Types of Poetry Teacher Resources

Provide pupils samples of different types of poems including haikus, narrative, nonsense, shape, and rhyming poems. In groups, class members read the poems, establish their general meaning, identify poetic devices, and rate the poems,...

Expose your class to various poetic forms. Listed in and described in this slide show are: ballad, lyric poem, ode, dramatic monologue, sonnet, and villanelle. Some descriptions are more detailed than others. 

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...

Practice word processing while writing different types of poems. First, elementary and middle schoolers use Word templates to write poetry. They use rhyming and descriptive words as they work with clipart, text wrapping, and picture...

Poetry isn't all sonnets and rhyming couplets! Introduce your class to three fun types of poetry: shape poems, acrostic poems, and diamante poems. Each type is explained, and an example is provided. Challenge your class to write one in...

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...

If your class doesn't know what a haiku is, show them two examples from the Japanese poet Issa (both included here), and have them make some observations. How long are they? What is the structure? A video and a list of questions help...

Students in three classes in different locations become Poetry Prodigies as they use iChat AV and an iSight camera to teach and explore from each other about different poetic styles. They explore six types of poetry are taught:...

Embark on a journey of writing several different types of poetry. Fifth graders read several examples, and use the examples to model their own writing. Each poem is to be accompanied by a different art visual representation. In the end,...

Sixth graders complete a worksheet.  In this poetry lesson, 6th graders learn about the differences between narrative poetry and lyric poetry.  Students read poems and determine which form of poetry they are as well as identify...

Explore poetry with your class by having them film themselves reading different types of poems. They explore different elements in all types of poetry. They choose images to accompany their poems and learn to create video presentations...

Copy all pages to create a book of poems during a poetry study. From alliteration to cinquain to acrostic poem, your class won't run out of templates for writing poems! Each sheet serves as a template for an entire book of poems. Other...

Have fun with shape poems! First and second graders write calligrams that add to the meaning of their poems. Great for your poetry unit or if you want to combine poetry and art lessons. 

Learners gain insight into how songs and poems express feelings of injustice. They also learn about literary devices and types of poems and make a personal connection when they write their own free verse poems about injustice.

The big idea in this poetry unit plan is that structure and content work together to create meaning. Class members learn how to identify and mark the metrical patterns and line lengths used in poems. They study the structure of various...

Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...

Over the course of the lesson, your pupils read and analyze a translated eight-line poem from the Tang Dynasty written by Du Fu, a poet caught behind enemy lines during the An Lu-Shan rebellion (755-763). Literary/historical context is...

What is 14 lines long, written in iambic pentameter, and follows a predetermined rhyme scheme? Introduce scholars to the sonnet, one of the most famous of the fixed-form types of poetry, with a 10-slide presentation that includes the...

In this language arts activity, students complete a crossword puzzle. Clues refer to types of poetry such as ballad, chant, couplet, clerihew, limerick and tanka.

Poetry can be fun! To set your pupils giggling, have them listen to poems from If Kids Ruled the School by Bruce Lansky. Then, they can study the different types of poetry on www.gigglepoetry.com, and choose one form on which to...

Students create a poetry book.  In this poetry lesson plan, students write a cinquain poem, name poem, haiku, limerick, and preposition poem.  

Introduce your class to the delights of nonsense poetry and explore literary devices with the writing of Edward Lear. Learners identify rhyme and meter as well as figures of speech, alliteration, and onomatopoeia in "The Owl and the...

Young poets get inspiration and guidance for making word association poems with the Visual Thesaurus. Your class could complete this project with nothing more than a pencil and paper as well. A nice one-off for a substitute during your...

Fourth graders write poems that use local wildlife as their inspiration. After a class discussion which produces a list of wildlife that pupils have seen in their town, a review of three types of poetry ensues. They look at how...