Searching for Meanings Beneath the Surface of the Poem

Emily Dickinson's "Because I could not stop for Death" provides high schoolers with an opportunity to practice their critical thinking skills. They examine the images, diction, rhythm, and rhyme scheme the poet uses and consider how...

One of the many challenges in creating a poetry unit is selecting illustrative poems and designing activities to accompany each lesson. Here's a carefully crafted resource that can be used as a poetry unit or the individual lessons can...

If you only read a poem once, you'll miss many levels of analysis and comprehension. High schoolers finish reading "The Passionate Shepard to His Love" by Christopher Marlowe, and discuss the ways that the poem's organization contributes...

Students analyze poetry. In this cultural perspectives lesson, students read the poem "Soccer Until Dusk" by Mark Brazaitis. Students analyze the poem and consider the cultural perspective it reveals.

Build a class synonym list and enrich your classroom vocabulary! Learners choose any word, think about what it means to them, and build synonym poems around their words. This is a great way to encourage an understanding of word...

Young scholars read "Soccer Until Dusk". As a class, they discuss the various settings and actions in the poem and discuss the life in Guatemala and compare it with the United States. To end the lesson, they complete a journal...

It's never too early to think about the future! Here is a lesson that sparks the thought, "What do I want to be when I grow up? Scholars begin by researching careers and completing a graphic organizer with their new-found knowledge....

This is a very much detailed five-day plan on writing portrait poems. Throughout, class members review figurative language and work systematically to develop their poems. The teacher provides rubrics for the poem as well as a portrait...

Show your class how to read, and analyze poetry through the rules of grammar as you explore “love is a place” by E.E. Cummings. Some might consider this plan overbearing and beating poetry to death, which might be true, if you do all of...

Collaborate to create a visual version of a poem using video. Before class, choose a poem to pick apart. Read it aloud and then analyze it in detail as a class. Assign a line or short section to each student to expand upon using a...