Academy of American Poets
Teach This Poem: "When There Were Ghosts" by Alberto Ríos
Before cell phones, tablets, and computers with access to YouTube, before gleaming multiplexes and even before television, there were small theaters with Saturday night black and white movies. Alberto Ríos's poem "When There Were Ghosts"...
Academy of American Poets
We Sing America
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...
Poets.org
Ghosts and Spirits
Connect poetry to a naturally kid-friendly topic: ghosts! Draw on your class's prior knowledge of the paranormal to help them access the classic poem "Haunted House" by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. After a fun warm-up activity describing...
Curated OER
The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts
Middle schoolers read chapter 2 of "White Tigers." They discuss the text in class, and a copy of the translation of the Chinese poem about Mu-Ian. Students read it in class and discuss what goes on in the poem. They complete the...
Curated OER
Here Today-Gone Tomorrow
Students explore changes and how to adapt to them. They discuss the seasons, changes in the weather, and different stages of matter. Students write a poem about change. Additional cross curriculum activities are listed.
Curated OER
Learning to Give: Generosity of Spirit Folktales
Students read two Inuit folktales about life and death. In this language arts lesson, students study the models of giving found in these Inuit tales about life, death, grief, sacrifice, and generosity. As the class reads these tales,...
Curated OER
The Haunted Lift
Students read a poem and discuss how the poem could be made into a piece of drama.
Curated OER
Why do we Dream of a White Christmas?
Students examine a reading selection on how the idea of a white Christmas was developed. In this ESL instructional activity, students share a class discussion about the article then complete several assignments to reinforce what they...
Curated OER
Border Legends, Myth, & Folklore
Young scholars examine the narrative forms and tales unique to the U.S.-Mexico border. They discuss the possible sociological meanings of these stories, and then write their own versions to demonstrate that they explain the forms.
Curated OER
Kalahari Explorations
Students research the area of the Kalahari Desert. They use the online and print resources and evaluate the information they find. They present their information to the class.