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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

Speak Your Truth: Techniques in Spoken Word Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
As part of a study of Spoken Word Poetry, class members watch a series of performance videos and note where poets get their ideas and the performance techniques used by the poets. Pupils then draft and share their poems.
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Exploring Borderlands

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What motivated Europeans to explore the New World, and what effects did their exploration have on Native American populations? The second installment of a 16-part American Passages series prompts pupils to watch a video and read several...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 11

For Teachers 9th Standards
The capitalization rules are strict and inflexible—until you experience the fluid beauty of an Emily Dickinson poem. Ninth graders test their existing knowledge of language arts conventions with the many bent grammar rules in "I Felt a...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 10

For Teachers 9th Standards
An engaging unit connects Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson's shared themes of madness and departure from reality. The 10th lesson plan in the unit explores Dickinson's figurative language and structure choices in "I Felt a Funeral, in...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 9

For Teachers 9th Standards
Continue analyzing literature using textual evidence with a lesson plan on "I Felt A Funeral, in my Brain" by Emily Dickinson. Ninth graders bring their annotation skills and knowledge of figurative language from the previous eight...
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Unit Plan
Annenberg Foundation

Native Voices

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The Navajo people build their dwellings with the doors facing the rising sun in the east to welcome wealth and fortune. Pupils learn about the traditions of the Navajo people in the first part of a 16-part unit. They explore American...
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Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Sonic Patterns: Exploring Poetic Techniques Through Close Reading

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Robert Hayden's poem "Those Winter Sundays" serves as the anchor text in a five-part lesson that takes the mystery out of poetry analysis by modeling explicit strategies for pupils to employ to conduct a close reading of a poem. After...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 13

For Teachers 9th Standards
Whether the planks hide the beating of a hideous heart or they break away to the madness beneath, their presence makes itself known in the final instructional activity of a literary analysis unit. Having gathered textual evidence from...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

The Discussion Guide to the Inaugural Poem: The Hill We Climb by Amanda Gorman

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed Standards
National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman's "The Hill We Climb," featured at the 2021 inauguration of President Joseph Biden, is the focus of a six-page guide. The guide includes before reading, during reading, and after reading...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

The Poetry of Bob Dylan

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Bob Dylan's selection as the 2016 winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, the first songwriter ever to receive the honor, has focused the attention of a new generation on the work of the legendary artist. Class members analyze the...
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Maryland Department of Education

The Concept of Identity Lesson 4: The Psychological Approach

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Readers apply Sigmund Freud's theories of the unconscious mind and the psychological approach to literary criticism to analyze and evaluate the relationship between two characters in A Separate Peace.
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Lesson Plan
2
2
Maryland Department of Education

The Concept of Identity Lesson 2: The Historical/Biographical Approach

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
"How does our environment shape our identity?" After researching biographical information about John Knowles and considering how these experiences are reflected in A Separate Peace, class members consider the strengths and weaknesses of...
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Unit Plan
Academy of American Poets

Voice

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Four lessons make up a poetry unit that introduces high schoolers to spoken and written poetry. Class members also examine poems as social commentary and connect these poems to various novels and plays. A great way to incorporate poetry...
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Assessment
California Education Partners

Women

For Students 9th Standards
Alice Walker's poem "Women" provides ninth graders the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to identify how a writer's choice of syntax and diction contribute to the development of the theme of the work.
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Lesson Plan
K20 LEARN

If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird: Symbolism

For Teachers 8th - 9th Standards
Would a bluebird be as scary as a vulture? Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven" is the central text in a activity about symbolism. After a close reading of the poem, learners consider what the raven might represent to the narrator. They then...
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Lesson Plan
Prestwick House

Rhyme and Repetition in Poe's "Annabel Lee"

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
Many and many a year ago Edgar Allan Poe crafted the chilling tale of "Annabel Lee." The poem is the perfect vehicle to introduce Poe's concept of unity of effect, the idea that every element in a poem or story should help to develop a...
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Unit Plan
Alabama Learning Exchange

Edgar Allan Poe's Journey Through Life and Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
How was Edgar Allan Poe able to create "intriguing, memorable, and lasting literature"? To answer this question, learners analyze the syntax, diction, and characterizations in Poe's poems and short stories and compare the impact of these...
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Study Guide
Penguin Books

An Educator Guide to Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman

For Teachers 6th - Higher Ed Standards
Call Us By What We Carry, a poetry collection by Nation Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman, is the focus of a 10-page teacher's guide. 
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Lesson Plan
Facing History and Ourselves

Hardship and Hope: Teaching Amanda Gorman's "New Day's Lyric"

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Class members come together to study Amanda Gorman's poem "New Day's Lyric." After a close reading of the poem, learners watch a video of Gorman reading her poem, and then craft additional lines for the poem where they offer suggestions...
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Lesson Plan
Literacy Design Collaborative

Analyzing Impact of Word Choice and Figurative Language in "Barbie Doll"

For Teachers 9th - 10th Standards
After a close reading Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll," class members craft an AP®-style explanatory essay in which they analyze the diction and other figurative literary devices the poet employs to deliver her commentary on modern...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Sor Juana, la monja y la escritora: Las Redondillas y La Respuesta

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Sor Juana, considered one of the first feminist writers and a great Latin American poet, is the topic and inspiration for this excellent lesson. Use the introduction, guiding questions, and learning objectives to lead your class into a...
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Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Grade 9 ELA Module 2: Unit 1, Lesson 2

For Teachers 9th Standards
Make up your mind to complete a lesson plan about "The Tell-Tale Heart" and forever rid yourself of simple sentence structures. As ninth graders analyze the first two paragraphs of Edgar Allan Poe's short story, they consider how text...
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Lesson Plan
Syracuse University

Harlem Renaissance

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
The music and literature of the Harlem Renaissance defined American culture, including its poetry. Using a poem from the period, individuals explore its musical qualities and how it is reflective of the period. Then, they use what they...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
California Department of Education

Call the Tune: Music in Literature

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
I am dancing to the music in my head. Scholars learn to listen for music in their heads as they read literature and poems. After they identify and analyze poetic devices that relate to music, they create their own musical poems.