Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Arabic Poetry: Guzzle a Ghazal!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Students research the evolution and cultural significance of the Arabic ghazal form of poetry. They, in groups, compose an original ghazal poem and read it aloud to the class.
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Personal Experience Narratives

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Help your middle schoolers identify personal experience narratives in their own lives through telling stories themselves and from family members or other adults. They study personal experience narratives in Swapping Stories and compare...
Lesson Plan
Scholastic

The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Practice sequencing events using Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's narrative poem about the famous revolutionary hero. Learners read Revere's own account of the event, and compare/contrast the two texts using a t-chart. Finally, they imagine...
Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Poetry and Storytelling Café

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...
Lesson Plan
Film English

The Conditioned

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Discover the lovely story of Raimundo Arruda Sobrinho with your class. Over the course of the lesson, pupils practice descriptive writing, write short narratives, collaborate in small groups, watch a powerful short film about Raimundo,...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry instructional activity, learners research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns...
Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Whose Manifest Destiny? Westward Expansion

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Your land is my land! Young historians investigate the concept of Manifest Destiny used by the United States government to justify western expansion. Jigsaw groups read primary source documents to gain an understanding of the movement...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say Hi to Haibun Fun

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the Japanese writing form of Haibun. They identify the elements of Japanese prose and poetry, analyze a haibun for writing devices, complete a graphic organizer, and compose an original haibun as a form of journal keeping.
Lesson Plan
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Channel Islands Film

Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island: Lesson Plan 2

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
After watching West of the West's documentary The Lone Woman of San Nicolas Island, class members imagine how Juana Maria/Karana may have felt about living alone on the island for 18 years and craft a blackout poem or a narrative in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Introduction to Traditional Oral Narratives

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students are introduced to the idea of traditional oral narratives and divide them into genres. They explore the genres of context, motifs and variants. Each student finds oral narratives in their own lives and practice retelling them in...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

“The Great Migration” by Minnie Bruce Pratt

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Minnie Bruce Pratt's poem, "The Great Migration," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on how where we come from influences who we are. Groups conduct a close reading of the poem, recording observations about the poem's...
Activity
2
2
National Park Service

A Natural Resource Called Peace

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
Get your pupils outside and teach them about peace at the same time! Scholars create a list describing peace, hike outside, add to that list, and later create poems. The exercises support differentiation for your individual classes as...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry--Homeless People

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders create a poem about homeless people using images they saw on websites. After reading the book "The Outsiders", 8th graders make connections of real life homeless people with characters in the book. Students search the web...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Exploring Borderlands

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Analyzing Poetry and Characters

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Students investigate historical context by reading poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students discover the work of Michael Longley and examine his poem "Ceasefire."  Students identify the sonnets used in the piece and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Adventure Writing: Oregon's Landscape as a Setting

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students identify geographical features of different regions encountered by migrants on the Oregon trail. Students research how the Oregon landscape may have affected life and 19th century westward migration. Students write a narrative...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Border Legends, Myth, & Folklore

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed
Young scholars examine the narrative forms and tales unique to the U.S.-Mexico border. They discuss the possible sociological meanings of these stories, and then write their own versions to demonstrate that they explain the forms.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Found Poetry with Primary Sources: The Great Depression

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read a sample found poem and create one together as a class. In this Great Depression instructional activity, students select a topic, such as miners, and read primary source documents related to the topic. Students select one...
Lesson Plan
Indiana University

World Literature: "One Evening in the Rainy Season" Shi Zhecun

For Teachers 12th
Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry and Our National Anthem

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Middle schoolers express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history lesson, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the anthem in...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

African American Poetry: Family and Traditions

For Teachers K - 3rd
Learners are introduced to the elements of African-American poetry. As a class, they are read different types of poems to discover there are different styles of poems and practice rhyming words. They share information on their family...
Lesson Plan
Bully Free Systems

Bully Free Lesson Plans—Eighth Grade

For Teachers 8th Standards
Middle schoolers are likely very familiar with the concept of bullying and cliques. Discuss their experiences and brainstorm ways to handle peer conflict and feelings of exclusion with a poem that focuses on bullying, and a second...
Activity
Weebly

Holocaust Diary Project

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Here is a good interdisciplinary project that combines creative and narrative writing with studies of the Holocaust. Your young historians will compose a diary of experiences from the perspective of an individual living during the time...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Paul Revere, American Patriot

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students research Paul Revere's life and role in U.S. history by examining first-person accounts, works of historical fiction, a popular narrative poem, and other resources. They create a mural depicting their findings.

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