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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Workshop: Fixed Form Poems

For Teachers 6th - 9th
Encourage the poetic genius in your young creative writers with a poetry workshop. Fix form poems (cinquains acrostic poems, octopoems, hello/goodbye poems) provide a framework and encourage vocabulary development as well as an awareness...
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PPT
Curated OER

10th Grade Poetry Unit

For Teachers 7th - 12th
Immerse your students into the wide world of poetry with this presentation, which opens a poetry unit. By first introducing the art of poetry and then providing examples of poems with figurative language, the presentation guides students...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Out of the Dust: Open Form Poetry

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students write a description of their own life in the same style used in the first poem in Out of the Dust.  In this Out of the Dust lesson, students discuss open form poetry and how the spacing and line breaks create a flow to the poem...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Tanka Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Take your haikus to the next level with tanka poems, another form of Japanese poetry that regulates the length and rhythm of each line by syllables. Young writers read the explanation, examples, and tips for tanka poems before writing...
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PPT
Curated OER

Reading Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Present your class with an overview of poetry-related information. The slides are clearly organized by topic, starting with reading poetry, ending with myths, and touching on everything from the five senses to open and closed forms of...
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Unit Plan
Trinity University

I Didn’t Know that was Poetry

For Teachers 8th Standards
Poetry or prose? That is the question facing middle schoolers as they begin a month-long poetry unit by examining the characteristics that differentiate poetry and prose writing. Pupils learn about poetic devices and different types of...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Preparing for Poetry: A Reader's First Steps

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine denotation and connotation in language, and paraphrase a poem. They read and analyze a sonnet by iam Shakespeare, analyze the attitude and tone, paraphrase a poem, and create a thesis about a poem based on textual evidence.
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Lesson Plan
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Pulitzer Center

"Voices from Haiti": Using Poetry to Speak up for a Cause

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Explore a real world use of poetry with your class! Young language arts pupils consider the concept of advocacy and how journalism, photography, and poetry can raise awareness for a cause. They read several poems about individuals...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Free Verse Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Budding poets compose an original free verse poem. Encouraged to use personification and alliteration, scholars read over three tips and examples then try their hand at drafting a poem of their own style.  
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Home” by Bruce Weigl

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
A poetry lesson takes a close look at home. Scholars discuss with partners what they are most grateful for at their homes. A timelapse video showcases potato tubers growing. While watching, pupils write down what they notice. Learners...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Forming Open-Ended Questions

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Help readers learn to create their own open-ended questions for any text you are working with. Using Bloom's Taxonomy, learners begin on the lower levels and work their way up to form questions that focus on synthesis instead of simple...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Rejoice, It’s National Poetry Month!

For Teachers 4th - 12th
Cultivate an interest and enjoyment of poetry school-wide!
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Limerick

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Add a little fun and fancy to English language arts with an activity that challenges scholars to write a limerick. Authors follow five rules in order to compose an original poem that contains a specific rhyme scheme. 
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Lesson: Paul Chan: "Score for the 7th Light"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Music, art, and poetry coalesce in a single exhibition, and in a single lesson. Critical thinkers analyze the Fluxus art movement as it's seen in the work of Paul Chan's 7 Lights. They consider the use of poetry and music in his work,...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poems for Every Season

For Teachers 1st - 5th
Students read and explore autumn poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read Autumnblings and are introduced to different poetic forms. Lesson includes ideas for exploring the poetic forms presented in the book and cross-curricular...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

What are the Elements of Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read the poem "Ode to Pablo's Tennis Shoes" and analyze the form, figurative language, and mood. They complete a T-chart containing what they have learned about Pablo and the evidence from the poem supporting their conclusions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Science with a Smile

For Teachers 7th - 9th
Students study science concepts as they are presented in poetic form. They write and present their own science poems to parents during Open House.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry: "Seven Types of Shadow"

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students examine the way ghosts are portrayed in films and literature. In this poetry instructional activity, students listen to  the first five stanzas of the poem "Seven Types of Shadow" read by U A Fanthorpe on The Poetry Archive...
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Activity
Curated OER

The Metamorphosis: Herber Readiness Activity

For Students 9th - 12th Standards
Delve into Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis before opening the book with a lesson on literary themes. High schoolers engage in a word association activity before reading a list of statements based on the book's themes.  Then, in groups,...
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Worksheet
Curated OER

English Test

For Students 5th - 6th
In this literary techniques worksheet, students complete a 12 question multiple choice question test. Included are questions about poetry conventions such as repetition, similes, rhyming patterns, alliteration and metaphors.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Sequence of Activities

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Young scholars develop their skills at writing poetry by listening to poetry and using a model to emulate and write a poem. In this poetry writing lesson, students listen to Louis MacNeice's poem 'Prayer Before Birth' and use it to model...
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Activity
Curated OER

Handprint Tree

For Teachers Pre-K - 1st
Students make a tree. In this art lesson, students wrap a pole with butcher paper, paint handprints and names on the paper, and write a poem on the same paper.
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Worksheet
Curated OER

Reading: Home on the Range

For Students 4th - 5th
In this cowboy poetry worksheet, students read about stories and poems in the American West. Students read the lyrics of "Home on the Range". Students answer 7 multiple choice questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Marriage of Visual and Thematic Aspects of Herbert's Poetry

For Teachers 8th
Eighth graders describe the relationship between the visual aspects of "Easter Wings" and the poem's subject, and theorize about the poet George Herbert's motivations in constructing the poem this way. They demonstrate their ability to...