Activity
PBS

Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"

For Students 6th - 12th
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
Lesson Plan
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National Endowment for the Humanities

Hopi Poetry

For Teachers K - 5th Standards
The Hopi refer to corn as their children, demonstrating its importance to the Native American group. Class members consider the role of literal and figurative language by examining poetry from this indigenous group. The resource includes...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days” by Walt Whitman

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Walt Whitman's poem "As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days" offers scholars an opportunity to practice their noticing skills. They first examine a postcard of the Newport News Shipyard listing things they notice about the image and how...
Activity
Poetry Society

Writing a Personification List Poem

For Teachers 6th - 12th
After a close reading of Sylvia Plath's "Mirror" and Flora de Falbe's "Five Things About the Lake," young poets craft their own personification list poem about a very special place.
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teaching the Vietnam War with Poetry and Archives

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
The language of and the perspective of photographs, poems, and official reports differ. After a close reading of two photographs, two poems, and a military report about the Vietnam War, individuals adopt someone's voice or something from...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Heart to Heart" by Rita Dove

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Take heart! Here's a lesson that will encourage learners to notice details. After listening to Sarah Vaughan singing "My Funny Valentine" and noting how the word heart relates to Valentine's Day, scholars observe a human heart image....
Lesson Plan
EBSCO Industries

Music and Poetry

For Teachers 8th - 10th Standards
Song lyrics, like poems, are meant to be heard. After examining the literary devices in several poems, scholars examine the lyrics of popular songs and identify the sound devices and the figurative language writers use to create the...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "A New National Anthem" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 3rd - 12th Standards
Ada Limon's poem, "A New National Anthem," offers young scholars an opportunity to reflect on the significance of the US national anthem and the extent to which Key's vision applies to all Americans. After watching a video of Whitney...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “Declaration” by Tracy K. Smith

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Tracy K. Smith's erasure poem "Declaration" challenges scholars to use their noticing skills to make connections between an engraving entitled "The Declaration of Independence" and Smith's poem. Class members record observations and...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "The Snowfall Is So Silent" by Miguel de Unamuno

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Cold, beautiful, unique! Class members closely examine John Singer Sargent's watercolor "Snow," taking note of the artist's techniques, and pair up to discuss how the image makes them feel about snow. They then repeat the process with...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Instructions on Not Giving Up" by Ada Limón

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
What do the myth of the phoenix bird and Ada Limón's poem "Instructions on Not Giving Up" have in common? Young scholars create a list of what they notice about both the myth and poem, then consider what the similarities might indicate...
Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" by Ed Roberson

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
A free write, an image of magnolia leaves, and the Ed Roberson's poem "Once the Magnolia has Blossomed" ask scholars to use their noticing skills to reflect on the lesson beauty teaches about loss and grief.
Lesson Plan
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Geography 360°

Poetry Writing

For Teachers 3rd - 6th
Put the tips and tricks in this guide into practice in order to encourage your pupils to blossom into poets. A wonderful reference material for teachers, this packet includes definitions of poetic terms and forms as well as step-by-step...
Activity
Kansas Poets

Persona Poem

For Teachers 11th - Higher Ed Standards
Young poets are asked to craft a poem in the voice of a first person narrator, a dramatic monologue of sorts, that reveals not only a dramatic situation but something of the narrator's character as well.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Allusion in Poetry

For Teachers 6th - 10th
Emerging writers identify allusion in poetry by listening to recorded poems, like Anyone Lived in a Pretty How Town. They also discuss what makes writing satirical and how writers use allusions to make satirical points.  
Lesson Plan
University of Arizona

Found News Poems

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Combine informational text and creative writing with one fun activity! Middle and high schoolers write found poems based on newspaper headlines that they find. The resource includes a thorough lesson plan and many links to articles that...
Lesson Plan
ReadWriteThink

Alliteration in Headline Poems

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Poetry is everywhere you look! Create found poems using headlines from newspapers and magazines. Young poetry focus on creating alliterative phrases with words they find in headlines, tying their poems to a central theme.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Technopoet - Poetry Lesson Plans

For Teachers 4th - 7th
Practice word processing while writing different types of poems. First, elementary and middle schoolers use Word templates to write poetry. They use rhyming and descriptive words as they work with clipart, text wrapping, and picture...
Writing
Curriculum Corner

My Book of Poems

For Students 2nd - 3rd Standards
Copy all pages to create a book of poems during a poetry study. From alliteration to cinquain to acrostic poem, your class won't run out of templates for writing poems! Each sheet serves as a template for an entire book of poems. Other...
Worksheet
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Winterhill School

Poetry Analysis

For Students 6th - 12th Standards
Gain greater insight into poems using a poetry analysis worksheet. Here, scholars follow steps and answer questions to dissect any poem. Topics include the poem's meaning, theme, technique, and structure, as well as personal...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Word Association Poetry with Visual Thesaurus (or Not)

For Teachers 3rd - 5th
Young poets get inspiration and guidance for making word association poems with the Visual Thesaurus. Your class could complete this project with nothing more than a pencil and paper as well. A nice one-off for a substitute during your...
Lesson Planet Article
Curated OER

On World Poetry Day, We're All Poets

For Teachers 4th - 8th
Put away the books and the printouts, and break out the paper and pens to honor World Poetry Day.
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Alphabet Poems

For Teachers K - 1st
Develop fluency with a variety of works. Help kindergartners use multiple strategies to understand text and decoding. They will create an alphabet poem book on Kid Works 2 to illustrate and write their own poem. In the end, they will...
Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Maniac Magee: Found Poem

For Teachers 4th - 6th Standards
Instruct your readers to scrounge through the pages of Maniac Magee in search for descriptive passages or words they may use to write poetry. As they look for meaningful, sensory descriptors in Jerry Spinelli's novel, readers...

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