Poetry is everywhere you look! Create found poems using headlines from newspapers and magazines. Young poetry focus on creating alliterative phrases with words they find in headlines, tying their poems to a central theme.

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...

Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...

High schoolers analyze lyrics of their favorite songs as examples of alliteration, metaphor, Onomatopoeia, personification, rhyme, and simile to determine the purpose of these devices in poetry. They use their analysis to create a...

After a review of poetic terms, groups are given an object and they create a poem using a simile, a metaphor, internal rhyme, end rhyme, alliteration, and personification. Groups then exchange objects and repeat the process. Consider...

Explore with your class the purposes and author's intents for poetry titles. First you read several brief poems to the class and discuss how the authors may have chosen the titles. Then small groups read title-less poems posted around...

Students analyze and appreciate various types of poetry. In this poetry unit, students read classic and contemporary works to discover ways in which poetry expresses strong feelings. Students identify key vocabulary used to analyze...

Young scholars explore the basic elements of poetry through Appalachian life poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read seven poems from Jim Wayne Miller's the Brier Poems and complete poetry analysis activities for each poem.

Students review examples of alliteration in Shel Silverstein's poems. They are assigned a letter of the alphabet and then write an original alliterative poem using that letter.

Students identify examples of philanthropy in poetry or song. In this philanthropy instructional activity, students examine several poems such as Give by Carrie A. Thomas and identify concepts of philanthropy in the poem. Students...

There's nothing like a provocative image to inspire a creative writing session. In the language arts lesson plan presented here, middle schoolers bring in digital photos of scary objects, such as a big spider, or a hornet's nest. The...

Ninth graders explore poetic technique and figurative language in this ten lesson unit. Comparisons are made between a variety of forms of poetic expressions and the lives of several poets are studied.

In order to understand figurative language, learners read 5 poems, each exemplifying a different literary device. They discuss and write responses to each poem. They then choose one literary device which they will use as the basis...

Your class can participate in a writing program involving four building blocks. By exploring words, sentences, writing forms, and story organization, they improve their creative writing skills throughout this year-long unit. Early in the...

Second graders explore language arts by analyzing poems in their class. For this word play lesson, 2nd graders define the terms rhyme, rhythm and alliteration and identify their uses. Students utilize class word lists to write their own...

The Bard, Nikki Giovanni, Mos Def? “Sonnet 18,” Ego Tripping,” and “Black on Both Sides”? Sure! It’s the poetics. Class members compare the lyrics, rhythm, and rhyme in classic poetry to hip-hop in a richly detailed resource that...

Students identify distinguishing features of poetry. They identify and use literary terminology including symbol, theme, simile, and alliteration. They recognize the effects of language.

Introduce your class to epic heroes with these activities for Beowulf. After watching a video clip, taking notes on heroes, and tracking characteristics of heroism throughout Beowulf, class members retell an episode of Beowulf using a...

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

Students use their knowledge of philanthropy and poetic conventions to write original poetry about philanthropic giving. In this philanthropy lesson plan, students write poetry based on philanthropy using poetic conventions. Students...

Second graders read Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes. They then discuss where various names come from. They create a individualized biopoem and publish it on word processing software. Their poems are compiled into a class book and presented...

In this poetry lesson plan, students listen to stories that contain alliteration. While listening to stories, student pairs make a list of words that they then use to construct "silly sentences" that contain alliteration. Each student...

Pupils read a sample found poem and create one together as a class. In this Great Depression lesson, students select a topic, such as miners, and read primary source documents related to the topic. Pupils select one narrative as the...

Students complete a unit on poetry. In this poetry lesson, students complete 19 lessons that focus on reading and writing poetry as well as learning about literary elements and sound devices. Students read poetry orally, debate poetry in...