Using Classic Poetry to Challenge and Enrich Students' Writing

Lesson Plans

Calendar Activities

Professional Library

 

LESSON PLANS

Grades   6 – 8  |  Lesson Plan  |  Standard Lesson

What is Poetry? Contrasting Poetry and Prose

Students often find poetry frustrating and meaningless. By helping students think critically about the differences between poetry and prose, this introduction sets the stage for different strategies for comprehending poetic texts.

 

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CALENDAR ACTIVITIES

Grades   K – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  April 1

April is National Poetry Month!

Students are assigned to be "poets of the day" and are provided several models to create, illustrate, and present their different poems to the class.

 

Grades   7 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  April 13

Seamus Heaney was born on this day in 1939.

Students focus on the figurative language in Heaney's poem, "Digging," and discuss the speaker's attitude, and how metaphor, simile, and image contribute to the poem.

 

Grades   5 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  November 28

Poet William Blake was born in 1757.

As a class, students brainstorm abstract concepts and personify that concept through a drawing or story told about the character who personifies that concept.

 

Grades   9 – 12  |  Calendar Activity  |  December 10

Poet Emily Dickinson was born in 1830.

Students discuss Dickinson's poem "This Is My Letter To The World" and use it to focus on how audience affects voice.

 

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PROFESSIONAL LIBRARY

Grades   3 – 8  |  Professional Library  |  Journal

Cold Plums and the Old Men in the Water: Let Children Read and Write "Great" Poetry

The author of this article advocates using "great" poetry with children, and providing the link between the reading and writing of poetry.

 

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