated OER
The Raven
After a close reading of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" individuals copy the rhythm and rhyme scheme and rewrite the final stanzas of the poem.
Florida Center for Reading Research
Letter Recognition: Poetry Pen
It's always nice to have a great idea and all the tools to make it happen. The class can use these nursery rhyme and alphabet cards to teach each other letter recognition and letter sound correspondence. There is a full set of alphabet...
Curated OER
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Christmas Bells
Students read and analyze the anti-slavery poem, "Christmas Bells" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They discuss the content and form of the poem, write an essay, write an original poem, examine how this anti-slavery poem was converted...
Curated OER
6th Grade: Express Yourself, Lesson 2: Close Read
The second lesson of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the text and...
Massachusetts Department of Education
Nostalgia
To prepare for crafting their own memoir, class members examine poetry by Margaret Atwood, Billy Collins, Robert Hayden, and Claude McKay, stories by Richard Rodriquez and Willa Cather, and Barry Levinson's film Avalon. They examine...
Curated OER
Louisiana's Tragic Hero - "Evangeline"
"Ye who believe...List to a Tale of Love in Acadie." Longfellow's epic poem, "Evangeline," launches a study of tragic heroines, epic poetry, the expulsion of the Acadians from Canada, and their subsequent migration to Louisiana. The...
Curated OER
All Aboard!
Learners recognize and identify onomatopoeia. They will read the book All Aboard! A True Train Story, by Susan Kuklin. After reading the book, they list and illustrate examples of onomatopoeia. Then they write a poem or...
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that...
Curated OER
Personification
Young writers discover that personification is when a writer gives an object the qualities of a person. After practicing identifying personification in many of the slides, individuals compose their own poem that uses this technique. They...
Curated OER
Analyzing Literary Devices
Eighth graders identify figurative language and poetry in this literary analysis lesson. Using Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll and a YouTube video for "The Walrus and the Carpenter," young readers complete a literary device...
Curated OER
Writing Review
This presentation provides a series of activities that can be used as morning warm ups throughout the week, or as a writing review. Learners put words in ABC order, learn about alliteration, correct punctuation in a series of sentences,...
Curated OER
Dance: Sharp and Smooth Energy Qualities
Students use different qualities of movement to express themselves. In this lesson on movement, students use different qualities of energy and then use their experience as an inspiration for writing poetry.
ReadWriteThink
Word Recognition Strategies Using Nursery Rhymes
As a class, scholars read the poems, Humpty Dumpty, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater, and Jack and Jill, in order to identify words with the same ending sound. Using their rhyming skills, learners brainstorm additional words...
K12 Reader
The Thin Pin Can Spin
Words that end with -in are the focus on this learning exercise. Learners read a short poem that includes quite a few -in words to identify and practice and then answer three reading comprehension questions.
K12 Reader
Mom Will Find the Fox
Fox, box, shop, got... what do all of these words have in common? The short /o/ sound! Give your class some practice with the short /o/ poem by reading the poem on this learning exercise. Learners also answer three included reading...
K12 Reader
Will You Stay and Play?
Start off your day with a study of -ay words. Pupils can practice long a with -ay words by reading the brief poem included here. After they read, class members answer three reading comprehension questions right on the page.
K12 Reader
He Must Take the Bus
Build your youngsters' knowledge of the short /u/ sound with a quick exercise. Class members read a brief poem designed to include many words with the short /u/ sound and then answer three reading comprehension questions about...
K12 Reader
The Spy Will Try Not to Cry
Learn all about the exploits of a sly spy from the short poem included on this resource. The poem, intended to provide practice with long /i/ words that use the letter y, is paired with three reading comprehension questions for pupils to...
K12 Reader
Feel the Green Grass
This poem may make your learners yearn for summer, but it will also help them practice the ee digraph. Pupils read the short poem, which includes many examples of the ee digraph, and respond to three reading comprehension questions.
Novelinks
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer: Biopoem
Explore characters in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer through biopoems. Pupils follow the specific formatting presented here to write 11-line poems about characters in the novel.
Curated OER
Kumeyaay Indians
Useful for literary analysis, citing textual evidence, or summary skills, this lesson about the Kumeyaay Indians would be a good addition to your language arts class. Middle schoolers read novels and summarize the literature in their own...
K12 Reader
Snack in the Sack
Get those -ack words straight with a quick exercise. Class members read a short poem that includes quite a few -ack words and then complete three reading comprehension questions.
K12 Reader
The Big Pig
Pigs are often big, but what else can your class find out about this particular pig? They'll learn a few things about it by reading the poem full of -ig words, and then answering the three reading comprehension questions.
K12 Reader
Drop the Mop!
Combine a study of -op words with a bit of reading comprehension. Learners read a quick a silly poem containing many -op words and then answer three questions.