Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Writing Unit: Writing a Film Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Film poems? To concluded a poetry unit, writers select one of their own poems and create a film that brings to life the sounds and images of their work. Included with the detailed unit plan are daily lessons, student examples, a list of...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")

For Teachers 5th Standards
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Japanese Poetry: Tanka? You're Welcome!

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore tanka, a form of Japanese poetry. They read and analyze tankas to determine the structure and intent, and compose a traditional and a non-traditional tanka.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Acoustic Poems

For Teachers 1st - 4th
Learners explore acrostic poems. In this interactive poetry lesson, students visit the ReadWriteThink.org website to view characteristics and samples of acrostic poems. Learners develop acrostic poems by using the interactive site.
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing, Critique, and Revising: Two-Voice Poems (Chapter 14: "Las Ucas/Grapes")

For Teachers 5th Standards
Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....
Lesson Plan
National Council of Teachers of English

Writing Poetry with Rebus and Rhyme

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Young scholars write rhyming poems using rebus. With pictures instead of words, authors create original work about things they love. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Your Son, Your Only One" - The Sacrifice of Isaac as a Motif in Holocaust Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Class groups examine a series of poems that use Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice Isaac as a motif in Holocaust poetry. Included are questions, notes to the teacher, and bibliographical information on each poem. The activities could be...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Learners examine poems from Latin America and the Caribbean. They compare different perspectives and subjects in the poems. They research Peace Corps volunteers as well.
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Poems that Tell a Story: Narrative and Persona in the Poetry of Robert Frost

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Dig in deeper with Robert Frost's, "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." Learners will read and discuss poems by Robert Frost and learn the meaning of terms such as narrative and personal. They journal, collaborate, and present poetry...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Workshop: Fixed Form Poems

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Encourage the poetic genius in your young creative writers with a poetry workshop. Fix form poems (cinquains acrostic poems, octopoems, hello/goodbye poems) provide a framework and encourage vocabulary development as well as an awareness...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Poems about Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Learners of all ages hear the words “Today we’re going to start poetry” and begin their plans to drop out of school. It is not the teacher's fault! Use this resource to help young scholars understand the genre of poetry and why it is...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Tradition" by Jericho Brown

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To begin this instructional activity, class members examine Antonius Hockelmann's painting "Tree Flowers II," record elements of the painting that they notice, and share their observations with a partner. Next, pupils do a close reading...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a  poem on the same...
Lesson Plan
Arts Midwest

The Stories and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe: Biographical Criticism and the Speaker of a Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Author's are often influenced by events in their own lives as they write. Use Edgar Allan Poe's poems "Ulalume" and "Annabel Lee" to take a look at how the death of Poe's wife affected his poetry. Ask students to discuss and compare the...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Spring is like a perhaps hand" by E. E. Cummings

For Teachers 6th - 12th
E. E. Cummings' "Spring is like a perhaps hand" offers young scholars an opportunity to try their hands at analyzing a simile. After a warm-up activity and a close reading of the poem, class members discuss what they think the poem is...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Tamales on Christmas" by Christian Robinson

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
A lesson spotlights the poem "Tamales on Christmas" by Christian Robinson. Scholars discuss their favorite foods and then examine a lively picture of a family preparing tamales. After listening to the poem twice, learners participate in...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Metier of Blossoming" by Denise Levertov

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Poetry analysis need not be a lugubrious exercise for young learners. The approach used with Denise Levertov's poem, "The Metier of Blossoming" is one of close observation, of noticing and reflecting on the words, phrases, and images the...
Lesson Plan
Pixton Comics Inc.

Elements of an Epic

For Students 7th - 12th Standards
Mythic heroes, gods and goddesses, and epic tales come alive as young artists craft their own graphic novel or mind map for classic epics, including The Odyssey, Beowulf, Harry Potter, and Star Wars, identifying the...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teaching the Vietnam War with Poetry and Archives

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The language of and the perspective of photographs, poems, and official reports differ. After a close reading of two photographs, two poems, and a military report about the Vietnam War, individuals adopt someone's voice or something from...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Discuss 22-year-old Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem “The Hill We Climb”

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning." They...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "When There Were Ghosts" by Alberto Ríos

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Before cell phones, tablets, and computers with access to YouTube, before gleaming multiplexes and even before television, there were small theaters with Saturday night black and white movies. Alberto Ríos's poem "When There Were Ghosts"...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Election Day, November, 1884" by Walt Whitman

For Teachers 6th - 12th
To begin a study of Walt Whitman's poem, "Election Day, November 1884," learners first call out a word or two that describes their reaction to the recent presidential election. They then read an encyclopedia entry about the Presidential...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Wonder and Joy" by Robinson Jeffers

For Teachers 6th - 8th
A study of Robinson Jeffers' poem "Wonder and Joy" reminds readers to notice and rekindle the appreciation of the many wondrous aspects of life. After a close reading of the poem, scholars use the provided questions to discuss the poem.
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "In the Next Galaxy" by Ruth Stone

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Imagine what life might be like in a different galaxy. That's the challenge young scientists take on in a warm-up activity designed to prepare them for a close reading of Ruth Stone's poem "In the Next Galaxy." After class members share...

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