Hook kids into a study on poetry elements by asking them to bring in the lyrics to their favorite song. Discuss the elements in one or two songs (preferably that demonstrate rhyme, figurative language, or a repeating phrase). Groups do...

Youngsters listen to poetry and music to understand that words are made of sounds.  For this rhythm and rhyme lesson, students create songbooks of healthy eating songs. They will also act out pantomimes and dance to the music....

Second graders write a poem using words from a list and practice poetic forms. In this lesson on writing a peace poem, 2nd graders brainstorm words or phrases associated with "peace." Students choose a poetic form to express their...

War is one of the most profound human experiences in history, and is often best depicted in works of art and literature. Introduce class members to the poetry of World War I with this resource that uses John McCrae's "In Flanders Fields"...

Students research the evolution and cultural significance of the Arabic ghazal form of poetry. They, in groups, compose an original ghazal poem and read it aloud to the class.

Young scholars write rhyming poems using rebus. With pictures instead of words, authors create original work about things they love. 

A good poem has form and structure built into it. Middle schoolers see that the structure of a poem consists of stanza, form, rhyme, and meter. The structure also contributes to a poem's meaning. After listening to, and discussing, a few...

Lines from Shakespeare and from hip-hop artists provide learners with an opportunity to examine the literary devices these artists use to express their ideas about love. Groups use the provided lines to craft found poems, and then the...

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...

Bring a little excitement to your next poetry analysis lesson. Using the highly energetic poem "Walking With My Iguana," learners consider poem structure and rhyme. They listen to the poem, discuss the rhythm and tone with their...

Fun awaits both you and your class as you embark on a musical activity. After discussing different rhythmic meters they choose a poem to set to music. The poem must rhyme and be set to a melody in the key of C Major. Because the activity...

High schoolers explore tanka, a form of Japanese poetry. They read and analyze tankas to determine the structure and intent, and compose a traditional and a non-traditional tanka.

Connect the ideas of jazz improvisation and art to writing poetry. Learners collaborate and write different lines of poetry, imitating the jazz styles of improvisation and freewriting. Take a close look at the poems "Tenebrae" by Yusef...

Students explore patterns in poetry. In this language arts lesson, students discuss rhythm in poetry. Students read poems and discuss the rhythm of each poem.

If you need a lesson for your poetry unit, use two poems by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow ("Rain in Summer" and "The Slave in the Dismal Swamp") and a resource on Elements of Poetry. The lesson plan guides you through activities...

Two poems by National Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman are spotlighted in a PBS lesson. Young scholars conduct a close reading and watch videos of Gorman reading her inaugural poem "The Hill We Climb" and "The Miracle of Morning." They...

The second instructional activity of a pair about Paul Laurence Dunbar, this plan focuses in particular on his poem, "We Wear the Masks." After a short historical introduction, class members conduct a series or readings, marking up the...

Pupils explore the poetry of Langston Hughes and its structure. In groups, they read poems and identify the rhyme, rhythm meter, and alliteration in each poem. Students create and illustrate their own poem, using Langston Hughes methods.

Students identify and interpret the rhythm and form of the I Spy poem. They then integrate art, music, literature, technology, and writing with poetry. Students also write their own poem based on the picture they printed from the I Spy...

The third lesson of five in an eighth-grade poetry unit has young scholars comparing Shakespearean sonnets with Petrarchan sonnets. To begin, they examine the different structures of the two forms and their different rhyme schemes. After...

Two sonnets provide seventh graders with examples of Shakespearean sonnets. After discussing the story of the poems and analyzing their rhyme scheme and rhythm, young poets craft a Shakespearian sonnet and share their work with two...

Students examine the impact of sound devices in poetry. In this poetry lesson, students read the listed poems and identify uses of alliteration, repetition, consonance, rhythm, rhyme, and slang. Students discuss how sound devices enhance...

Students identify rhyme scheme and meter in a poem and respond to the message of the poem.  In this sonnet rhythm and meter lesson, students take notes on a lecture about rhythm and meter in sonnets and work in small groups to read...

Help your class create collective poetry following a simple, engaging model from Teaching Tolerance (tolerance.org). Each young poet writes five things on an index card: sayings from others, favorite sound, favorite place, favorite...