+
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

End of Unit Assessment: Poetry Analysis

For Teachers 7th Standards
Learners finish the end-of-unit assessment by completing a poetry analysis of We Wear the Mask. Scholars may use their Poet’s Toolbox reference sheets and How to Read a Poem anchor charts to guide them through the assessment. 
+
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Poetry Analysis: Small Group Practice

For Teachers 7th Standards
Howdy partner! After discussion and teacher model reading of Slaveships, scholars pair up for a partner reading of the poem. They then use equity sticks to discuss their thoughts of the poem with the class. Readers talk about allusion,...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Lines Written in Early Spring" by William Wordsworth

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
William Wordsworth's poem "Lines Written in Early Spring" lets learners sharpen their observation skills. Class members first closely examine the image "Flowers in Front of an Abandoned House in Demerino, Russia," listing what they...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Instructions on Not Giving Up" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What do the myth of the phoenix bird and Ada Limón's poem "Instructions on Not Giving Up" have in common? Young scholars create a list of what they notice about both the myth and poem, then consider what the similarities might indicate...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "My Skeleton" by Jane Hirshfield

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Jane Hirshfield's poem "My Skeleton" asks readers to pause and think about the amazing, often taken-for-granted structure that protects and gives form to human bodies. After observing the human skeleton's image, class members read the...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Crisscross” by Arthur Sze

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Arthur Sze's poem "Crisscross" launches a instructional activity that asks scholars to use their observation skills. They first draw an image that reflects what crisscross means to them. They then examine a photograph of a lightning...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Metier of Blossoming" by Denise Levertov

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Poetry analysis need not be a lugubrious exercise for young learners. The approach used with Denise Levertov's poem, "The Metier of Blossoming" is one of close observation, of noticing and reflecting on the words, phrases, and images the...
+
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Introduce middle schoolers to the different strategies used when reading prose versus poetry. Groups use a Venn diagram and a poetry analysis handout to compare the characteristics of an informational text and a  poem on the same subject...
+
Lesson Plan
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art

Where I'm From: Symbolism in Paint and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
After a review of symbolism, class members use the provided worksheet to first list the objects they observe in Arnold Mesches' painting "Coney Island" and then suggest possible symbolic meanings for each of the objects. A second...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “In This Place (An American Lyric)” by Amanda Gorman

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Amanda Gorman, the United States's first National Youth Poet Laureate, is featured in a resource from the Academy of American Poets. Class members first read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and note what King wanted...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days” by Walt Whitman

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Walt Whitman's poem "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days" offers scholars an opportunity to practice their noticing skills. They first examine a postcard of the Newport News Shipyard listing things they notice about the image and how...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Violin" by Nikki Wallschlaeger

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Nikki Wallschlaeger's Violin is the featured poem in a instructional activity that uses music and multiple readings to delve deep into its analysis. After a writing warm-up, learners watch and listen to a video that showcases Regina...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Heart to Heart" by Rita Dove

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Take heart! Here's a lesson that will encourage learners to notice details. After listening to Sarah Vaughan singing "My Funny Valentine" and noting how the word heart relates to Valentine's Day, scholars observe a human heart image....
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Making History” by Marilyn Nelson

For Teachers 3rd - 8th Standards
What makes an event newsworthy, worth a reference in a news magazine or textbook? Who decides? These are questions Marilyn Nelson asks readers of her poem "Making History" to consider. To begin, class members list details they notice in...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles" by Francisco X. Alarcón

For Teachers K - 12th Standards
After sketching an essential person and reading an article, scholars read the poem "In a Neighborhood in Los Angeles" by Francisco X. Alarcón. They listen to the poem in English and Spanish and record lines that stand out to them. Small...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "When Giving Is All We Have" by Alberto Ríos

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What makes giving meaningful? Class members discuss this question, then listen to Alberto Rios reading his poem, "When Giving Is All We Have." Finally, the class considers what the poet says about the question.
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Shapes of Leaves" by Arthur Sze

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Arthur Sze's poem, "The Shapes of Leaves," encourages young scholars to notice and speak for others who "do not speak." The lesson begins with pupils writing about a tree that they really like. The class then examines an image of...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Snowfall Is So Silent" by Miguel de Unamuno

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Cold, beautiful, unique! Class members closely examine John Singer Sargent's watercolor "Snow," taking note of the artist's techniques, and pair up to discuss how the image makes them feel about snow. They then repeat the process with...
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "somewhere i have never travelled,gladly beyond" by E. E. Cummings

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Scholars engage in a role-play exercise, compare their demonstration to a time-lapse video, and to a poem by E.E. Cummings. The ensuing discussion asks learners to consider the similarities among the three.
+
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" by Ed Roberson

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A free write, an image of magnolia leaves, and the Ed Roberson's poem "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" ask scholars to use their noticing skills to reflect on the lesson beauty teaches about loss and grief.
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Poetry Society

War Horse and WWI Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Here's a resource that deserves a place in your curriculum library. As part of their study of War Horse individuals create an anthology of World War I poetry. 
+
Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

War and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
A band of brothers or the Devil's agents? Nobel warriors freeing the oppressed or mercenaries working for the military/industrial complex? Groups examine poems from the Civil War, World War I, and World War II to determine the poets'...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Utah Education Network (UEN)

7th Grade Poetry: Metaphor Poem

For Teachers 7th Standards
The second activity in a five-part poetry unit asks seventh graders to construct a metaphor poem. First, pupils examine Emily Dickinson's "The Railway Train" and identify the metaphor. They then select an object and an animal and craft a...
+
Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Concrete Poems

For Teachers 7th Standards
Concrete poems, or shape poems as they are sometimes called, are the focus of the eighth lesson in this poetry unit. Young scholars examine several examples of concrete poems and consider how the shape contributes to the poem's meaning.

Other popular searches