National Endowment for the Humanities
Arabic Poetry: Guzzle a Ghazal!
High schoolers 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.
Super Teacher Worksheets
Writing Couplets
Sometimes, getting started is the hardest part; but that is not the case with this poetry worksheet that asks scholars to read through a list of rhyming pars, choose three, and use them to write a couplet poem.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a “Backward” Poem
If you like poetry, wait till you try backward poetry! Young writers read Shel Silverstein's "Backward Bill" before writing their own funny poems that are full of backward imagery and phrasing.
Teacher's Corner
Couplet
This, the fourth in a series of ten poetry writing activities, asks young poets to craft couplets.
National Endowment for the Humanities
Lu Shih — The Couplets of T’ang
Writing poetry in ancient China was the modern equivalent of sending a greeting card. Scholars learn about the ancient Chinese poetic form called the lu shih. They read about the context of poetry during the T'ang Dynasty and complete a...
Curated OER
Poetry Slam!
Create poems without writing! Young poets create poems using words cut from newspapers, read their poems aloud, and compile them in a book. This lesson allows the teacher to view each learner's creative process and assess their current...
Curated OER
"Forms" of Poetry
Poetry isn't all sonnets and rhyming couplets! Introduce your class to three fun types of poetry: shape poems, acrostic poems, and diamante poems. Each type is explained, and an example is provided. Challenge your class to write one in...
Curated OER
Poetry: The Most Compact Form of Literature
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.
Curated OER
Personal Poetry Books
Students work in the classroom and in the computer lab to produce a Personal Poetry Book.
Curated OER
Poetry Group Activity
In this Romeo and Juliet worksheet, students complete a group project by creating a poem on an assigned topic relating to themes found in Romeo and Juliet.
Curated OER
Poetry Prodigies
Learners in three classes in different locations become Poetry Prodigies as they use iChat AV and an iSight camera to teach and explore from each other about different poetic styles. They explore six types of poetry are taught:...
Curated OER
I Spy Poetry
Young scholars identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem.
They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I...
K12 Reader
Poetry Uses Rhyme
It's rhyme time! After reading a short article about poems that rhyme, kids take the time answer questions about the message of the passage.
Curated OER
A Center Approach to Poetry
Students experience the different types of poetry in order to classify them. In this poetry lesson, students discover the multiple types of poetry while reading in the library. Ultimately, the students create their own poetry and share...
Prestwick House
Teaching Shakespeare: Sonnet 73
It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...
Curated OER
Epic Poetry: Literary Terms for Story Analysis
What do Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and The Odyssey have in common? Why, they are all epics, of course, and are presented here as examples of the literary term. If you are beginning a study of epics, consider previewing the terms included...
Poetry4kids
Forced Rhymes and How to Avoid Them
Ready to take your poetry writing to the next level? Use an independent lesson to iron out all those forced rhymes, wrenched rhymes, and near rhymes from first-draft poems.
California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc
Poetic Devices
Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...
Curated OER
Poetry to the Core
Second graders examine several examples of poetry in the six lessons of this unit. The lessons focus on five poetic forms, couplets, quatrains, limericks, Haiku, and free verse.
Curated OER
Puzzling Poetry
In this language arts worksheet, students complete a crossword puzzle. Clues refer to types of poetry such as ballad, chant, couplet, clerihew, limerick and tanka.
Curated OER
Create a Poem
Students write three simple rhyming poems and read them aloud with rhythm. Students select two adjectives that are opposites and two rhyming verbs to create rhyming lines of the same length with an adjective-noun-verb pattern.
Curated OER
Poems and Songs: Rivers and Ponds
Learners explore songs and poems related to the animals, habitats, and activities on rivers and ponds. They listen to song clips, explore various websites, read poems and song lyrics, complete worksheets, and define key vocabulary words.
Curated OER
Listening to Poetry: Sounds of the Sonnet
Students experience and enjoy the sounds of poetry. They erform sound experiments with sonnets and closely read and analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare. Students write an analysis of how sound affects meaning in a sonnet chosen from the...
Curated OER
Ideas for Teaching Creative Poetry
Students read and write a variety of forms of poetry and create an original page for a class "I Spy" book. They read and discuss the form of poetry used in the "I Spy" books, and conduct Internet research on how the "I Spy" books are...