Sor Juana, considered one of the first feminist writers and a great Latin American poet, is the topic and inspiration for this excellent lesson. Use the introduction, guiding questions, and learning objectives to lead your class into a...

The sixth in a series of poetry writing exercises asks young poets to craft a free verse poem.

Young poets research an animal and use the information they gather to craft and illustrate a cinquain.

Discover alliteration found in picture books by Pamela Duncan Edwards. Then, dive into a read aloud of Alligators All Around by Maurice Sendak. This practice sets the stage for budding poets to create their own acrostic poem,...

A poet's word choice can be the difference between a poem that is merely sad, and a poem full of heartbreaking regret. Middle schoolers discern the tone in four different poems, noting the relevant textual evidence that supports...

Alliteration and imagery are two vital parts of any well-written poem. Encourage your young poets to include these devices with a set of activities designed to get them thinking, writing, and creating.

Be mine! Young poets use the provided worksheet to craft a Valentine's Day acrostic poem for the word heart.

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...

Young poets are asked to craft a poem in the voice of a first person narrator, a dramatic monologue of sorts, that reveals not only a dramatic situation but something of the narrator's character as well.

Identifying onomatopoeia is one thing; making an inference about the significance of the sound is more advanced. Young poets read a literary passage and identify the examples of onomatopoeia in each before naming the...

Drip drop goes the raindrop. Quack quack goes the duck. What other words have sounds? Reinforce the concept of onomatopoeia in a worksheet in which young poets identify animal sounds and items that make a given sound.

Continue celebrating Poetry Month with an interactive whose focus is writing shape, or theme, poems. Young poets choose from nature, school, shapes, sports, and celebration themes. Then, they brainstorm words that have to do with the...

What is an acrostic poem? It is one of the many forms of poetry that expresses a particular thought, idea, emotion, or feeling. Play with an interactive that allows young poets to craft a topical acrostic of their choice using an online...

Celebrate April's National Poetry Month or enrich a poetry unit with a wealth of language arts material. Class members develop an oral interpretation of a poem and/or develop a podcast interview with a poet. 

As an assessment of their skill in crafting a compare and contrast essay, class members read and compare the portrayals of nature in excerpts from naturalist John Muir's My First Summer in the Sierra and from poet Emily Dickinson's...

Budding poets create two acrostic poems, one for their name and another using a word of their choice. Over the course of five days, scholars compose, revise, publish, and share their work with their peers.

Follow poetry instruction with a four-category rubric designed to guide budding poets' writing of free verse poetry. 

Work on literal and figurative meanings with a lesson plan focused on Robert Frost's "After Apple-Picking" and "The Road Not Taken." Readers identify the literary devices used by the poet to set the poems' themes, settings, and...

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...

Budding poets choose a topic for a sensory-filled poem. Authors describe that topic using detailed language based on the five senses. Then, switch the senses to create a fanciful poem intended to add a touch of fun to the objective. 

Scholars select a novel or play and then craft an essay that describes the setting's role in the story. Pupils also create essays that analyze a poet's use of language and the values of characters in a novel excerpt.

Towards an Open Anthology of Poetry features poets talking about their work, poems by topic, terms to use when teaching poetry, and poems to use for close reading.

Looking for a resource that models how to read and analyze a poem? Check out this packet that uses sections of Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" to demonstrate how to paraphrase, note literary elements, and identify the poet's inferences.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—and it's a great way to learn about poetic structure! Young poets use familiar tunes to write a song parody based on straightforward guidelines.