Curated OER
You Too Can Haiku: How to Write a Haiku
Students explore language arts by writing their own poems. For this haiku lesson, students investigate the Japanese culture and their beautiful music, poetry and art. Students count the syllables in every line of a haiku poem and write...
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What is Poetry and Where Can You Find It?
Students examine different types of poetry in music, commercials and printed works. They identify themes of philanthropy in poetry as well. They finally share their findings with the class.
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Sun and Moon Poetry Baskets
Students write Sun and Moon poetry. In this poetry lesson, students research the sun and the moon. They write poetry and create two class baskets for descriptive words about each.
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Unleashed: Poems by Pets
Pupils create a poem from the first person perspective of a pet. In this Writing/Poetry lesson, students read a short poem from, Unleashed. Pupils brainstorm what their animal may say. Students write a poem using the first person...
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Poetry Reading
Students dramatize a poem. In this poetry lesson plan, students evaluate a poem looking for feeling words or descriptors. Students then draw a picture of themselves with a feeling.
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I Am a Person on Character
Sixth graders explore the portrayal of males and females in mass media. In this language arts lesson plan, 6th graders create a digital collage and write a description about themselves using similes and metaphors.
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Beowulf Lesson Plan
Students analyze the text of Beowulf. In this epic poetry instructional activity, students explore the themes and imagery in the text to evaluate their meaning. Students analyze the Old English language and examine the cultural and...
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Language of Poetry
Students demonstrate a higher level of thinking in writing a poem that delivers a message of wisdom and is metaphorical in meaning. They study the use of metaphors in poetry as well as the meaning and use of concrete and abstract words...
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Writing: Narrative, Expository, Persuasive, and Descriptive
If you are interested in having a basic framework for teaching expository, narrative, persuasive, and descriptive writing, this resource may help; however, you will have to find information on the different forms of writing to share with...
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Candles in the Dark
Young scholars analyze and apply their personal responses through poetry and film to a challenging and disturbing event-the Holocaust. They use a digital video camera to film each student reading their poem.
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Writing Limericks
Eighth graders compose or create works of communication for specific audiences and purposes. They locate, access, and select relevant information from a variety of sources. They revise and edit their work to improve content, organization...
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Listening Positions, Please
Fourth graders practice using effective listening skills as they listen to oral poetry readings.
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"I'm Thankful For..." Placemat
Students discover the story behind Thanksgiving through comparing and contrasting what pilgrims were thankful for, memorizing Thanksgiving poems, and creating a placemat that depicts the poem.
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Mosetsana
Students read and discuss a poem about the issues of gender, education, and family written by a Peace Corps Volunteer serving in South Africa. In this poetry lesson plan, students read the poem 'Moetsana' and discuss the issues...
Poets.org
Ghosts and Spirits
Connect poetry to a naturally kid-friendly topic: ghosts! Draw on your class's prior knowledge of the paranormal to help them access the classic poem "Haunted House" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After a fun warm-up activity describing...
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"Jabberwocky": Inferring
Pupils, over an extended time, read and explain the nonsense words of Lewis Carroll's poem, "Jabberwocky". They infer the meaning of the poem using visualizing as well as decoding skills. While written for first graders, this is easily...
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Creating an Author Brochure
Students, while in the computer lab, visit a variety of web sites and read about the life and work of Langston Hughes. They create an author's brochure on Mr. Hughes from the data they collect from the various web sites. Each student...
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The Purple Cow
Young scholars read and discuss the poem, The Purple Cow. In this poetry lesson, students discuss the rhyming words in the poem and why this piece of literature is silly or unusual.
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Lesson on 'The Chimney Boy's Story' by Wes Magee
Wes Magee's poem "The Chimney Boy's Story" about chimney sweeps/climbing boys is used as an introduction to a lesson that asks groups to research child labor in Victorian Britain.
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The Catcher in the Rye: Chapters 21-23
After answering comprehension questions (good for a homework reading check), class members analyze "Comin' Thro the Rye," and using the included guidance questions, discuss Holden's misreading of Robert Burns' poem. The URL to text of...
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Similes in Literature: Definition and Examples
Be as romantic as a poetic. Appear as clever as Einstein. Wow others with your powers of observation by using similes to point out the similar aspects in two different things. This short video focuses on similes found in Shakespeare and...
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Personify This
Eighth graders study personification in published works of poetry, then create their own through the use of diamante or cinquain poetry. They read and discuss poetry by Shel Silverstein, William Jay Smith, and Elinor Wylie.
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To the Sea
Improve pronunciation and phonemic awareness in your first and second graders! With this plan, they distinguish between the sounds for short vowel e and long vowel e. They are introduced to the vowel patterns that comprise long vowel...
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Introducing Communication Talent with "Casey at the Bat"
Analyze the poem "Casey at the Bat." Your team of analysts will read the poem and complete a variety of activities, including describing how Casey looks and acts, describing how he feels before and after he strikes out, and sharing...