Writing
Poetry Class

How to Make a Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th
Even reluctant writers will be able to craft poems using the poem making kit provided by this resource.
Worksheet
2
2
Busy Teacher’s Café

"Smart" by Shel Silverstein

For Students 2nd - 4th Standards
Find out just how smart your young mathematicians are with this cross-curricular math and language arts lesson. After first reading Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart", students draw pictures of coins to model the different exchanges...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Theme

For Teachers 7th Standards
A study of Rudyard Kipling's poem, "If," launches a lesson about theme. Class members read Kipling's poem and poems by other seventh graders to identify the themes.
Unit Plan
Bolton Healthy Schools

Deal with Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 12th
The stated goal of this unit is to use poetry to "improve the emotional health of young people." Budding poets read and then supply their own lines for poems that deal with alienation, loneliness, and rejection.
Lesson Plan
PBS

Exploring Selected Haiku by Issa

For Teachers 7th - 12th Standards
If your class doesn't know what a haiku is, show them two examples from the Japanese poet Issa (both included here), and have them make some observations. How long are they? What is the structure? A video and a list of questions help...
Organizer
Curated OER

Figurative Language & Poetic Devices Activity: Firework by Katy Perry

For Students 6th - 10th
Sure to engage your class in poetry, this resource requires them to identify, label, and explain poetic devices and figurative language used in Katy Perry's hit song "Firework". A well-organized page that chunks the lyrics so learners...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Introducing Metaphors Through Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Metaphors are word pictures, creating images in our brains that draw readers to consider how two seemingly unrelated items are alike. Poems by Langston Hughes, Margaret Atwood, and Naomi Shihad Nye provide learners with an opportunity to...
Lesson Plan
PBS

Exploring Identity and Intersectionality in Poetry

For Teachers 10th - 12th Standards
Just as Kermit the Frog notes, "It isn't easy being green!" it isn't easy occupying "multiple Identity spaces." Class members read and discuss poems by writers detailing what it is like when their identities are "oppressed."
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Poetry of Liberation

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...
Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Rhythms in Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Rhyme, rhythm, free verse, imagery: Do these words describe poetry, or jazz music? The answer is both! A resource explores these similarities as scholars watch a video, engage in discussion, read author biographies, write poetry and...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Poetry Society

War Horse and WWI Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library. As part of their study of War Horse individuals create an anthology of World War I poetry. 
Unit Plan
4
4
KIPP 3D Academy

Epic Poetry Unit

For Teachers 6th - 10th Standards
The Odyssey is the core text in this unit study of the hero's journey motif. Along the way, kids research Greek and Roman history, mythology, art, and epic poetry. The 104-page packet is perfect for homeschool or classroom situations and...
Interactive
Curated OER

Keats' Poems by John Keats

For Students 9th - Higher Ed
For this literature worksheet, students respond to 41 short answer and essay questions about poetry by John Keats. Students may also link to an online interactive quiz on the selections at the bottom of the page.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Acrostic Poetry to Teach Font Changes and Centering

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Students engage in a discussion about how to write an acrostic poem. They demonstate the ability to use a word processor by typing an acrostic poem by following instructions. Word processing skills such as, centering text, changing font,...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry/Music: Let It Snow!

For Teachers 2nd - 4th
Young scholars create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Skill Building: Alphabet Poem

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Amateur poets explore alphabetical poetry. They choose a topic and brainstorm vocabulary that relates to the topic using each letter of the alphabet. The class then generates ideas for a group alphabet poem. After creating one as a whole...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Nurture Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Students create a poetry book.  In this poetry instructional activity, students write a cinquain poem, name poem, haiku, limerick, and preposition poem.  
Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Recite a Poem like an Expert

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Don't just read a poem, recite a poem! Add speaking skills to a poetry unit with an activity that promotes successful poem recitation. Scholars choose a poem then recite it with the help of several tips and videos. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

De-Mystifying Poetry: Understanding Narrative Poetry

For Teachers 10th
Tenth graders explore narrative poetry. They analyze sections of a poem and present to groups. They compose their own narrative poems using pictures as prompts. They exchange their poems and analyze their classmate's poem.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Poetry Reading and Analysis Worksheet - As You Like It

For Students 7th - 9th
Enhance your lesson on Shakespeare with this poetry activity. After reading lines 139-167 from As You Like It Act II, Scene 7 (provided on the first page), middle schoolers work on a graphic organizer to paraphrase each...
Lesson Plan
National Park Service

The Poet's Toolbox

For Teachers 3rd - 6th Standards
If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...
Unit Plan
Trinity University

Introduction to Poetry

For Teachers 4th
Introduce fourth graders to poetry with a three-week unit that has them examine the structural elements of poetry, analyze poems, and craft their own original poems rich in sensory details and other poetic devices. Young scholars study...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Incredible Bridges: “Cotton Candy” by Edward Hirsch

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Read it, hear it, see it, do it! Young poets experience Edward Hirsch's memory poem, "Cotton Candy," by first closely reading the poem silently, then aloud, watching a video of the poet reading it, and crafting their memory poem of an...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Concrete Poems

For Teachers 7th Standards
Concrete poems, or shape poems as they are sometimes called, are the focus of the eighth lesson plan in this poetry unit. Young scholars examine several examples of concrete poems and consider how the shape contributes to the poem's...

Other popular searches