Learning for Justice
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou's poem, "Still I Rise", offers young scholars an opportunity to consider how poets use literary devices to create powerful messages. After a close reading and discussion of the poem, class members reflect on how they can...
Livaudais-Baker English Classroom
An Introduction to Sonnets
What is 14 lines long, written in iambic pentameter, and follows a predetermined rhyme scheme? Introduce scholars to the sonnet, one of the most famous of the fixed-form types of poetry, with a 10-slide presentation that includes the...
Curated OER
Similes and Metaphors
Students explore similes and metaphors. They discuss and define similes and metaphors, identify the similes and metaphors in two poems, and create three original examples of each.
Curated OER
Recognizing Similes: Fast as a Whip
Students review basic knowledge of similes and engage with similes on a more abstract level. In this similes instructional activity, students define similes and identify examples. Students read and analyze the similes used in poetry by...
Curated OER
Over the River and Through the Woods:Prepositional Poetry
Fifth graders will be able to identify and use prepositions correctly in written work.¿¿¿ They will also be able to identify poetic devices.They will see how their writing can be more descriptive and "visual" for their audience.
Curated OER
Enhancing Poetry with American Memories
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.
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
Simile and Metaphor Lesson Ideas
Teaching students about literary devices, such as simile and metaphor, can be a year long experience.
BBC
The Role of a Monarch (key stage 2 and 3)
What makes a good monarch? Elementary and middle schoolers examine popular symbols of the British monarchy before designing a television advertisement about the qualities needed in a monarch. Next, they write poems using metaphors and...
Curated OER
Writing Original Literary Texts - The Cuban Crab Migration
Middle schoolers explore figurative language through poetry. For this poetry lesson, students view a video segment regarding the Cuban crab migration. Middle schoolers use similes and metaphors in poetry they create based on the journey...
Curated OER
Valerie Bloom Poetry
Students listen to Granny Is, a poem by Valerie Bloom and discuss the metaphors in the poem. For this poetry lesson, students read poetry written by Valerie Bloom and discuss the techniques she uses. Students write grandmother poems.
Curated OER
Don Quixote
High schoolers examine the use of metaphors in literature. In this literary devices lesson, students read poems that feature extended metaphors and compare them to the metaphors used in Don Quixote. High schoolers then try their hand at...
Curated OER
God's Weaving in Taylor's "Huswifery"
Eleventh graders trace Taylor's use of conceit or extended metaphor in his poem "Huswifery" where he compares the process of cloth making to God's salvation of man, and write a poem in which they compare a personal transformation with an...
Curated OER
The Power of Poetry
Students utilize the Internet to research figures of speech used in poetry and poetry terms
Curated OER
Poetry Interpretation and Figurative Language
Fifth graders discover how figurative language is used in poetry. They read selected poems and identify the figurative language with handouts and worksheets included in the activity. They write poems of their own using figurative language.
Curated OER
Bluebottle
Students read the poem Bluebottle and discuss the use of the simile in the poem. In this Bluebottle poetry lesson, students analyze the use of verbs and the energy created by that use. Students text mark all the similes in...
Curated OER
Connecting Poetry with Philanthropy
Learners use their knowledge of philanthropy and poetic conventions to write original poetry about philanthropic giving. In this philanthropy lesson, students write poetry based on philanthropy using poetic conventions. Learners...
Curated OER
Ode to the Earth: Magnetic Poetry
Students explore Earth Day by creating an arts and crafts project. In this nature appreciation lesson plan, students utilize nature related vocabulary terms on magnets and put them in different orders to create interesting poetry....
Curated OER
Famous Poems and Poets
Students investigate well known poets, forms, and poetry terms. They explore various websites, complete an online scavenger hunt, and take an online poetry test.
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Poetry Sings
Students examine examples of literary terms in poetry. Then they choose two songs, write out the lyrics, and decipher what they think the artist is trying to say. Each student presents their song to the class and they cite examples of...
Curated OER
Language of Poetry
Students demonstrate a higher level of thinking in writing a poem that delivers a message of wisdom and is metaphorical in meaning. They study the use of metaphors in poetry as well as the meaning and use of concrete and abstract words...
Curated OER
"World Enough, And Time"-Andrew Marvell's Coy Mistress
Students read and analyze the poem, "To His Coy Mistress," by Andrew Marvell. They identify the theme of each stanza, complete a worksheet, take an online quiz, and write about a single metaphor or image from the poem.
Curated OER
Teaching the Holocaust through Literature
Centered on the short story "The Tenth Man" by Polish Holocaust survivor Ida Fink, here is a solid one-day resource to support study of World War II or Nazi history, short stories, or to complement any ELA unit on The Diary of Anne Frank...
Curated OER
Haiku Wrap Up
Students create a haiku about the land formations they've studied. In this haiku lesson, students identify the metaphor and meaning of a given haiku, brainstorm comparisons for a landform photo as a class and choose one to use in a...