Curated OER
Poetry Brainstorm
Looks like? Sounds like? Smells like? Feels like? Tastes like? Sometimes a white, blank, soulless piece of paper can intimidate writers. Provide potential poets with this template that can serve as a parking lot for words and phrases to...
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It Makes Sense
In this writing a poem worksheet, students choose a human emotion and write a poem following the directions to name its color, describe what it tastes like, what it smells like, what it looks like, what it sounds like, and what it feels...
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The Learning Network: Poetry Pairing July, 21, 2011
Although not a complete lesson plan, this set of emotionally powerful texts could be used in a variety of lessons. From The New York Times' Learning Network site, the resource includes a poem, an excerpt from a New York Times article and...
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From Photos to Poetry
Students examine poems. In this poetry instructional activity, students list emotions and write short phrases about human nature that can become a poem.
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Annotating Poetry
Use text marking and highlighting to explore the structure of a poem. After listening to Allan Ahlberg read "Please Mrs. Butler," learners locate stanzas and patterns on their copy of the poem using the text marking technique. Class...
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Human Rights/Civil Rights
Students connect their examination of the novel Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry to a historical and contemporary study of the issue of human rights and civil rights by creating a HyperStudio stack.
California Federation of Chaparral Poets, Inc
Poetic Devices
Have everything you need to know about the elements of poetry with a nine-page handout. Split into four categories—word sounds, meanings, arrangement, and imagery—budding poets may reference terms, read definitions, descriptions, and...
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Candles in the Dark
Middle schoolers read about and research the Holocaust using the Internet. They write poetry about an image of their choice and create a digital movie of their poetry readings.
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Earthquake! The Human Impact
Students explore the impact of natural disasters on communities. In this character education lesson, students examine poetry regarding an earthquake. Students discuss how to rebuild communities in the wake of natural disasters.
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Modern Drama
Upper graders can read all about the origins of modern drama. Each slide provides a paragraph of information related to key players, art movements, and time periods that shaped modern drama. It relates well to many aspects of literature...
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Reading: If, A Poem
In this poetry worksheet, students read If by Rudyard Kipling and study the verse by verse paraphrasing. Students answer 2 comprehension multiple choice questions about the poem.
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Poetry of Abraham Lincoln
Fourth graders analyze Abraham Lincoln's poems "The Bear Hunt" and "My Childhood's Home" for word choice and deeper inquiry into the vocabulary he uses to convey emotion. They identify rhyming words and patterns in these poems. ...
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The Old Man and the Sea: Directed Reading Thinking Activity
Can you find the themes from Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea in other books? What about picture books? Compare the novel to a picture book with a lesson about making predictions and finding textual evidence.
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What is a Haiku? How Do You Write a Haiku?
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...
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He Sees it in His Joy
Students research the importance of play. In this research lesson plan, students work in pairs and interview each other about their 'play history.' Students take data from the interview and shape it into a play history for the...
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F is for Fair!
Ninth graders examine their human right to education. For this American Government lesson, 9th graders evaluate how well the world is doing when it comes to providing a free, equal, quality education to our youth.
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The Butterfly Project: Study and Response to Children's Poetry
Eleventh graders read various examples of poems of the humans behind the Holocaust and who perished during the event. Focusing on the number of children who died, they collect butterflies for the Holocaust Museum in Houston. They view...
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The English Sonnet: Michael Drayton
Students discover literature by conducting a free writing experiment. For this sonnet lesson, students read the sonnet "The Parting" and compare it to modern-day songs about breaking up. Students listen to pop music in class and complete...
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Land Ho! Cole Vs. Van Gogh
Students compare and contrast the landscape works of Thomas Cole and Vincent Van Gogh. In this landscapes lesson, students understand vocabulary related to artworks. Students compare and contrast the artists work through a Venn diagram....
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Tales of Edgar Allen Poe
Analyze the writing of Edgar Allen Poe by reading and then writing in a similar style. Budding authors learn about the life of Poe and read one or more of his famous works online. Partner groups create an original piece of writing using...
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Candles in the Dark
Students analyze and apply their personal responses through poetry and film to a challenging and disturbing event-the Holocaust. They use a digital video camera to film each student reading their poem.
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Personification Lesson Plans and Resources
This resource on personification provides three different approaches aimed at different levels. The first, appropriate for upper elementary, provides examples of personification, followed by an exercise that requires replacing a word in...
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English Literature - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Everything you wanted to know about the history of English literature and language but were afraid to ask. From Beowulf to Canterbury Tales, the Knights of the Round Table to Robin Hood, Addison, Fielding, Shakespeare, Swift, and many...
Facing History and Ourselves
A Scene from a Middle School Classroom
Citizens in the modern world can't imagine making the same social choices made by many Germans in the 1920s and 1930s, but they don't realize that they actually do it every day by ostracizing others. A case study of middle schoolers...