Sonnet Lesson Plans

Young scholars are given information about two popular sonnet forms-English and Italian. They are given the rules for writing a sonnet. Students are asked what type of sonnet they would use. They are each given a sheet of paper and asked to write a sonnet. Young scholars write the sonnnet together. They are explained the rhyme schemes and how the sounds of words are symbolically tracked with the letters of the alphabet.

Tenth graders explore, after reading Julius Caesar 3.3, what makes good poetry good. They perform the scene from Julius Caesar only after incorporating their decision on a lesser-known sonnet and discussing the effect that this decision has on the scene.

Young scholars experience and enjoy the sounds of poetry. They perform "sound experiments" with sonnets. Also, they closely read and analyze a sonnet by Shakespeare. Write a brief analysis of how sound affects meaning in a sonnet chosen from the Sonnet Bank.

Students identify rhyme scheme and meter in a poem and respond to the message of the poem.  In this sonnet rhythm and meter lesson, students take notes on a lecture about rhythm and meter in sonnets and work in small groups to read sonnets using the punctuation as a guide.  Students complete a response from and write try to capture the message of the poem in 1-2 sentences.

Students explore Emmet Till's story. In this Emmet Till instructional activity, students discover the details of his life and collaborate to write a crown of sonnets in the style of Marilyn Nelson.

Students practice reading sonnets line by line to find the message of the sonnet.  In this sonnet lesson, students read a sonnet one line at a time as the teacher projects it for the entire class.  As each line is shown, students focus on primary and secondary meanings and sounds as they discover the way each line adds information to the last.  Students complete the activity by reading the sonnet aloud together.

"Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? Thou art more lovely and more temperate..." After this lesson on Shakespearean sonnets, your young poets will be equipped to woo their sweethearts properly. They first compare and contrast Sonnets 18 and 29, and use the characteristics of a sonnet to craft their own. An honors or advanced class could complete the assignment as written, while a standard class will need more scaffolding between the steps.

Students discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. In this sonnet instructional activity, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Students listen to pop music in class and complete a free writing exercise based on their emotions resulting from a break up.

Students use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis lesson. In this sonnet lesson, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Students work in pairs to create motions for two lines from the poem and teach them to the entire class. Students discuss and write how they motions help them understand the poem.

Students write a Shakespearean Sonnet. In this poetry writing lesson, students understand Shakespearean meter and form after reading Shakespeare's "Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day". They then create their own sonnet using something they love or hate as a comparison to something beautiful.