General Poetry Resources
Lesson plans and more
This page features lesson plans and activities for teaching specific types of poetry or poetry in general. Sites and Activities for Specific Poets and Collections of Poetry are also available.
Students use an interactive tool to understand and write an acrostic.
101 examples of alliteration in alphabetical order.
Students experience the intricacies of the ghazal and work together to compose one. Includes examples.
Students memorize a poem, then write it from memory and recite it for others聴and for possible inclusion on a class podcast or video. They also reflect on the value of committing poems to memory. Lesson includes links to poems and to other related pages.
Exercises to help students access their creative powers and produce well-crafted poems.
This lesson by Ingrid Wendt includes plans and samples of student writing. It is part of the National Writing Project.
Ideas and printables for the elementary classroom.
Cooperative poetry writing assignment. Students will write and share poetry using the Clerihew style. Students will also give a group presentation of their poems. This lesson is designed for grades 3-5.
More than 100 titles that would be good for a unit asking students to memorize and recite a poem.
Students in grades K-2 write cinquains in response to something they've been studying. Includes Web resources, assessment, and standards addressed.
Definitions and examples of a variety of terms related to poetry: blank verse, line and meter, tercet, imagery, sestina, style, and more.
In this lesson students use images found online to inspire their poetry. Includes links to images, format for the poem, and a model.
This article by poet Robert Pinsky elaborates on the ancient craft of put-downs in verse.
Epic Poems
Lesson plans for epics often taught in school, including
Beowulf
, the
Aeneid
, the
Iliad
, the
Odyssey
,
Gilgamesh
, and
Paradise Lost
.
Figures of Speech
Lesson plans for teaching metaphor, simile, and other figurative language.
A 2-page printable that includes a model, the poem's format, and a special sheet for the final draft. Adobe Reader required for access.
Students use a piece of fruit as inspiration for a poem.
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