Curated OER
Honoring Our Pets During National Pet Week
Recognize National Pet Week with reading and writing activities to celebrate the animals in your pupils' lives.
Curated OER
Poetry: What's on Your Plate?
Students analyze "The Road Not Taken" and discuss examples of "roads traveled" by their own age group. In this poetry lesson, students read and discuss the meaning of the poem. Students choose another poem and review it for...
Curated OER
Patterns In Poetry: Images (Part 3)
High schoolers explore imagery in poetry. In this poetry lesson, students examine how the use of metaphors and similes aid in reading comprehension. Multiple resources are provided.
Curated OER
Symbolic Poem
Young scholars read and analyze several highly symbolic poems. They create their own symbolic poem, read it to the class, and discuss whether they can guess any hidden meanings.
Curated OER
Analyzing Poetry and Characters
Students investigate historical context by reading poetry. In this language arts lesson, students discover the work of Michael Longley and examine his poem "Ceasefire." Students identify the sonnets used in the piece and...
Curated OER
Famous Poems and Poets
Students investigate well known poets, forms, and poetry terms. They explore various websites, complete an online scavenger hunt, and take an online poetry test.
Curated OER
Social and Cultural Issues in the Civil Rights Movement
Middle schoolers watch videos, listen to speeches and analyze the information that is presented about the civil rights movement. They examine visual art of the period.
Curated OER
The Tone of a Poem
Pupils are often confused by the literary terms tone and voice. Focus on tone by analyzing the poems suggested here, which are all from Words with Wings: A Treasury of African-American Poetry and Art. While reading through each poem,...
Curated OER
Jazz Dance and Music
Fourth graders write a poem. In this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...
Curated OER
Lesson Plan to Accompany Psalm of Life
Students read and analyze the poem, "Psalm of Life," by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. They create a Footsteps Quilt, developing quilt squares to represent each goal and gift they would leave as a gift to humanity.
Curated OER
Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad: From Painting to Poem
Students analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. For this literary and art analysis lesson, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of...
Curated OER
Introduction to Poetry
Students determine the rhyme scheme of a poem and find examples of similes. In this poetry analysis lesson, students review definitions needed for the topic and analyze the rhyme or rhythm for the example poems. Students also find...
Curated OER
Poetry: Ten Little Schoolchildren
Students analyze a sequential, story poem and put the stanzas in order. They identify repeated verses and answer questions about the poem. They identify examples of alliteration. Finally, they make their own poem in a given pattern.
Curated OER
This Isn't Your Little Sister's Poetry: Analyzing and Understanding a Variety of Acclaimed Poets
Eleventh graders are introduced to various basic and advanced poetic devices. They read several poems and practice identifying poetic elements. They identify at least two different poems and substantiate why they belong in the canon.
Curated OER
Positively Poetry
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...
Curated OER
Powerful Poetry
Students examine Haiku poems and analyze their meanings. They create a whole class Haiku, then develop their own poems.
Curated OER
Poem Pieces
Students analyze a poem written in the Civil War era in order to discover what life was like and how Americans viewed the Civil War.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You
Middle schoolers complete a unit of lessons that explore the poetic voice of Langston Hughes. They define voice, read and analyze various poems by Langston Hughes, and complete journal entries for each instructional activity.
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Lesson Planet
Black History Month Through Poetry
Black History Month is a great time to discuss African-American poets in your classroom.
California Education Partners
The Road Not Taken
An effective lesson plan truly can make all the difference. Seventh graders read, analyze, and annotate Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" before writing an essay about what they believe to be the theme of the iconic poem.
Curated OER
Border Poetry/Writing Workshop
Young scholars analyze a poem set in the U.S.-Mexico borderlands and defend their own interpretations of the work. They demonstrate understanding of poetic technique by writing their own poems of living on the border.
Curated OER
Emily Dickinson Poetry
Students identify a poem by Emily Dickinson for analysis. They apply a set of critical questions to a poem in order to interpret poem and find literary elements used by author. They organize information for a PowerPoint presentation...
Curated OER
Poetry through Jazz, Rap, and Hip Hop
Students explore poetry through jazz, rap, and hip hop music. They discover the common threads that run through the poetry and music. Students design their own lyrics to a jazz, rap, or hip hop selection and share their songs with the...