Curated OER
Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
Curated OER
Know Your Poets
In this poets worksheet, students read short poems and then choose the correct poet that wrote it. Students complete 6 multiple choice questions.
Curated OER
Nature Walk Poem
Third graders read poetry inspired by nature. They talk a walk in nature or in their neighborhood with paper and pen and write down feelings and perceptions. They write a poem about their walk and share it with the class.
Curated OER
Poetry Interpretation and Figurative Language
Fifth graders discover how figurative language is used in poetry. They read selected poems and identify the figurative language with handouts and worksheets included in the lesson. They write poems of their own using figurative language.
Curated OER
Water is Life, Water is Poetry Seminar
Young scholars participate in a discussion about water and create water-inspired poetry. In this poetry lesson, students demonstrate a memorable experience involving water by constructing a poem.
Curated OER
Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Pupils review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. In this similes lesson, students define similes and identify examples. Pupils read and analyze the similes used in poetry by Derricotte, Frost,...
Soft Schools
Metaphor and Similes in Literature: A Challenge
After identifying the similes and metaphors in a series of lines from poems, individuals then explain what is being compared and the characteristics the two items share.
Curated OER
Astronomy Unit: For Autistic Learners
In need of a few great ways to teach an arts-enriched lesson on astronomy? This resource contains several interesting ideas that link poetry to the stars in the sky. These suggestions are very simple and could use a teachers touch, but...
Curated OER
Reading and Responding: Lesson 9
Eighth graders listen to a read aloud of Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken." They examine the attributes of poetry focusing on stanzas, imagery, and punctuation. They participate in choral readings before completing the associated...
Curated OER
The Language of Our World
Students make inferences about characters in poetry. In this literature lesson, students read poetry and prose to determine how characters handle conflict in each of the genres.
Curated OER
Choices
Young scholars read "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. They complete a chart about their own choices and decide on them using the chart. They discover the importance of making good choices.
Orlando Shakes
Native Gardens: Study Guide
A study guide for Native Gardens, a dramatic play, introduces theater lovers to a set of a neighbors and the problems they face. Discussion questions in the guide tackle themes of racism, ageism, and classism.
Overcoming Obstacles
Identifying Options
Making a decision can be more like a multiple-choice question than a yes/no one. Through a series of activities, middle schoolers learn how to consider and identify options, choices, and alternatives when faced with an important decision.
Curated OER
News Poetry
Third graders select a small item in a newspaper and then dramatize it in a well-constructed poem. They share their poems with the class.
Curated OER
Modern American Poetry
Young scholars identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.
Curated OER
Painting Pictures with Poetry
Middle schoolers develop their own smilies and metaphors. They examine writing of the Poet Laureate. They identify philanthropy in quotations of others.
Curated OER
Crossroads Blues
The crossroads, and the decisions made and entities met there, are a common theme in literature, pushing readers to examine the choices and encounters that shape life experience. The theme has also been explored in blues music, most...
Curated OER
Six Trait Writing with Twain and Doyle
Students explore the traits of writing in this six lessons unit. Poems, fiction, and drama are evaluated to identify writing strategies. Utilization of vocabulary and writing rubrics help students judge the effectiveness of their own...
Curated OER
Stephen Crane - Surrealism and the Antihero
Students analyze the work of Stephen Crane as a lesson on surrealism and an antihero. In this surrealism lesson, students complete discuss activities for the topic. Students then analyze Crane's poetry, his use of surrealism, and the...
Curated OER
Reading Comprehension: What is the Topic?
In this reading comprehension worksheet, learners read 3 stanzas of poetry by Lord Byron. Students then select the topics that each of the stanzas are about.
Curated OER
Haiku - Poetry of the Samurai Warrior
Students research the Samurai and their Haiku Writings. Students use internet research to gather information about the ancient Japanese Samurai. The students then create individual Haiku writings, and a cultural day is designated when...
Curated OER
American Literature Authors and Their Works
Students match American Literature authors with their short stories, poems, and books. In this American Literature lesson, students are given an overview of the authors and their main works. Then students independently do a matching...
Curated OER
Similes and Metaphors
Students explore similes and metaphors. They discuss and define similes and metaphors, identify the similes and metaphors in two poems, and create three original examples of each.
Shmoop
ELA.CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.9-10.2
Identifying the theme or central idea of a text is a skill many young readers struggle with. It is also the second standard for reading literature in the Common Core. This resource, one from a series of Common Core lessons, can provide...