Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
What can happen if you eat too much cafeteria food? Or wear dirty clothes every day? Or talk back to your mother? Use a lesson on humorous poems as a way for students to practice silly rhymes as fictional epitaphs.
Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write a Free Verse Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Budding poets compose an original free verse poem. Encouraged to use personification and alliteration, scholars read over three tips and examples then try their hand at drafting a poem of their own style.  
Activity
Poetry4kids

Writing Riddles

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
What's got 60 eyes, 150 fingers, and an endless number of ideas? Your language arts class! Challenge young writers to come up with clever riddles with an online poetry lesson.
Activity
Residential College in the Arts and Humanities

Poetry Lesson Plans

For Teachers 3rd - 12th
Need some ideas for poetry lessons? Check out this packet loaded with suggestions for elementary, middle, and high school writers.
Lesson Plan
BW Walch

“Outsider” Poet Kay Ryan Goes from Poetry Club Reject to Poet Laureate

For Teachers 6th - 11th Standards
The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...
Writing
Curriculum Corner

March Writing Ideas

For Students 3rd - 6th Standards
So many things are happening in March, why not write about them? From Dr. Seuss' birthday to Peanut Butter Lover's Day to St. Patrick's Day, the prompts listed in the worksheet are sure to spark creative writing.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

The Pearl: Found Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
It's hard to beat the beauty of John Steinbeck's prose, so borrow a little of it to form your own found poetry. After kids finish Chapter One of The Pearl, they select the most evocative and vivid words to create found poems.
Lesson Plan
Weber County Library

Abstract Ideas Explored: Writing with Extended Metaphor

For Teachers 9th - 12th
A 25-page packet includes eight detailed lesson plans centered around poems by Emily Dickinson. Each lesson begins with a burning question that students attempt to answer by using evidence from Dickinson's poems.
Writing
Writer’s Digest Books

The Writing Prompt Boot Camp

For Students 11th - Higher Ed
Fourteen days of writing prompts (or 16 if you count the two bonus days) are featured in packet designed for high school, college level, or adult writers.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Developing Writing Skills Through Japanese Folk Music

For Teachers 4th - 5th
Students listen to Japanese folk songs to get inspired to create a writing piece about Japan.  In this writing activity, students use primary and secondary sources to add information about Japan. 
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

10 Fresh Ideas to Get Your Students Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 8th
Here are some enticing writing ideas that will motivate any student.
Unit Plan
Teaching Matters

Welcome to Writing Poetry

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Your pupils are poets, and now they'll be able to show it with the exercises in this packet. The lessons, designed for beginner, intermediate, and experienced poets, not only feature a variety of poetic forms, but take...
Activity
Scholastic

Who Am I? What Has Made Me Who I Am?

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
"Everything we have seen and touched and heard and experienced has, in some way, made us who we are." Your young learners will use this resource to create lists of influences (people, animal, nature, places, etc.) in their lives and to...
Writing
K12 Reader

Writing Valentine Poetry

For Students 6th - 8th Standards
The rose is red, the violet is...what comes next? Write a beautiful Valentine's Day poem based on the rhyme scheme and format of "The Valentine" by Joseph Ritson.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Creating a Peace Poem

For Teachers 2nd
Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. In this lesson on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to express their...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Writing and Autobiography

For Teachers 5th - 8th
Are you working on an autobiographical or narrative writing unit? Bring this lesson to your class, as it takes young writers through the process of drafting and sequencing an autobiography. After observing and demonstrating steps of the...
Unit Plan
University of Houston

Personal Narratives: Writing, Revising, and Publishing (WRAP)

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Writing is a process, and lesson planning is, too! A personal narrative unit stresses the writing process to pupils, who first examine various stories and poems as a model of autobiographical writing and then write their own stories....
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Take my Advice": Poems with a Voice

For Teachers 5th - 12th Standards
Discuss the meaning of the phrase tone of voice with the class. They respond to a variety of scenarios where a particular tone would be prevalent. They then read "Mother to Son" without knowing the title and answer some questions about...
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Writing, Critique, and Revising: Two-Voice Poems (Chapter 14: "Las Ucas/Grapes")

For Teachers 5th Standards
Continue work on the two-piece poem that compares two characters from Esperanza Rising. Give class members a few minutes to finish their drafts. After they have a complete product, model how to critique and edit the poems with one group....
Activity
Poetry4kids

How to Write an Alliteration Poem

For Students 3rd - 8th Standards
Learners follow five steps to compose an alliteration poem. They choose one consonant and brainstorm as many nouns, verbs, and adjectives they can think of to create rhyming sentences that come together in a poetic fashion. 
Lesson Plan
EngageNY

Gathering Evidence and Drafting a Two-Voice Poem (Chapter 13: "Los Duraznos/Peaches")

For Teachers 5th Standards
Begin class with a short comprehension quiz and review and then move into a new genre: two-voice poems. The activity provides information about this type of poetry as well as a video example made by eighth graders that you can show your...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poetry Writing Unit: Writing a Film Poem

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Film poems? To concluded a poetry unit, writers select one of their own poems and create a film that brings to life the sounds and images of their work. Included with the detailed unit plan are daily lessons, student examples, a list of...
Activity
Teaching Tolerance

Poetry and Storytelling Café

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
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...
Lesson Plan
National Council of Teachers of English

A Bear of a Poem: Composing and Performing Found Poetry

For Teachers K - 2nd Standards
Scholars work collaboratively to compose a found poem from one of their favorite stories. With a finished product in hand, class members form a circle and perform their work for an audience by taking turns reciting one line till the poem...