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Lesson Plans
Poetry Portfolios: Using Poetry to Teach Reading and Writing
In this lesson for grades K–2, students use a weekly poem to explore multiple concepts.
Creating Classroom Community by Crafting Themed Poetry Collections
In this lesson, students create poetry collections with a back-to-school theme of “getting to know each other.” Students write poetry with the goal of introducing themselves, helping to create a sense of classroom community, while exploring the many and varied types and forms of poetry and constructing and refining their own definitions of poetry.
Weaving the Threads: Integrating Poetry Annotation and Web Technology
This project, designed for grades 6–8, engages students in meaningful research using Native American poetry as a focal point and incorporates the creation of a website.
Poetry: Sound and Sense
This lesson suggests nonthreatening ways to teach poetry in the high school classroom.
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Web Links
Poets.org
This website includes the work of hundreds of poets and more than 1400 poems. Included are poet biographies, selected works, and a collection of poems in audio format.
Poetry 180: A Poem a Day for American High Schools
From the Library of Congress, this site features a year’s worth of poetry for high school students. Beginning with Billy Collins’ “Introduction to Poetry,” the poems are meant to be read aloud, and enjoyed by the entire school community.
Poetry Daily
Though not all poems are appropriate for younger readers, you can search the archives to find a full year of poems.
Lift Ev’ry Voice and Sing: Multicultural Poetry for Children & Young Adults
This article from the American Library Association’s journal Versed, offers information about multicultural poetry, along with lists of African American, Asian American, Hispanic American, Native American, and international poetry books.
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Texts
O’Connor, John S. 2004. Wordplaygrounds: Reading, Writing, and Performing Poetry in the English Classroom. NCTE.
This text offers 25 high-interest classroom activities related to poetry for the high school classroom.
Tiedt, Iris McClellan. 2002. Tiger Lilies, Toadstools, and Thunderbolts: Engaging K–8 Students With Poetry. IRA.
This resources offers ideas for teaching poetry in the K–8 classroom, adaptable to many levels of interest and ability.
Wood, Jaime R. 2006. Living Voices: Multicultural Poetry in the Middle School Classroom. NCTE.
The lesson plans in this book for middle school teachers focus on the contemporary multicultural poetry of Nikki Giovanni, Li-Young Lee, and Pat Mora.
Israel, Susan E., ed. 2006. Poetic Possibilities: Using Poetry to Enhance Literacy Learning. IRA.
This anthology offers a collection of literacy-themed poems, each accompanied by a thinking prompt and ideas for classroom application.
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March 21, 2009
Believed to have its origin in the 1930s, World Poetry Day is now celebrated in hundreds of countries around the world. This day provides a perfect opportunity to examine poets and their craft in the classroom. In 1999, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization) also designated March 21 as World Poetry Day. 
