Poets Teacher Resources

Although some African American abolitionists—such as Sojourner Truth and Frederick Douglass—are well known, others, like Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, remain in the shadows of history. Harper was a poet and activist who played an...

Learn more about the work of Gwendolyn Brooks with a language arts lesson. Young learners read an informational passage about the acclaimed poet before attempting a shape poem of their own.

Young scholars explore the Harlem Renaissance. In this American history lesson, students examine a poem by Langston Hughes and identify the characteristics of the Harlem Renaissance. Young scholars research and report on a famous Harlem...

Third graders read and appreciate the writing of great American Authors. use technology to garner information about famous American authors. They have selected sites to explore. The information they save be used for a future Powerpoint.

Two exercises boost scholars' knowledge of a onomatopoeia with excerpts from famous poems. In exercise one, participants circle onomatopoeia words. Exercise two challenges writers to choose three words to use in an original poem.

Class members select a culture from a provided list and research the customs, beliefs, traditions, clothing, and environment of this group. They then create an idea web and craft this information into a poem. The lesson is short on...

Fifth graders read several poems by famous poets and identify what about their style makes them unique. They then analyze and compare poetic style, use of forms and themes. Next, 5th graders investigate and collect different examples of...

Students write a poem. In this writing lesson, students learn about Gwendolyn Brooks, a famous poet. Students discuss shape poetry and how it is written. Students choose an object from nature and write their own shape poem.

“What’s in a name?” Just about everything. Barack Obama, Vincent van Gogh, Justin Bieber. Famous names evoke a multitude of reactions and poets often use the names of famous people in their works precisely because names carry...

Is Virgil's Aeneid, as Augustus believed, written in praise of the first Roman emperor, or a criticism of his rule? Introduce the famous epic poem with a short video that provides background information about the poet, the historic...

Encourage your pupils to imagine their own dreams for the future. After studying three poems by Langston Hughes and listening to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech, young poets craft their own dream stanza. 

Oh the joys of love! As a special Valentine's Day assignment, budding authors research the life of one of the most romantic poets, Keats. They read the letter, "To Fanny Brawne, 13 October 1819," then compose a love letter of their own....

If you're looking to tie rap music into poetry writing, this would be a good presentation to use as you kick off your mini-unit. Learners are given a brief, but descriptive, history of rap music and rap poetry. The slides include...

What does it take to persuade people? Aristotle has famously summarized rhetoric as three means of persuasion: logos, ethos, and pathos. Watch as these elements are explained in detail, and prompt your class to consider how to build the...

Walt Whitman's "O Captain! My Captain!" is one of the most famous and emotional tributes to Abraham Lincoln. Guide readers through the evocative elegy with a reading comprehension worksheet, complete with the poem's text and a photograph...

Put a silly spin on making amends with an apology poem. Budding poets think of a time they were made to apologize although they didn't mean it. They then turn their experience into a poem that offers details and ends with an explanation...

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—and it's a great way to learn about poetic structure! Young poets use familiar tunes to write a song parody based on straightforward guidelines.

Young scholars read poetry and a biography of poet Anne Carson as part of a creative writing instructional activity. In this poetry analysis instructional activity, students read about the poet, read her poetry, and analyze a photograph...

In this famous leaders learning exercise, students read a passage about Isabel Allende and then complete a variety of in-class and homework activities to support comprehension, including partner interviews, spelling, cloze, synonym...

Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" is featured in a lesson that asks pupils to first read a biography of Hughes and list things about his life they think are important. The class then reads the poem and compares what they learned...

Phillis Wheatley's poem, "On Being Brought from Africa to America" is the focus of a lesson that asks readers to consider how the poem is a critique of slavery. Groups comprise a list of words and phrases they notice as well as questions...

After watching an excerpt from a video of Fannie Lou Hamer's testimony before Congress, pupils do a close reading of Mahogany L. Browne's poem "When Fannie Lou Hamer Said," annotate words and phrases that draw their attention and list...

Imagine an interactive that teaches young poets all the essential elements of poetry. This colorful resource does just that. Players are introduced to rhythm, meter, and rhyme schemes using famous poems. They practice marking the...

Do you know about The Enchantress of Numbers? Ada Lovelace wrote the first computer program, more than a century before the first modern computer. Her knowledge and vision continue to inspire mathematicians today.