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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poets Got Them Blues

For Teachers 11th - 12th
Contemplate what music learners listen to and why they listen. Can they find poetry within music lyrics? Specifically hone in on blues lyrics and ruminate upon the social issues prevalent in the themes. Particular song lyrics coincide...
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Unit Plan
Santa Ana Unified School District

Getting to the Core: Early American Poets

For Teachers 11th Standards
How do poets convey emotion and represent their views of life? Pupils learn more about Whitman and Dickinson through the unit and analyze their bold reinvention of craft and style for poets to come. Looking at classic pieces such as...
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Lesson Plan
Poetry Society

How do Poets Use Language?

For Teachers 2nd - 6th
Why do writers choose the language they do? Here's a resource that has the poet himself answer that very question. Joseph Coelho explains why he chose the words and images he used in his poem, "If All the World Were Paper."
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Research a Poet and Explicate a Poem by that Poet

For Teachers 7th
Seventh graders choose a poet to research and find a poem by that author to explicate/analyze using a variety of sources for their research that will include their textbooks, the school library, and the internet. After conducting...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Writing to a Historical Poet

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Poetry is a very personal and introspective art form. Give your class the opportunity to understand how a poet's voice can speak to them on a personal level, and that every reader can respond to an author differently. After a poetic...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Letters to Poets

For Teachers 7th - 10th Standards
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...
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Activity
Curated OER

Celebrate Joy Harjo: The First Native American Poet Laureate

For Teachers 6th - 8th
Introduce middle schoolers to Poet Laureate Joy Harjo with a lesson that not only explains the role and duties of the Poet Laureate but also contains a video in which Harjo explains what she sees as her responsibility as a Native...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Writing Letters to the Chancellors of the Academy of American Poets

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
To celebrate National Poetry Month, young writers focus on the role letter writing has played in the development of poets. They begin by journaling three to five associations to a writing prompt that requires them to identify their...
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Lesson Plan
1
1
Curated OER

Research a Poet and Explicate a Poem by that Poet

For Teachers 7th
Using your school's media center, internet research, and a SMART board, 7th graders research a chosen poet and write a research report. Additionally, 7th graders explicate one poem by the poet within their report. Several resource links...
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Lesson Plan
Scholastic

Reading Poems From the Academy of American Poets Chancellors

For Teachers 6th - 12th Standards
Start a lesson on poetic voice with a peer to peer discussion on what characterizes the strength in the voice with which a writer chooses to express himself/herself. In pairs, readers are tasked with reading and creating T-charts for...
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Lesson Plan
BW Walch

“Outsider” Poet Kay Ryan Goes from Poetry Club Reject to Poet Laureate

For Teachers 6th - 11th Standards
The cat might have got your tongue, but you can’t avoid the elephant in the room while you wait for the other shoe to drop. After all, the early bird gets the worm and the chickens are circling. After researching Poet Laureate Kay Ryan...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

The Poet's Voice: Langston Hughes and You

For Teachers 6th - 8th
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.
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Poems about Poetry

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
Learners of all ages hear the words “Today we’re going to start poetry” and begin their plans to drop out of school. It is not the teacher's fault! Use this resource to help young scholars understand the genre of poetry and why it is...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

In Search of Afro-American Poets in Modern Times

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Young scholars develop an awareness of pride in the many contributions made by Afro-American poets. They gain an appreciation for poetry and express orally and in written form their feelings and emotions. They determine that poetry is...
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Interactive
Curated OER

Know Your Poets

For Students 4th - 10th
In this poets worksheet, students read short poems and then choose the correct poet that wrote it. Students complete 6 multiple choice questions.
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Deep like Rivers: Four African American Poets of the 1920s and 1930s

For Teachers 9th - 12th
Learners examine work by outstanding African American poets from the time period of the 1920s and 1930s. They study aspects of American and African American social, cultural and artistic history that influenced the content of some of the...
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Activity
PBS

Write a New Year Poem Inspired by Amanda Gorman’s "New Day’s Lyric"

For Students 6th - 12th
Here's a new take on a new year. After watching and discussing the video of Youth Poet Laureate Amanda Gorman performing her "New Day's Lyric," young poets craft poems that reflect their feelings about the past year and their resolutions...
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Lesson Plan
Curated OER

Poet James Whitcomb Riley: Famous in His Own Day

For Teachers 9th - 12th
An engaging biography of "Hoosier" poet James Whitcomb Riley serves as a springboard for study of his unique dialect-based verse. Several activities illuminate differences between spoken vernacular and formal language. Learners record...
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Lesson Plan
National Endowment for the Humanities

Charles Baudelaire: Poète Maudit (The Cursed Poet)

For Teachers 9th - 12th Standards
After learning the main ideas of the Decadent movement, high schoolers work in small groups to read and translate poems by the French poet Charles Baudelaire using basic etymology skills. They then read the accurate English translations...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: “In This Place (An American Lyric)” by Amanda Gorman

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Amanda Gorman, the United States's first National Youth Poet Laureate, is featured in a resource from the Academy of American Poets. Class members first read Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "I Have A Dream" speech and note what King wanted...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Toward the Winter Solstice" by Timothy Steele

For Teachers 6th - 12th
Timothy Steele's poem, "Toward the Winter Solstice," offers scholars an opportunity to consider what poets and scientists could learn from each other's work. First, learners examine a NASA image of a star-forming region in the Orion...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

Teach This Poem: "Maps" by Yesenia Montilla

For Teachers 6th - 12th
After examining a physical map of the world, learners conduct a close reading of Yesenia Montilla's poem "Maps." They note the interesting words and phrases, the way the poem is structured, and list questions they might have. After...
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Lesson Plan
Academy of American Poets

The African American Experience

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Disrespect can be as subtle as a frown or a turn of a head. To prepare for a study of Toi Derricote's poem "The Weakness" class members create wordless skits that demonstrate subtle or not so subtle signs of disrespect. After a...
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Unit Plan
2
2
Poetry Foundation

Dream in Color — Middle School

For Teachers 6th - 8th Standards
Celebrate diversity with a toolkit designed to inspire young poets to develop their own voices. After examining poems by African American poets, individuals craft their own poetic stories. The packet features poems by Gwendolyn Brooks,...

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