If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...

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...

Scholars use technology to explore poetry and its related elements, such as theme, figures of speech, and other literary devices. They complete four poetry projects including a poem analysis with a concept web, an interactive poem...

Students read about the four elements of poetry: form, theme, purpose, and mood. They are given several questions to ask themselves about each element as they begin to write their own successful poems.

Ninth graders explore the elements in poetry. In groups, they complete a jigsaw puzzle and discover the strategies for completing a puzzle and reading a poem are similar. Students read short poems and identify key elements in a poem...

Using Walt Whitman's Song of Myself and Hart Crane's The Bridge as models, class groups first craft their own epic poems for 1900 and, using primary sources, create a multi-media presentation that captures the sights and...

Students view video and become familiar with the type of movement in jazz dance.  In this jazz dance lesson, students write a cinquain about jazz dance.  Students recognize the elements of jazz dance and the type of music...

Mermaids will sing to your class members as they engage in an activity related to T.S. Eliot's famous dramatic interior monologue. After engaging in a socratic seminar about literary devices in the poem, individuals choose one...

Seventh graders read a book of poems called "Out of the Dust". In groups, they research the Dust Bowl and how it affected people living through the Great Depression. Using the text, they identify the theme and key turning points and...

Sixth graders use several pieces of literature to identify specific story elements. In this story elements lesson, 6th graders analyze the story element of character, character traits, and setting for the example stories. Students work...

In small groups and then as a class, young musicians compare and contrast two pieces from the musical film Chicago. They pair up to look at the elements that make each piece similar and define the elements or arrangements that make...

What is poetry? Does hip-hop qualify as poetry? Do Shakespeare's monologues qualify as poetry? Class members grapple with these questions as they examine the poetic elements and themes presented in different texts. Groups of four study...

Feeling conflicted? Work out those issues with a language arts lesson plan on internal and external conflict. Using "The Interlopers" by Saki, class members identify the conflicts between the characters before writing their own...

Where do directors and set designers get their ideas so that the set they build creates the mood and atmosphere the director wants for a production? From the script! Introduce theater high schoolers to the script analysis techniques used...

Do your language arts students love to draw? Use this instructional activity to reinforce poetic techniques with illustration. After drawing what they think poem would look like with no words, middle and high schoolers work on several...

The emotional and spiritual oppression of slavery in the African-American experience is the focus of this instructional activity. Middle schoolers analyze various texts by Frederick Douglass and Maya Angelou related to freedom...

Students analyze the painting Jan Brueghel and design their own book. In this art and book lesson plan, students discuss the elements of fantasy from the painting and create their own book. Students illustrate the book and create a...

Students use combinations of real and imaginary objects to create illustrations for a book.  In this Fantasy in art instructional activity, students discuss the elements of fantasy in Allegory of Air.  Students study the work...

Students review Emily Dickinson's biography and examine themes and forms of some of her poems. They measure ways Graham integrates aspects of Dickinson's life and the themes and forms of her poetry into Letters to the World.

Young scholars explore reasons that people immigrate to the United States. In this Statue of Liberty lesson, students read a handout regarding immigration, analyze the poem, "The New Colossus," and complete the provided worksheet...

Haiku poetry is explored in this language arts lesson. Yong readers identify the characteristics of haiku and read several examples. Students make connections between their study of Japan and the poetic form of haiku, and they write...

Young poets demonstrate their understanding of a character from Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street by crafting a biopoem that captures the essence of this person.

Did you know that modern Chinese literature “grew from the psychoanalytical theory of Sigmund Freud”? Designed for a world literature class, seniors are introduced to “One Evening in the Rainy Season,” Shi Zhecun’s stream of...

Students explore choreographic narrative. In this choreography lesson, students explore the elements of Appalachian Spring as they develop a series of written responses to assignments that challenge them to investigate the structure of...