Curated OER
Appreciating Our American Heritage
Eleventh graders learn about the Chinese culture and how important they feel their heritage and culture are, and to help the American students develop a pride in their own culture as well.
Curated OER
Stanza Proud
Students examine different decades in American history, finding connections between the historical events and the poetry written during these time periods. They write their own poetry based on current world events.
Curated OER
Jazz Talk
Students analyze the origins of jazz music by examining work songs, spirituals, blues, and gospel songs as well as works of poetry from African American artists. They create their own poems from either the narrative, dramatic, or lyric...
Yale University
The Harlem Renaissance: Black American Traditions
Aaron Douglas, Meta Warrick Fuller, Palmer Hayden, William Johnson, and James Lesesne Wells, the painters and sculptors of the Harlem Renaissance, are featured in a unit study of artists of the Harlem Renaissance.
Curated OER
Black History Lesson Plan: Gwendolyn Brooks
Learn more about the work of Gwendolyn Brooks with a language arts lesson. Young learners read an informational passage about the acclaimed poet before attempting a shape poem of their own.
Curated OER
Parallel Studies in American/Afro-American Literature, Part II -- Black and White Images in Alienation
Students begin the lesson with a review of the elements of poetry. Individually, they read a variety of poems and literature one white and one black author focusing on decay, sterility and alienation. They identify these images within...
Curated OER
Creative Voices of Harlem
Students explore the Harlem Renaissance. In this American history lesson, students examine a poem by Langston Hughes and identify the characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance. Students research and report on a famous Harlem artist.
Curated OER
Langston Hughes and the Blues
Students explore the connections between Langson Hughes and blues music. For this African American culture lesson, students compare and contrast blues music with poetry and short stories by Langston Hughes.
Curated OER
Jean Fritz's American History Series
Students explore children's literature by reading biographies in class. In this history analysis activity, students read books written by Jean Fritz about the Revolutionary War and discuss the events that led up to the critical moment....
Teaching Tolerance
Poetry and Storytelling Café
Academics take turns as actors in an engaging poetry cafe. Elementary learners work in small groups to create original poems or stories addressing community issues and read their work in front of a live audience. Scholars also reflect...
Digital Public Library of America
The Poetry of Emily Dickinson
Are you contemplating a poetry study featuring Emily Dickinson? Finding good primary sources to accompany the study can be a challenge—never fear, help is here! Check out this primary source set that includes manuscripts of several of...
Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón
Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...
Curated OER
The Invisible People: American Art and Literature Represents the Marginalized and Disenfranchised
Students view various pieces of art and sculptures which demonstrates people who are marginalized and invisible. While viewing the art, they are read excerpts of different pieces of literature in which they determine why the author or...
Curated OER
A Renaissance of Jazz and Poetry
Students explore, analyze, study and read a variety of poems and listen to jazz that have their roots in the Harlem Renaissance. They then discuss the similarities and differences of themes in the works of different poets and composers.
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
Pair the famous poems "I Hear America Singing," by Walt Whitman, and "I, Too, Sing America," by Langston Hughes, with a more recent poem by Elizabeth Alexander called "Praise Song for the Day" to demonstrate a theme and introduce your...
Curated OER
Word Association Poetry with Visual Thesaurus (or Not)
Young poets get inspiration and guidance for making word association poems with the Visual Thesaurus. Your class could complete this project with nothing more than a pencil and paper as well. A nice one-off for a substitute during your...
Curated OER
Lincoln is in the House! ("Name-Dropping" Poems and the Power of Connotation)
“What’s in a name?” Just about everything. Barack Obama, Vincent van Gogh, Justin Bieber. Famous names evoke a multitude of reactions and poets often use the names of famous people in their works precisely because names carry...
Curated OER
Langston Hughes Was a Dreamer Too
Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza.
Curated OER
Southern Puritanism and Tennessee Williams
Students write an essay comparing Arthur Mille's The Crucible and one of Tennessee Williams' plays. In this Tennessee Williams lesson, students discuss the influence of Puritanism on modern American drama. Lesson includes...
Curated OER
Industrialization of the American Landscape - Language Arts
Young scholars examine poetry , editorials, and other writings during the Industrial Revolution. They perform a "chalk talk" to explain perceptions, ideas and observations of the working world. Students write poetry and essays modeled...
Curated OER
Robert Frost
Show what you know about Robert Frost, both of his poems and life. Between multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank questions, a lot of information is covered. Dealing more with breadth than depth, this quiz is good for ending a unit about...
Curated OER
A Poem's Theme
Show young poets how to use the main idea and voice to determine the theme of a poem. Model the steps using Listen Children. Lucille Clifton’s This Morning provides guided practice. Finally, class members use Nikki Giovanni’s...
Curated OER
Modern American Poetry
Students identify different types of literary terms in poems. They read different poems and create a packet summarizing them. They write a poem of their own and a biography of one of their favorite poets.
Curated OER
Literature Overview: February
Third graders examine the phrase Touch and Go, and analyze the poem, Dream Variation by Langston Hughes. They read an African-American folktale and write interpretive paragraphs about the story.
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