Hook kids into a study on poetry elements by asking them to bring in the lyrics to their favorite song. Discuss the elements in one or two songs (preferably that demonstrate rhyme, figurative language, or a repeating phrase). Groups do...

Whether you are viewing a landscape painting of a farm, examining a still-life portrait of a bowl of fruit, or reading a descriptive poem about cultivating food, you can't deny that agriculture plays a major role in visual and language...

Examine poetic structure and literary devices in an activity focused on Maya Angelou's "Woman Work." The first two pages provide the full text of the poem, which middle schoolers can annotate and highlight. They go on to complete a...

Change, growth, and a sense of belonging are the focus of a unit that uses poetry to explore these themes and the distinguishing features of poetry as well. 

Study some of the most prominent poets and works of poetry in history with a language arts poetry unit. From Virgil to Shakespeare to Dickinson to Angelou, the resources present biographies and examples of poetic elements to the sixth...

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...

A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...

Invite learners to introduce themselves through poetry. After brainstorming and choosing details, pupils draft two acrostic poems using their names as the base. They then evaluate and revise their poems.

Wrap up your poetry unit with a portfolio. This resource includes specific requirements for the presentation and content of a portfolio. Writers include examples of literary devices, write six original poems, and conduct a study of a...

Third and fourth graders examine the many writing crafts that poets use to convey their message, such as rhythm, imagery, and repetition. By dissecting a poem into stanzas and analyzing the lines in each stanza, young poets are able to...

Poetry comes in all shapes and sizes. Young writers pick a shape, select words and phrases that describe how the shape makes them feel, and create a shape poem. A raindrop example and step-by-step instructions give your budding poets a...

Explication may sound like a fancy word, but it's just a fancy way to say analysis. Using a handout on poetry explications, part of a larger series on specific writing assignments, writers learn how to break down and analyze a poem. The...

Writers compose an original shape poem. Scholars choose a subject to write about and create a visual representation by forming a corresponding picture using the poem's words.  

Can you create a poem without writing a word! With found poetry, you can! Practice one version of found poetry with a lesson on book spine poems. Learners create poems by stacking books and reading the lines created by their spine titles.

Bring together concepts covered in earlier lessons in the ten-part lesson series to analyze one of Poe's most famous poems, "The Raven." Class members discuss many different aspects of the poem and take turns reading lines and sections....

Do your students suffer from metrophobia? Assuage their fears by asking them to craft an acrostic, a form poem that begins with a single word. The first in a series of ten poetry writing exercises.

Is poetry easier to write than other forms of literature? Does it always have to rhyme? The future poets in your class read several statements about the structure, meaning, and importance of poetry before listing the best lyrics from...

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 original poem.

Put a silly spin on making amends with an apology poem. Budding poets think of a time they were made to apologize although they didn't mean it. They then turn their experience into a poem that offers details and ends with an explanation...

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.

What do whales sing about? Invite your class to imagine the thoughts of whales before writing acrostic poems on the topic. The plan blends together a bit of life science with plenty of opportunities for creativity and writing.

Numerous people from China immigrated to the US during the era of industrialization and expansion. Provide your class with a glimpse into the life of a Chinese immigrant through the poetry they left behind. They then compose a poem of...

Calligrams, or shape poems, are the focus of ninth exercise in a ten-part poetry writing series.

What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.