Scritch, scratch, scritch. It's the sound of pupils writing poetry! Focus on sensory language and onomatopoeia with a writing instructional activity. After listening to some sounds, learners examine a couple of poems that include sound...

Film poems? To concluded a poetry unit, writers select one of their own poems and create a film that brings to life the sounds and images of their work. Included with the detailed unit plan are daily lessons, student examples, a list of...

What a fun idea! The class discusses, and then writes free-verse poems using sensory detail. They get into small collaborative writing teams to compose their poems. Next, they pantomime the actions from the poem while their teammates...

Young writers needn't be self-involved to craft a conceit. Directions for how to craft this form of extended metaphor, models, and a worksheet are all included in the packet.

Models of and directions for how to write 20 different types of poems are featured in an NCTE resource. The introduction to each form highlights the embedded concepts. For example, tongue twisters encourage poets to use alliteration and...

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...

Experiment with light and dark in a series of interactive activities that lead up to reading and writing poetry. Class members have the opportunity to observe their feelings while sitting in the light and dark and to play with shadow...

Students explore poetry using American Life Histories: Manuscripts from the Federal Writers' Project. They compose their own unque "found poetry" based on the stories found in the collection.

Figures of speech, sensory details, and academic language are all targeted while reading Chapter Two of J. Ferris’ Go Free or Die. First, learners engage in an exercise to practice describing with detail. Then, partners use a...

Introduce magic and imagination into your classroom with a poetry activity. Learners read the poem "Tiny" by Mandy Coe and use their magic tickets to visit any place they can think of! The final result is a poem describing where they...

When is a staple remover a fanged monster? In your ELA classroom when you're teaching this fun figurative language lesson, of course! Get your young writers using figurative language by making a game of it. Give groups a paper bag full...

Who or what do you miss? That's the question that launches an activity that asks writers to craft a paragraph filled with sensory details that shows how they feel. Next, they listen to Richard Blanco reading his poem, "Translation for...

A guided imagery exercise is a great way to get readers thinking about writing. As part of their study of Out of the Dust, Karen Hesse’s 1998 Newbery Medal winning verse novel, class members listen to a reading of one of the poems...

Students explore botany by participating in a language arts activity. In this garden poetry activity, students read the classic poem "Mary, Mary Quite Contrary" and discuss the imagery and rhyming methods used. Students examine their own...

Access your young poets' senses and emotions with this activity, which guides them through the process of writing a "sense poem." After working on a sense poem as a class and modeling the procedure, individuals work on their own poems...

Students explore 5 senses poetry.  In this poetry writing lesson, students visualize a special day and brainstorm related vivid adjectives and phrases.  Students create mindmaps of the five senses to go with their visualization...

Participate in a scavenger hunt to find objects beginning with a particular letter sound and take digital photos of them with your scholars. Using software, they find word pictures beginning with particular letters and locate picture...

Third graders read a book about emigrating to America. They create and illustrate a triante poem using sensory words, depicting something they liked about the story.

Students create an ocean haiku. In this haiku lesson, students use their five senses to write a haiku. Students watch videos about the ocean, make a sensory portrait, and create a class haiku.

Students observe an object in nature and record them. In groups, they create a group poem about the same object. They create their own poem based on another object using other their senses to help them. They share their poems with the...

Students create original poetry on the subject of food.  In this poetry writing lesson, students use sensory details about a food item to create a class poem.  Students then write short poems with one sensory detail and add...

The engagement is in the details. Young scholars learn the benefit of weaving descriptive and sensory details into the fabric of their writing through the activities in this lesson. As their hands explore items concealed in bags, a...

Students describe colors. In this descriptive writing instructional activity, students brainstorm color descriptions using all of the senses except sight. Students write poems including similes, sensory images, and interesting word...

Fifth graders write poetry using imagery and practice poetry presentation. In this poetry lesson, 5th graders listen as the teacher reads a humorous poem using different voice modulations and presentation techniques. They discuss the...