New York City Department of Education
Poetry…Do I Dare?
Whether you're considering a poetry unit or just want to incorporate more poetry in your curriculum, this unit plan is a must-have. Packed with poems, teaching points, powerful prompts, and poetry performance suggestions, the resource is...
Annenberg Foundation
Poetry of Liberation
How do writers use words to protest injustice, challenge the status quo, and shape their own identities? Individuals watch and discuss a video, read author biographies, write poetry and journals, develop a slideshow, and complete a...
National Endowment for the Humanities
“House by the Railroad”: A Painting and a Poem for the Common Core
Introduce your class to ekphrastic poetry with an exercise that asks them to examine Edward Hooper's painting House by the Railroad and Edward Hirsch's poem "Edward Hopper and the House By the Railroad." After a close reading of the two...
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media
War and Poetry
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'...
K12 Reader
Yeats and the Poetry of Ireland
W.B. Yeats' poem, "The Lake Isle of Innisfree" is featured on a worksheet that asks readers to respond to a series of reading comprehension questions.
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “One day is there of the series” by Emily Dickinson
A activity begins with learners saying three words they associate with Thanksgiving dinner. They examine a picture of a menu from a Thanksgiving meal and discuss what they believe the artist wants them to feel, pointing out details....
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: “Dead Stars” by Ada Limón
Pay attention! A lesson featuring Ada Limon's poem "Dead Stars" is designed to help learners develop their noticing skills. Class members first study the constellation Orion's image and list what they notice and how the image makes them...
National Endowment for the Humanities
Sor Juana, la poetisa: Los sonetos
Examine two of Sor Juana's sonnets in depth. Learners first listen to an audio recording or a reading of the sonnets and then analyze the structure and form, paying attention to elements of the Baroque and el gongorismo. Assess student...
Busy Teacher’s Café
"Smart" by Shel Silverstein
Find out just how smart your young mathematicians are with this cross-curricular math and language arts lesson. After first reading Shel Silverstein's poem "Smart", students draw pictures of coins to model the different exchanges...
Utah Education Network (UEN)
8th Grade Poetry: A to Z Poem
A two-part activity asks eighth graders first to draw connections between the myth of Aengus and William Butler Yeats' poem "The Song of Wandering Aengus." In the second part of the activity, writers craft an "A to Z Poem."
K12 Reader
Poetry Uses Rhyme
It's rhyme time! After reading a short article about poems that rhyme, kids take the time answer questions about the message of the passage.
EngageNY
Considering a Character’s Relationship with Others: Contrasting Ha and Her Brothers
Who is Ha? Scholars look closely at the poem Papaya Tree and carefully examine the character Ha. Learners work in groups to create an anchor chart defining Ha's character. They also answer text-dependent questions to help with...
Great Books Foundation
Shared Inquiry Lesson Plan for “The New Colossus”
Two is better than one. Scholars use shared inquiry and discuss their ideas with one another to better interpret Emma Lazerus' poem "The New Colossus." They work through pre-reading, reading, questioning, and rereading activities before...
K5 Learning
My Little Kitty
Can the small cat catch the rat? Find out in a short passage designed for first graders, complete with four comprehension questions that address details from the text.
Teaching English
In Flanders Fields
War is one of the most profound human experiences in history, and is often best depicted in works of art and literature. Introduce class members to the poetry of World War I with this resource that uses John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields"...
Southern Nevada Regional Professional Development Program
Poetry Aloud/Poetry Out Loud
To appreciate the value of seeing and hearing a poetry performance, groups prepare readings of selected poems and then compare and critique their interpretations and videotaped versions of the same poem. Included in the resource are...
Farmington Public Schools
British Literature Honors: Beowulf
Whether new to teaching Beowulf or an experience pro, you'll find much to like in a richly detailed unit plan that asks readers to consider how the epic represents the difficulty in defining good and evil but also reflects the changing...
Poetry Society
How do Poets Use Language?
Why do writers choose the language they do? Here's a resource that has the poet himself answer that very question. Joseph Coelho explains why he chose the words and images he used in his poem, "If All the World Were Paper."
Curated OER
King David
Here is a quick learning exercise on King David, the second king of Israel. It discusses his famous contest with the Philistine warrior Goliath and is followed by a few reading comprehension questions.
National Humanities Center
Teaching Emily Dickinson: A Common Core Close Reading Seminar
Three of Emily Dickinson's poems, "I like to see it," "Because I could not stop for Death," and "We grow accustomed to the Dark," provide instructors with an opportunity to model for class members how to use close reading strategies to...
West Corporation
Making Inferences – Use Your Mind to Read!
How can you tell if someone is happy? The lesson works with elementary and middle school scholars to activate their schema and pay attention to details to make inferences in their daily lives, poetry, and other literature. Cleverly...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Give It All You’ve Got!: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 2)
Go beyond the textbook to gain a better appreciation for the English language. A series of ESL lessons help expand the concepts found in Theme 2: Give It All You've Got. The second lesson in a three-part unit incorporates strategies such...
Prestwick House
Poe’s “The Raven” – Unity of Effect
How do Poe's choices of imagery, rhythm and rhyme scheme, and structure help build the desired single effect of "The Raven"? After listening to a dramatic reading of the poem, class members consider whether Poe's choices do create a...
Channel Islands Film
Arlington Springs Man: Lesson Plan 1
Learning to craft quality questions is a skill that can be taught. Class members use the Question Formulation Technique to learn how to create and refine both closed-ended and open-ended questions. They then view West of the West's...