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Unit Plan
New York City Department of Education

Poetry…Do I Dare?

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Whether you're considering a poetry unit or just want to incorporate more poetry in your curriculum, this unit plan is a must-have. Packed with poems, teaching points, powerful prompts, and poetry performance suggestions, the resource is...
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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
1
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Facing History and Ourselves

Speaking Up and Speaking Out

For Teachers 6th - 12th
The final lesson in the Standing Up for Democracy unit offers class members a way they can stand up and speak out by crafting spoken word poetry, or Slam poetry. After analyzing several examples, individuals reflect on one positive...
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Unit Plan
University of British Columbia

Pondering Poetry and Playing with Words

For Teachers 9th
First-year High school scholars explore the world of poetry with an 11-lesson unit that examines a range of poetry forms and tries their hand at crafting their own poems. Young poets then collect their work in a portfolio that they...
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Activity
PBS

Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"

For Students 6th - 12th
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Slam!

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Create poems without writing! Young poets create poems using words cut from newspapers, read their poems aloud, and compile them in a book. This lesson allows the teacher to view each learner's creative process and assess their current...
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write an “I Can’t Write a Poem” Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Ever have students complain that they don't know how to write a poem? Turn those complaints into magnificent works of writing with an independent poetry lesson about not being able to write poetry.
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Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write an Exaggeration Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
The best poetry writing lesson of all time is here for you! Learn all about the art of exaggeration with a lesson on exaggeration poems, which instructs students to use wild imagery to convey their message.
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Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Poetry and Storytelling Café

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...
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Unit Plan
Teaching Matters

Welcome to Writing Poetry

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take learners through...
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Lesson Plan
PBS

Pandemic Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Links to other pandemic poems are provided in the optional extensions
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry SLAM: Youth Verse Competition

For Teachers 8th - 10th
Use this model, based on urban youth poetry competitions, to create an engaging venue for your poets to share their work out loud, with expression. Build class community, have fun, and celebrate your authors' original verse. Resource is...
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

The History of Spoken Word Poetry: Historical and Cultural Perspectives In Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Spoken word poetry, more than almost any other form, reveals the historical and cultural perspective of the poet. High schoolers listen to various spoken word poems, select one to research in-depth, and then apply what they have learned...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry and Hip Hop

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed
High schoolers compare and contrast the genres of poetry and hip-hop. They view a poetry slam and write about it in their journals. Learners view a Lauryn Hill music video and respond to it in their journals. They compare and contrast...
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App
Tiny Mobile

Poetry Creator | Verses

For Students 2nd - 8th
Construct from a canvas of words, lyrical expressions that your budding poets can share and post.  Based on refrigerator magnet poetry, creative writers can develop their poetry independently, or from a given prompt from their instructor.  
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Virtual) Poetry Slam

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students create a "virtual poetry slam." This project can easily be implemented at any grade level where students have created short pieces of personal writing. They write, edit, and revise a short piece of poetry or personal writing.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

#Summarize: Summarizing

For Teachers 11th - 12th Standards
What are the effects of one's life experiences? Class members view a slam poetry reading, a speech by President Obama, and read a short story by John Steinbeck about responding to tragedies. They summarize these events and then craft a...
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Lesson Plan
2
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Curated OER

The Poetics of Hip Hop

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...
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Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

Poetry Slams and Lesson Plans

For Teachers 5th - 12th
Poetry slams can lead your students beyond a focus on rhyme and meter and into the emotional pull of poetry.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stage a Poetry Slam!

For Teachers 4th - 6th
Students write and perform poetry. In this poetry presentation lesson, students learn about the concept of a poetry slam. Students plan and hold their own poetry slam.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Rhythm and Improv, Jazz and Poetry

For Teachers 11th - 12th
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...
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Unit Plan
Academy of American Poets

Voice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Four lessons make up a poetry unit that introduces high schoolers to spoken and written poetry. Class members also examine poems as social commentary and connect these poems to various novels and plays. A great way to incorporate poetry...
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Lesson Plan
Poetry4kids

Alliteration and Assonance Lesson Plan

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
Scholars analyze the poem My Puppy Punched Me in the Eye by Ken Nesbitt in order to locate examples of alliteration and assonance. After reading the poem, alliterative words are underlined and assonant words are circled.