Curated OER
Exploring the Irish in America Through Found Poetry
What was life like for Irish immigrants settling in America during the late 1800's? Learners examine primary source documents, such as lyrics, poems, and letters, to understand the immigrant experience. They then use those primary source...
Curated OER
Poetry in Song
Have your music lovers examine song lyrics and identify the poetry elements or tools used by a lyricist. They review the song individually before working in groups to discuss what they discovered about the song's narrator or character...
Prestwick House
The Poetry of Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members analyze the...
National Center for Families Learning
The Summer Fun Summer Learning Poetry Unit
Focus on poetry this summer to enhance those comprehension, fluency, and language skills with a set of resources intended to explore different types of poetry, specifically lyric poetry. The daily activities contain differentiation ideas...
Curated OER
Collective Poetry: Teaching Tolerance
Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...
Curated OER
Poetry
Explore the semantics of poetry with this higher-level presentation. With examples from Dickinson, Frost, and Dr. Seuss, the slides clearly explain the details of poetic structure, license, and schemes. You could use this in a language...
Curated OER
Poetry: The Most Compact Form of Literature
Introducing or need to review literary devices and terms for a study of poetry? Though text heavy, the explanations and examples of key poetic devices will provide learners with the vocabulary they need to discuss and craft poems.
Curated OER
Western Medieval European Poetry and Literature
One of the Common Core standards requires learners to make connections between literature or media of the past and the present. Provided here, are key elements found in medieval poetry and literature that are connected to several more...
A to Z Teacher Stuff
The Gingerbread Man
You may not be able to catch the Gingerbread Man, but you can sing a catchy song about him! Incorporate a poem into a study of poetry and/or the alphabet in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
Curated OER
Lyrics Analysis Guide
Assist your learners as they unravel the wonders of lyric analysis. This resource breaks down the analysis process by hook, verse, and chorus. Each is briefly defined and is used to look at any song's lyrics in a systematic way.
Curated OER
On the Beach: Disabled and Mother's Pride
What do an early 20th century poet and a 1980's rock star have in common with a novel from the 1960's? Using Wilfred Owen's poem "Disabled" and George Michael's song "Mother's Pride," learners answer questions about the lyrics and themes...
Curated OER
Poetry for the Common Good
Learners identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. For this philanthropy lesson, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Learners construct their own...
Curated OER
Poetry Analysis Lesson and Rubric
Analyzing poetry can be done using a variety of techniques that tap into student's prior knowledge.
Curated OER
The Presidents Song
Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....
Curated OER
Figurative Language & Poetic Devices Activity: Firework by Katy Perry
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...
Literacy Design Collaborative
Catching a Grenade: How Word Choice Impacts Meaning and Tone
Beyonce's "Halo" and Bruno Mars' "Grenade" provide eighth graders with an opportunity to consider how a writer's choice of words can create a very different tone even when the subject is the same. After a close reading of both lyrics,...
British Council
Love Poems
Language learners write down the words to a song as they listen to it. They then work in groups to write a love poem using the words and phrases they wrote from the song. As a culminating activity, scholars read their poems to the class.
Curated OER
Poetry in Music
Sixth graders look at poetry in music. In this language arts lesson plan, 6th graders listen to and read the lyrics of songs to find the poetic aspects of them. They focus on similes and metaphors and write their own songs lyrics.
Curated OER
Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry
Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...
Curated OER
Introducing Poetry
Students explore poetry. In this language arts lesson, students discuss the elements of poetry and students rewrite a lyric or poem.
Curated OER
Dialect Poems of Paul Laurence Dunbar
Explore different dialects with your English class. This handout contains four poems from Paul Laurence Dunbar. Use the poems to introduce your class to a new dialect. No exercises or activities are included.
Curated OER
Musical Poetry
Students analyze lyrics of their favorite songs as examples of alliteration, metaphor, Onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile to determine the purpose of these devices in poetry. They use their analysis to create a presentation...
Curated OER
Poetic Devices
Introduce middle schoolers to poetic devices with a lesson that asks them to find examples of alliteration, anaphora, onomatopoeia, metaphors, similes, and personification in various poems. Young scholars craft examples of these poetic...
Curated OER
Are Your Favorite Rockstars Poets?
Tenth graders decide if the song lyrics that they listen to, could be considered a sonnet or a poem. They are invited to explore lyrics and their meaning. Students write a persuading argument on whatever they decide, but it must be...