Lesson Plan
Curated OER

From Photos to Poetry

For Teachers 8th - 12th
Students examine poems. In this poetry instructional activity, students list emotions and write short phrases about human nature that can become a poem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Word Beads: Writing Poetry

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders write rhyming poems. In this poetry writing lesson plan, 2nd graders discuss the meaning of the word "funny." They use word tiles to create a rhyming poem which they transpose into their writing journals. They listen to...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Black History Lesson Plan: Gwendolyn Brooks

For Students 1st - 3rd Standards
Learn more about the work of Gwendolyn Brooks with a language arts lesson. Young learners read an informational passage about the acclaimed poet before attempting a shape poem of their own.
Worksheet
Curated OER

Poetry Group Activity

For Students 10th - 11th
In this Romeo and Juliet worksheet, students complete a group project by creating a poem on an assigned topic relating to themes found in Romeo and Juliet.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetic Form

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students read Red Boots On and explore  prepositions.  In this poetic form instructional activity, students analyze the use of prepositions in the poem. Students might also explore the rhymes or objects.  Students write...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Eency Weency Spider

For Teachers Pre-K - K
Students use the poem "Eency Weency Spider" to understand up and down. Students say the poem and act out the motions. Students make their own spider puppet and move their spider with the poem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heaven or Ground Hog Day?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Animating Poetry: Reading Poems about the Natural World

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Learners complete poetry analysis activities. In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students consider the use of imagery and sound devices in poetry. Learners translate poetry into another art, read a diverse selection of...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Impact of a Poem's Line Breaks: Enjambment and Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students analyze the Gwendolyn Brooks use of enjambment in her poem "We Real Cool." In this poetry analysis activity, students define common poetic devices and the examples of enjambment in the poem. Students discuss the poem and write...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry instructional activity, learners research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students write poems and a narrative story.  For this writing lesson, students read stories and poems written by other students and read examples of haiku's and diamonte's.  Students write an acrostic poem and a diamonte...
Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Seeing Sense in Photographs & Poems

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners analyze photographs and poetry as forms of each other. In this poetry and photography analysis instructional activity, students use the photographs of Alfred Stieglitz and poetry from William Carlos William to explore how poetry...
Lesson Plan
1
1
National Endowment for the Humanities

Thirteen Ways of Reading a Modernist Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
High schoolers analyze modernist poetry and the role of speaker in example poems. Learners study modernist poems from the Romanticism and Victorian periods as well as Wallace Stevens' "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird." Using a...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Living Environment

For Teachers 2nd
In this reading comprehension instructional activity, 2nd graders have the choice between musical, kinesthetic, logical mathematical and verbal linguistic options to display their knowledge. Students can write a song, perform a play,...
Worksheet
Curated OER

Reading Comprehension

For Teachers 3rd
In these two reading and comprehending a friendly letter worksheet and a poem about a Frog worksheet, 3rd graders read a letter from a third grader and answer questions about it. Students answer 11 multiple choice questions. 
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

No Regrets: a Poetry Analysis

For Teachers 10th - 12th
Students read a poem and use the TPCASTT strategy for analysis. In this poetry analysis lesson, students journal about their future goals and read John Updike's "Ex-Basketball Player." Students discuss the purpose of the poem and...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Teaching Selected Poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems

For Teachers 5th - 7th
Young scholars explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson plan, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

American Rhythms

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students combine elements of music with poetry.  In this creative writing lesson, students examine poems from a variety of authors with varying writing styles.  Students explore the different elements of poetry, including tone,...
Lesson Plan
1
1
Facing History and Ourselves

What Shapes Your Identity?

For Teachers 6th
Sixth graders explore their individual identities. In this personal identity lesson, 6th graders write biopoems using the provided template. Students share their poems and respond to the poetry shared.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Edward Lear, Limericks, and Nonsense: There Once Was?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Students explore limericks. In this poetry writing lesson, students listen to and read a variety of poems written by Edward Lear. Students count syllables and identify meter by clapping as they read aloud. Students complete a limerick...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Stage a Poetry Slam!

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

Jazz Dance and Music

For Teachers 4th
Fourth graders write a poem. In this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...
Unit Plan
Curated OER

A Center Approach to Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 4th
Students experience the different types of poetry in order to classify them. In this poetry lesson, students discover the multiple types of poetry while reading in the library. Ultimately, the students create their own poetry and share...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Oceans-A Fact Haiku

For Teachers K - 4th
Students create haiku poems. In this poetry lesson plan, students listen to the sound of the ocean from an audio file and write a haiku poem about oceans.