Unit Plan
Core Knowledge Foundation

Unit 7: Poetry

For Teachers 5th Standards
Over the course of a 12-lesson language arts unit, young scholars analyze a variety of poems taking a close look at figurative language and tone. They learn to compare and contrast, improve comprehension, and identify settings. To...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Alliteration in Headline Poems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Poetry is everywhere you look! Create found poems using headlines from newspapers and magazines. Young poetry focus on creating alliterative phrases with words they find in headlines, tying their poems to a central theme.
Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an...
Handout
La Jolla High School

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck: In Search of Figurative Language

For Students 6th - 9th
While this resource was originally made to be used in conjunction with John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, it could be used for any literary text. A reference sheet for readers, the resource includes terminology related to figurative...
PPT
Curated OER

10th Grade Poetry Unit

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Immerse your students into the wide world of poetry with this presentation, which opens a poetry unit. By first introducing the art of poetry and then providing examples of poems with figurative language, the presentation guides students...
PPT
Curated OER

Poetry Vocabulary

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Consisting of a thorough and straightforward list of poetry terminology, the first part of this presentation would be a good introduction to a poetry unit, or a review for an upcoming poetry project. The list of terms is quite extensive,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Figurative Language

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students interpret figurative language.  In this language lesson, students are read the poem "I Love the Look of Words" by Maya Angelou and are to find examples of hyperbole and personification in the poem.  Students then...
Activity
Novelinks

Tuck Everlasting: Similes, Metaphors, and Personification in Imagery

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Poetic language is abundant in Natalie Babbitt's beautiful novel, Tuck Everlasting. Learners note the examples of similes, metaphors, and personification they find as they read, and illustrate how the language creates a sensory...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Go Free or Die

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Groups of older elementary learners begin their study of figurative language by visiting a website and completing the exercises detailed there. They then apply what they have learned by finding examples in several poems. Finally, they...
Lesson Plan
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Curated OER

Reading Poetry in the Middle Grades

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Bring the beauty of "Nothing Gold Can Stay" by Robert Frost to middle school language arts. After learners read a copy of the poem, they follow an instructional sequence that focuses on sound, figurative language, and theme.
Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Personification Poetry Lesson Plan

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars take part in two exercises to boost their knowledge of personification. After reading a detailed description and excerpts from famous poems, writers list action verbs and objects then combine words to create a humorous...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Use of Personification and Imagery in Poetry

For Teachers 8th
A reading of Theodore Roethke’s dark "Root Cellar" and Sylvia Plath’s more abstract "Mirror" launches a discussion of imagery and personification in poetry.  After finding examples of personification in the poems, class members...
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Metaphor and Simile: About You

For Students 4th - 5th Standards
Class members will be as confident as prize-winning thoroughbreds after completing a worksheet on figurative language. Young writers jot down metaphors and similes for three categories: they way they look, they way...
Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Poetry…Do I Dare?

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Whether you're considering a poetry unit or just want to incorporate more poetry in your curriculum, this unit plan is a must-have. Packed with poems, teaching points, powerful prompts, and poetry performance suggestions, the resource is...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Focus On Figurative Language in Prose

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the use of literary prose in the story, "Dark They Were, and Golden-Eyed." In this literary prose lesson plan, students investigate the use of imagery, metaphor, and simile in the story. They tell how author's purpose is...
PPT
Springfield Public Schools District 186

Form and Structure of Poetry

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
If anyone suffers from metrophobia—the fear of poetry—the PowerPoint on the elements of poetry may help alleviate their worries. The presentation introduces learners to poetic elements, including simile, metaphor, and personification....
Worksheet
K12 Reader

Adventures with Alliteration! - Adjectives

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Have hearty humor with a handy, helpful handout! Kids work on their alliteration skills with a figurative language worksheet that focuses on alliterative adjectives and phrases. After kids add nouns to ten adjectives, they create five...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Poetic Tools in Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass

For Teachers 7th Standards
Scholars listen to a reading and answer probing questions about If We Must Die by Claude McKay. Readers annotate their personal copies of the poem as they discuss its figurative language, vocabulary, and meaning. They then transfer...
Lesson Plan
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Geography 360°

Poetry Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Put the tips and tricks in this guide into practice in order to encourage your pupils to blossom into poets. A wonderful reference material for teachers, this packet includes definitions of poetic terms and forms as well as step-by-step...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Writing Best First Draft of “Back Again” Poem

For Teachers 8th Standards
Team up! Scholars begin working with their research teams to review the components of an effective poem. They then move on to independent work by beginning the end-of-unit assessment. Writers complete the draft of their "Back Again"...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Looking Closely at Stanza 3—Identifying Rules to Live By Communicated in “If”

For Teachers 6th Standards
Just as Bud, from the novel Bud, Not Buddy by Christopher Paul Curtis, had rules to live by, so does the poem, If by Rudyard Kipling, but how do the two relate? Pupils delve deep into the poem's third stanza, participate in a grand...
Activity
Curated OER

7th Grade Poetry Project

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Ask your pupils to explore the sounds, forms, and language of poetry by putting together a portfolio of their own work. In a binder, learners collect the poems listed on the second page of the assignment sheet. Each individual creates a...
Interactive
Texas Education Agency (TEA)

How to Read and Analyze a Poem (English III Reading)

For Students 11th Standards
A poem is compressed speech, like a can of frozen juice with all the water pressed out. An interactive teaches users how to reconstitute the language, the structure, and the literary devices to appreciate all the subtleties the poet...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Short Poems Are Scary!

For Teachers K - 5th
What do all those chairs and pencils do in the classroom once everyone leaves? Allow imaginations to run wild with frighteningly short poems!