Letters to Poets

Add a strong poetry lesson to your literature unit. Middle and high schoolers investigate their writing voices with journaling and group discussion, then choose a famous poet to study. They write letters to their chosen poets, explaining why they connect with their poets' voices. You could use any poet in this activity, but the lesson includes Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, Pablo Neruda, William Carlos Williams, and Gwendolyn Brooks.