After reading Love That Dog by Sharon Creech (and possibly shedding a few tears), middle schoolers work on their own sixteen-word poems with a Six Trait writing activity. They focus on word choice in this activity to capture an...

Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...

This clever lesson has your students listen to story about bugs, work together to brainstorm list of "ing" words that describe bugs, create t-chart of words, choose words to place in poem template to create class poem about bugs, and use...

"What a beautiful noise comin' up from the street; got a beautiful sound, it's got a beautiful beat..." Use Neil Diamond's "Beautiful Noise" to guide your class through a Six Trait writing activity, in which they write an original poem...

Combine your pupils' love of music with their growing knowledge of poetry! First, have them bring in their favorite songs for a discussion on word choice and literary devices. Then, use a Venn Diagram to compare and contrast the...

Even though this is technically an art instructional activity, haiku poetry is actually the main focus! Learners view photographs of Japanese tea caddies. They list five descriptive words for the caddies, then write haiku poems using the...

What kind of shoe is this person? What time of day is this person? Aspiring poets’ responses to a list of questions provide descriptive words and phrases that can be crafted into a blank verse poem. A link to sample poems is provided.

Sixth graders use a visit to the National Gallery of Art to inspire descriptive writing. They choose works of art and write descriptive word lists, paragraphs and Haiku.

A woven rug depicting birds and cornstalks becomes the inspiration for a lesson on critical thinking and creative writing. Learners analyze the symbolism found in the rug and then compose a descriptive paragraph or poem that embodies the...

Students explore the visual, auditory, and verbal worlds offered by iLife applications to create a project that engages all learners and learning styles. They create a class book and CD of nature poems and artwork.

A clever lesson designed around an apple awaits your learners. Descriptive words are used to explain what they believe is inside a bag while using their five senses. Students read the story The Apple Pie Tree and are introduced to the...

Students describe colors. In this descriptive writing instructional activity, students brainstorm color descriptions using all of the senses except sight. Students write poems including similes, sensory images, and interesting word...

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...

Inspired by magazine photos, your young writers hone word choices to create a meaningful haiku. Charged with brainstorming 100 words associated with a photo of their choosing, they whittle their list to the top 10%, make three sentences...

Have your class create acrostic poems for characters in The Hobbit. First, define acronyms and work together to complete sample acronyms for their own first names. Students then research specific characters in the novel and create...

Can colors help to convey a mood in writing? Explore this question with your class using the songs "Grey Street" by the Dave Matthews Band and "Blu is a Mood" by Blu Cantrell. After analyzing the effect of the color words in these songs...

Students read and explore autumn poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read Autumnblings and are introduced to different poetic forms. Lesson includes ideas for exploring the poetic forms presented in the book and cross-curricular...

Seventh graders read a descriptive language poem and then create a collage of what they feel the poem means to them. In this poems lesson plan, 7th graders take notes on the poem, and make the collage in groups.

Improve readers' comprehension with a pair of visualization opportunities. First they listen, eyes closed, as you read a description from Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach, and discuss ideas about what they "see." After you read...

Students write about themselves. In this personal writing lesson, students write their name vertically down a sheet of paper and think of a self descriptive word that matches each letter of their name. Students write a descriptive...

Students choose a poetry theme. They write a poem, illustrate it with digital images and record it using a digital video camera.

Students identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. For this philanthropy lesson, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Students construct their own...

Students use descriptive and imaginative words and images in poetry.  In this poetry lesson, students choose a picture to describe to the class.  As the student gives the description, the classmates choose the words and images...

After listening to the story, The Best Part of Me, learners will identify a positive physical feature of themselves, and create a descriptive poem about their favorite feature. Photographs are taken, and a nice final draft of the poem is...