Dim the lights, take a deep breath, and press play to explore the emotions and memories that music elicits. Class members begin using relaxation techniques designed to create a positive listening experience. As music plays, learners...

Students explore self-expression through poetry. In this personal health lessons students read and discuss poetry regarding teen topics of interest. Students write poems, that express empathy.

Practice makes proficient! Using a journal of their choice, authors organize pages, then begin their writing journey of on-going writing practice in which they compose all poetic forms including diamante, limerick, free verse, and more!

Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of the most famous and emotional tributes to Abraham Lincoln. Guide readers through the evocative elegy with a reading comprehension worksheet, complete with the poem's text and a...

Looks like? Sounds like? Smells like? Feels like? Tastes like? Sometimes a white, blank, soulless piece of paper can intimidate writers. Provide potential poets with this template that can serve as a parking lot for words and phrases to...

Fourth graders explore writing as a way to communicate. In this writing lesson, 4th graders articulate how they feel about an issue in their lives. Students share their works.

The stated goal of this unit is to use poetry to "improve the emotional health of young people." Budding poets read and then supply their own lines for poems that deal with alienation, loneliness, and rejection.

Help language learners understand words and cultural concepts. The second installment in a series of three language development lessons designed to accompany Theme 4: Person to Person helps bridge the gap for language learners by...

Nascent poets carefully examine a color photograph and then respond to a series of questions. Using these responses, they craft a poem prompted by the image. A link to powerful photos is included so the exercise can be repeated.

Can beautiful words change the world? Literary scholars discover how to paint their visions of change using poetry in a series of three workshops. Each independent topic gives participants a chance to examine their feelings about...

Arthur Sze's poem, "The Shapes of Leaves," encourages young scholars to notice and speak for others who "do not speak." The instructional activity begins with pupils writing about a tree that they really like. The class then examines an...

Introducing or need to review literary devices and terms for a study of poetry? Though text heavy, the explanations and examples of key poetic devices will provide learners with the vocabulary they need to discuss and craft poems.

Class members come together to study Amanda Gorman's poem "New Day's Lyric." After a close reading of the poem, learners watch a video of Gorman reading her poem, and then craft additional lines for the poem where they offer suggestions...

Budding poets compose an original free verse poem. Encouraged to use personification and alliteration, scholars read over three tips and examples then try their hand at drafting a poem of their own style.  

Second graders discuss various things that make him/her happy.  In this I feel happy instructional activity, 2nd graders express feelings in a poem.  Students reflect on the poems they have written.

Learners gain insight into how songs and poems express feelings of injustice. They also learn about literary devices and types of poems and make a personal connection when they write their own free verse poems about injustice.

In these poetry writing worksheets, students learn the power of words and the ability of the poet to say a great deal with a few well-chosen words. Students learn the 3 pillars of poetry: Emotion (makes you feel something), Image (makes...

Practice using feelings as a way to reflect on past experiences. The poem The End and the text Tell Me a Story Mama are used to identify feeling words. As an extension, pupils participate in a service learning project and...

Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...

Students listen to a variety of poetry and music that depicts emotions or feelings. As a class, they brainstorm a list of words that they use to show their feelings. To end the instructional activity, they listen to one song individually...

Examine letters written during war-time. In this cross curricular history and English lesson, middle and high school scholars read letters and poems written by soldiers in the Vietnam war. They will examine the perspective and emotions...

In this emotional health learning exercise, students explore the feelings of sadness, grief and loss by first reading and decorating a poem which states that it is all right to feel sad. Students color emotion pictures and discuss as a...

Help your pupils examine their feelings with the materials here. The class can first read the included poem about a shy person and then respond to one or more of the six included writing prompts.

The death of a parent can turn a child's world upside down. A curriculum guide for The Secret Hum of a Daisy explores defining moments in the main character's life, including the loss of her mother. Chapter-by-chapter discussion...