Prestwick House
Teaching Shakespeare: Sonnet 73
It's that time of year to consider how Shakespeare selects his images and structures his Sonnet 73 to develop the meaning of the poem. Class members examine the rhyme scheme, the indented lines, the conceit, and the images used in each...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón
Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...
Curated OER
Poetry: Walking With My Iguana
Bring a little excitement to your next poetry analysis lesson plan. Using the highly energetic poem "Walking With My Iguana," learners consider poem structure and rhyme. They listen to the poem, discuss the rhythm and tone with their...
Curated OER
Annotating Poetry
Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...
Curated OER
Epic Improvisation
Really? Rapping The Odyssey? Really. A discussion of the oral tradition of story telling and its links to Epic poetry sets the stage for a series of activities that encourage improvisation to integrate music into other classrooms....
Curated OER
War Literature
Working in groups, young historians review a war poem written by Stephen Crane. After reviewing the poem, they present an oral interpretation of the poem and hold a panel discussion about their analysis. The panel is made up of five or...
Curated OER
Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems
Students explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Scholastic
Selecting Favorite Poems From Historical Poets
Here is a poetry lesson that begins with a free-association activity focused on the word voice. Learners each sit alone for a moment and make sounds that express how they are currently feeling, and then turn to their partners to share...
Curated OER
Introduction to the Poetry Unit
Students explore, analyze and interpret one form of poetry writing called Poetry Slam. They hear several examples of unexpected poetry and view a video of "Slam Nation." The books, "Hey You! C'mere: A Poetry Slam," by Elizabeth Swados...
Hawaiʻi State Department of Education
Picture Poetry
What a fun idea! The class discusses, and then writes free-verse poems using sensory detail. They get into small collaborative writing teams to compose their poems. Next, they pantomime the actions from the poem while their teammates...
Curated OER
Poetry--Rhythm and Meter in Sonnets
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...
Curated OER
Poetry - Landscape, Comparison, and Critical Response
Students compare and evaluate landscape poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read poetry by Owen Sheers that describes place/landscapes. They read and compare two similar poems before looking at visual images related to the poems....
Curated OER
Hermeneutics: Teaching Students Author's Purpose
Your developing literary critics discuss 'perspective' and discuss how the same occurence can be interpreted by two different people in two different ways. They read Ryszard Kapuscinski's untitled poem, infer meaning of the poem, and...
Curated OER
What are the Elements of Poetry
Middle schoolers 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...
Curated OER
Poetry Alive! Interpreting Poetry Using Digital Images
Students investigate poetry by incorporating images into the words of a poem. In this language arts lesson, students discuss poetry writing devices and self expression with their classmates. Students create a film about the poem by...
Curated OER
Teaching Sequence of Activities
Students 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 their...
Curated OER
Heaven or Ground Hog Day?
Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. For this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
Curated OER
Team Teaching - Spanish
Students present a Spanish grammar topic to the class. In pairs, they select and research a grammar concept, create an over-head transparency, homework assignment, and a quiz to use with the presentation, and teach their concept to the...
Poetry Class
Writing a Monologue
The works of Carol Ann Duffy, Scottish poet and Britain's 2009 poet laureate, serve as a model for a writing activity that asks class members to select a character card, brainstorm lists of words, phrases, actions, and items associated...
Curated OER
Classify By Topic
Students explore and evaluate poetry. In small groups, they read and summarize poems, complete a handout, create and perform a dramatization of a poem, and write a journal entry in response to their performance.
Curated OER
Poetry: Techniques & Form
Ninth graders explore poetic technique and figurative language in this ten lesson unit. Comparisons are made between a variety of forms of poetic expressions and the lives of several poets are studied.
Curated OER
Understanding Immigration Through the Use of Triante Poetry
Third graders read a book about emigrating to America. They create and illustrate a triante poem using sensory words, depicting something they liked about the story.
Curated OER
Oceans-A Fact Haiku
Students create haiku poems. In this poetry lesson, students listen to the sound of the ocean from an audio file and write a haiku poem about oceans.
Curated OER
Lessons of the Indian Epics: Following the Dharma
Learners examine how the epic poem, "Ramayana" teaches dharma, one of Hinduism's most important tenets. They read the abridged version of the "Ramayana," identify the main plot points, complete a chart, and write an essay on a moral...