Curated OER
Poetry in Motion
Pupils create individual poems containing varied line lengths, punctuation, and rhythm, and explain how each contributes to overall effect of the poem.
Curated OER
Exploring War Themes in Art and Poetry
What is war? Students discuss the ethical dilemma of war by viewing Picasso's painting entitled "Guernica" and write down everything they see in the painting. Then they choose one emotion that best summarizes their emotional response to...
Curated OER
Poetry and Our National Anthem
Middle schoolers express the meaning of the Star-Spangled Banner. In this American history lesson, students read through the national anthem and complete an activities from a list of choices. Some choices include: writing the anthem in...
Curated OER
Barn Owls and Owl Pellet Dissection
Students explore birds of prey and food chains. In this ecosystems and birds of prey cross curriculum science and literacy lesson, students brainstorm characteristics of birds after viewing photographs. Students view a video and document...
Curated OER
Circle Justice—Lesson 1: The Anger Within
High schoolers examine the emotion of anger through the poem 'A Poison Tree'. In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students identify and decode unfamiliar vocabulary they encounter, engage in groups discussions and...
Curated OER
Jazz Dance and Music
Fourth graders write a poem. In this jazz music lesson, 4th graders learn about the basics of jazz dance and practice basic movements. Students learn common terminology and listen to several recordings of jazz music. Students create a...
Curated OER
State Your Business
Second graders conduct research on a selected state in the United States. They read a book and write down interesting facts, conduct Internet research, and create a brochure using Microsoft Office Publisher.
Curated OER
The Important Poem
Students are read numerous examples of strong poetry. Individually, they brainstorm a list of interests or attributes about themselves and choose the most important one. They write a poem using the attribute and shares the poem with the...
Curated OER
Write to Music
Students improve their creative writing skills. In this writing skills lesson, students learn about picture captions, story writing, critiques, poems, reports, letter writing, creative writing, and a rap poem.
Curated OER
Found Poetry with Primary Sources: The Great Depression
Students read a sample found poem and create one together as a class. In this Great Depression instructional activity, students select a topic, such as miners, and read primary source documents related to the topic. Students select one...
Curated OER
It's All Poetry to Me!
Fourth graders explore language arts by analyzing poetry styles. In this writing analysis lesson plan, 4th graders read several sample poems in class and identify similes, metaphors and other figurative language within them. Students...
Curated OER
Edward Hopper's House by the Railroad: From Painting to Poem
Students analyze Edward Hopper's painting and Hirsch's poem to explore the types of emotion generated by each work. For this literary and art analysis lesson, students discuss how Hopper establishes tone and analyze Hirsch's use of...
Curated OER
This Isn't Your Little Sister's Poetry: Analyzing and Understanding a Variety of Acclaimed Poets
Eleventh graders are introduced to various basic and advanced poetic devices. They read several poems and practice identifying poetic elements. They identify at least two different poems and substantiate why they belong in the canon.
National Endowment for the Humanities
The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You
Middle schoolers complete a unit of lessons that explore the poetic voice of Langston Hughes. They define voice, read and analyze various poems by Langston Hughes, and complete journal entries for each instructional activity.
Curated OER
Love That Dog and Hate That Cat Teacher's Guide
This teaching guide for Love That Dog and Hate That Cat includes suggestions for how to integrate Sharon Creech's books into a poetry unit, as well as writing activities, discussion questions, and tips for making poetry...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Nature Walk: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 2)
Walking in nature is the theme of a unit designed to support English language development lessons. Scholars look, write, speak, and move to explore topics such as camping, woodland animals, instruments,...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Family Time: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 5)
Support English language development with a family-themed unit consisting of a series of lessons designed to get your scholars moving, looking, speaking, writing, and listening. Conversation topics...
Art Institute of Chicago
Lesson Plan: A Writer’s Odyssey
Looking for a fresh approach to an end-of-unit project for The Odyssey? Check out a resource that has class members write their own hero's journey short story and then craft an illustration that depicts their tale. Apollonio di...
Curated OER
Poetic Elements
Poetry is all about sound and rhythm. The sound of the words, the rhythm of the lines, and the emotional atmosphere created by these elements and the literary devices poets use, compress whole stories into a few stanzas. The specialized...
Curated OER
Discovering Walt Whitman’s Timeless Poetry
Explore the work of the great American poet Walt Whitman in your classroom.
Lerner Publishing
Teaching Habitats
What makes up a habitat? Use this resource to engage first graders in the exploration of desert, wetland, forest, and ocean habitats. Youngsters classify plants and animals into the four distinct habitats through drawings and cutting and...
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Special Friends: English Language Development Lessons (Theme 9)
Enhance language proficiency with a Special Friends themed English language development unit. Each lesson follows a listen, speak, move, and/or look routine that is guaranteed to get your scholars discussing topics such as animal...
Curriculum Corner
Earth Day Book
This Earth Day, celebrate our beautiful planet with an activity book that challenges scholars to show off their map skills, complete a crossword puzzle, write acrostic poems, alphabetize, and reflect on their personal Earth-friendly habits.
Reed Novel Studies
The Lions of Little Rock: Novel Study
A true friend sticks with you through thick and thin. Marlee and Liz, main characters in The Lions of Little Rock, have that type of friendship. Scholars learn vocabulary and answer comprehension questions as they read how the two girls...