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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Arabic Poetry: Guzzle a Ghazal!

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Students research the evolution and cultural significance of the Arabic ghazal form of poetry. They, in groups, compose an original ghazal poem and read it aloud to the class.
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Lesson Plan
Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media

War and Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
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'...
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Worksheet
K12 Reader

Elegy for Lincoln: Walt Whitman’s Poem

For Students 7th - 10th Standards
Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of the most famous and emotional tributes to Abraham Lincoln. Guide readers through the evocative elegy with a reading comprehension worksheet, complete with the poem's text and a photograph...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Thanksgiving” by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Victor Laredo's painting "On the Beach" and Ella Wheeler Wilcox's poem "Thanksgiving" allow young scholars to use their noticing skills. Class members identify elements of the painting the artist uses to create the feeling of his work....
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Unit Plan
Academy of American Poets

Women in Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Imagine linking poetry to technology! Thirty-three lessons comprise a 6-week "Women in Poetry" unit for high schoolers. Class members research women poets, learn how to respond electronically to discussions, write their poems, create web...
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PPT
Curated OER

Western Medieval European Poetry and Literature

For Teachers 11th - 12th
One of the Common Core standards requires learners to make connections between literature or media of the past and the present. Provided here, are key elements found in medieval poetry and literature that are connected to several more...
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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...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "On Being Brought from Africa to America" by Phillis Wheatley

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a instructional activity that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

"Declaration (of a Kgomotso Girl)"

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students explore the poem, "Declaration."  Students discuss how elements of poetry such as tone work to convey meaning. Students compare and contrast their lives and the lives of the poem's characters from South Africa.
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Beauty of Anglo-Saxon Poetry: A Prelude to Beowulf

For Teachers 9th - Higher Ed Standards
Riddle me this! What do kennings, caesura, and alliteration have to do with the Nowell Codex? Introduce class members to Anglo-Saxon poetry and prepare readers for a study of Beowulf with a series of activities that includes asking...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Modernism in Poetry, Painting, and Music

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Are you teaching Modernism to your class? Connect different areas of artistic expression in the Modernist Era. Learners read T.S. Eliot, view art by Pablo Picasso, and listen to a Modernist musical composition. This final assignment is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Say Hi to Haibun Fun

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students examine the Japanese writing form of Haibun. They identify the elements of Japanese prose and poetry, analyze a haibun for writing devices, complete a graphic organizer, and compose an original haibun as a form of journal keeping.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Chinese Landscape Painting

For Teachers 3rd
Third graders learn about Chinese poetry and landscape paintings, then create their own. They view several examples and discuss the elements of each, then paint their own landscape inspired by what they saw. They then listen to, read,...
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Lesson Plan
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Academy of American Poets

We Sing America

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
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...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

War Poetry, Journals and Letters: Viet Nam

For Teachers 7th - 11th
Examine letters written during war-time. In this cross curricular history and English lesson, middle and high school scholars read letters and poems written by soldiers in the Vietnam war. They will examine the perspective and emotions...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

A Story of Epic Proportions: What Makes a Poem an Epic?

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Learners analyze the epic poem form and its roots in oral tradition. In this epic poetry activity, students research the epic hero cycle and recognize the pattern of events and elements. Learners analyze the patterns embedded in the...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Lu Shih — The Couplets of T’ang

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Writing poetry in ancient China was the modern equivalent of sending a greeting card. Scholars learn about the ancient Chinese poetic form called the lu shih. They read about the context of poetry during the T'ang Dynasty and complete a...
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Activity
Curated OER

Express Yourself Lesson Seed 2

For Teachers 6th Standards
Use Langston Hughes's poem, "Words Like Freedom," to explore the concepts of freedom and liberty. Learners read the poem, determine the theme, and use the provided graphic organizer to examine the connotative and denotative meanings of...
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Lesson Plan
John F. Kennedy Center

Jazz music, Dance and Poetry

For Teachers 3rd - 5th Standards
Learners view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance.  In this jazz dance instructional activity, students write a cinquain about jazz dance.  Learners recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Enhancing Poetry with American Memories

For Teachers 7th - 8th
Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. They compose their own unque "found poetry" based on the stories found in the collection.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Allen Ginsberg: Poetry and Politics

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students explore the poetry of Allen Ginsberg. They read and analyze poems by Allen Ginsberg, conduct Internet research, collect examples of art of the 60s, and create a presentation.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Found Poetry with Primary Sources: The Great Depression

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Students read a sample found poem and create one together as a class. In this Great Depression lesson, students select a topic, such as miners, and read primary source documents related to the topic. Students select one narrative as the...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Heaven or Ground Hog Day?

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Students discover the ideas of enlightenment by reading historical poetry. In this philosophical lesson, students read poems by Sir Walter Scott and Sergeant Joyce Kilmer while discussing the themes of the writing with classmates....
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Be the Poet

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Students work through a Haiku Organizer to determine the characteristics they use to write eight haiku poems on a theme that they choose. They design presentation folders of their completed work.

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