Who is Emmet Till? An important historical figure, your kids will be shocked by his story! Discover the details of his life and collaborate to write a crown of sonnets in the style of Marilyn Nelson.

"I all alone beweep my outcast state." After a discussion of the "Shakespeare in American Life" segment in which Maya Angelou's relates her reaction to Sonnet 29, class groups create and perform a scene about an outcast that includes the...

Students use Shakespearean sonnets as part of a poetry analysis lesson. In this sonnet lesson, students perform a sonnet by Shakespeare but treat it as a script to be acted out. Students work in pairs to create motions for two lines from...

Seventh graders read a piece of work by Shakespeare and then write a sonnet.

Tenth graders decide if the song lyrics that they listen to, could be considered a sonnet or a poem. They are invited to explore lyrics and their meaning. Students write a persuading argument on whatever they decide, but it must be...

Eighth graders focus on the Shakespearian sonnet as a form and analyze the sonnet in terms of structure, the particular rhyme scheme of the quatrains and the rhyming couplet, the rhythm of iambic pentameter, as well as any figurative...

Students read various examples of poetry and create a poetry portfolio. In this poetry writing instructional activity, students work at their own pace to complete a poetry portfolio with examples of the different poetic forms...

Twelfth graders use the internet to examine how the Gutenberg press affected society as a whole. Using examples of illuminated type, they develop type in three different formats. They share their types with the class and answer...

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

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 discuss meaning of symbols associated with Statue of Liberty, read and analyze Emma Lazarus' sonnet, "The New Colossus," and write persuasive letter to a nineteenth-century audience to gain support for bringing statue to America.

Students research the life and times of William Shakespeare and present their research in a variety of ways. They make timelines, act out the story of one of his plays or create word searches.