Exposing learners to the power of words in poetry is a stimulating way to learn languages. Songs, haikus, rhyming words, and narrative works are all employed in a resource for teaching English as a Second Language.

"Ode to la Tortilla" and "Ode to Joy"? Sure! Use Gary Soto's poem to introduce learners to the ode format. After examining the descriptive words Soto uses, class members study a poster of Ludwig van Beethoven, suggest words that describe...

Language arts learners don't need a lecture about poetry; they listen to poetry every day on the radio! Apply skills from literary analysis to famous songs and beautiful lyrics with a lesson plan about literary devices. As...

Use Mattie Stepanek’s Heartsongs book of poetry to inspire young poets to write about their own lives, experiences, and feelings. After reading the introduction to Mattie’s book, in which he talks about himself and his reasons for...

Models of and directions for how to write 20 different types of poems are featured in an NCTE resource. The introduction to each form highlights the embedded concepts. For example, tongue twisters encourage poets to use alliteration and...

Bring a little excitement to your next poetry analysis lesson. 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...

Students create poems and sound compositions using instruments, sounds, and pictograph notation. After listening Debussy's Children's corner suite, they brainstorm a list of snow vocabulary words. Students write poems and in groups...

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,...

If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...

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...

Students investigate syllabic metre and rhyming techniques by analyzing poetry.  In this language arts lesson, students read the poem Considering the Snail and discuss the nature and mood of the poem with their classmates....

Explore poetry, personification, and multiple languages with a poetry reading and writing lesson. After the teacher reads the poem to the class, a discussion about personification follows. The class then writes a collaborative poem...

Remember learning to spell “encyclopedia” by singing along with Jiminy Cricket? How about using a singing exercise to learn the names of the presidents? “The Presidents Song,” includes the names, in order, from Washington to Coolidge....

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....

Fourth graders use an online word list editor and software to create opening lines for a poem. They select and edit these into a complete, polished poem about an animal. They investigate parts of speech and alliteration.

Poems carved into the wooden walls of the Asian immigrant prisons on Angel Island provide upper elementary graders an opportunity to study not only the story behind the poems but to also focus on the figurative language employed by the...

Fibonacci numbers are not only found in the classroom but also in nature. Explore the concept of Fibonacci numbers through a series of lessons designed to gain insight into the mathematical reasoning behind the number pattern, and spark...

Students create an acrostic poem about winter. In this lesson about acrostic poems, students explore acrostic poetry. Students read an acrostic poem as an example. As a class, students come up with an acrostic poem for the word "CLASS"....

Students are introduced to the idea of traditional oral narratives and divide them into genres. They explore the genres of context, motifs and variants. Each student finds oral narratives in their own lives and practice retelling them in...

Motivate your class with this lesson! Learners use passages from Edgar Allan Poe's poetry to practice reading fluency. They read "The Raven" as a rap song to better understand the rhyming patterns and pauses.  

Get kids re-oriented to the computer lab for back-to-school. The constructivist approach in this session allows children to exert ownership of their behavior in the computer lab. Read aloud a few books about good and poor manners, as...

Learners view a slide show featuring famous athletes and educational institutions that have played a part in the history of basketball. They participate in a game in which a basketball is tossed from person to person as facts and...

Explore rhyming in this phonemic awareness and French instructional activity. Listen to the poem "J'Adore la Pizza" by Karen Kransky and identify rhyming words. Compare grapheme spelling patterns with like phonemes, and sort word cards...

Invite your young writers to take the reins with writing dialogue. Using two characters of their own creation, kids work with partners and then individually to write short conversations.