K12 Reader
Figurative Language: Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Bells”
Bells, bells, bells abound in a worksheet designed for Edgar Allan Poe's famous poem "The Bells." Middle schoolers are asked to identify the various poetic devices Poe employs.
Georgia Department of Education
Exploring Poetry and Poets
Combine the study of poetry and non-fiction texts with this complete and ready-to-use six-week unit. After reading numerous poems from local writers and compiling a personal anthology, high schoolers find and read a memoir or biography...
Curated OER
Modern and Classical Poetry
A fabulous presentation of poetry awaits your students. This rich, 14-slide PowerPoint presents many excellent ways for your pupils to compose poems. The presentation encourages them to play with words when composing poems, to analyze...
Curated OER
Quirky Quatrain Poetry Lesson
Middle schoolers discover what a quatrain is, and are taught the three poetic devices: alliteration, hyperbole, and onomatopoeia. Everyone chooses a favorite hobby or activity, then attempts to write a poem about it. They must write two...
Curated OER
Similes in Literature: Definition and Examples
Be as romantic as a poetic. Appear as clever as Einstein. Wow others with your powers of observation by using similes to point out the similar aspects in two different things. This short video focuses on similes found in Shakespeare and...
Curated OER
Extreme Poetry Vocabulary
Challenge your class with this comprehensive list of literary vocabulary words. Learners take a pre-test, look up definitions, come up with an example, and then take a post-test. You might use this prior to a unit about poetic devices in...
Curated OER
1900 America: Primary Sources and Epic Poetry
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 sounds of life...
Curated OER
Our Poetic Planet : Writing Poems about the Earth
Students share their thoughts regarding nature. In this poetry lesson, students compose poems in different formats that feature weather and clouds.
College of the Canyons
Free Verse
Free verse poetry is often regarded as poetry without structure, but in reality, it is a poetic form that adheres to its own poet's thought and breath patterns. Delve into the rules and famous examples of free-verse poetry with a short...
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Tanka Poem
Take your haikus to the next level with tanka poems, another form of Japanese poetry that regulates the length and rhythm of each line by syllables. Young writers read the explanation, examples, and tips for tanka poems before writing...
Poetry4kids
Onomatopoeia Poetry Lesson Plan
Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an original poem.
K12 Reader
Warm Up to Alliteration!
How can you tell if a sentence has alliteration? Use a short worksheet to help kids identify examples of alliteration, complete sentences to create alliteration, and use nouns to write their own alliterative sentences.
Poetry4kids
How to Write a Funny Epitaph Poem
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.
Curated OER
A Mysterious Story Poem
Your scholars will be hooked after reading the cryptic narrative poem "The Listeners." They explain why it is so mysterious, then use the poem to learn about pronouns. Learners read an excerpt from the poem that has been altered to not...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Core Analysis Frame: Poetry
Dig deep into any piece of poetry with a set of analysis questions. Ponder the content, form, and language of poetry and provide some question for critique. The first two pages include general questions, and the remainder of the document...
Curated OER
Poems for Every Season
Young scholars read and explore autumn poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read Autumnblings and are introduced to different poetic forms. Lesson includes ideas for exploring the poetic forms presented in the book and...
Curated OER
Working with Shakespeare, the Poet and Dramatist
Students study the work of William Shakespeare. They survey the elements of comedy and tragedy and read plays and poems. They discuss the texts they read and recite poetry. They dramatize poems with movement and sounds and write poetry...
Curated OER
The Tabloid Ballad
Students explore the poetic ballad. They examine the rhythm of a typical ballad and listen to recitations of sample ballads. They choose an article from a supermarket tabloid and write a comical ballad using rhythms and structures...
Desire2Learn
Alliteration Worksheet
Learners love literary lyrics! Practice alliteration with an activity that encourages kids to find a line of alliteration for every letter of the alphabet. After they finish, they can create a line of their own alliteration and explain...
K12 Reader
Elegy for Lincoln: Walt Whitman’s Poem
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 instructional activity, complete with the poem's text and...
Curated OER
Rhymes
Students complete rhyming word activities. For this rhyming words lesson, students play an online game for rhyming words and recite a well known nursery rhyme as a class. Students pick out words from the poem that rhyme and brainstorm...
Curated OER
An Explication of Death
Fourth graders, in groups, analyze portions of William Cullen Bryant's poem, "Thanatopsis." They present their analysis to the class and discuss the meaning of the poem as a whole. They also identify the poetic elements present in the...
Curated OER
Language Arts: Creative Writing Devices
Eighth graders review sound and rhythm devices and apply them to their own writing exercises. Next, they interpret the poem, "Where I'm From," as an example of a personal narrative. Using their understanding of poetic devices, they...
Curated OER
A Song By Any Other Name Would Be a Poem
Students examine the poetic elements of a piece of music. They discuss favorite songs, select a song, and write a persuasive essay identifying the poetic qualities of the song lyrics.