Cosmic Rhythm

Students write poems using rhyme and meter as they come to understand the mechanical concept of rhythm, based on the principle of oscillation, in a broader biological and cultural context, as seen in dance and sports, poetry and other literary forms, and communication in general. Note: The literacy activities for the Mechanics unit are based on physical themes that have broad application to our experience in the world — concepts of rhythm, balance, spin, gravity, levity, inertia, momentum, friction, stress and tension.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Authors: Denise W. Carlson, Jane Evenson, Malinda Schaefer Zarske

Exploring Melodic Phrases

Students explore phrases in poetry and in song.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Assessment, Lesson Plan

Lucille Clifton reads 'Turning'

Emmy award-winning poet, Lucille Clifton, introduces and reads her poem, 'Turning,' about trying to be your own person and taking responsibility for your life.

Material Type: Diagram/Illustration, Primary Source

Rhythm and Rhyming

In this lesson students will learn about rhythm.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

"Remember" by Joy Harjo

This lesson plan is the ninth in the "Incredible Bridges: Poets Creating Community" series. It provides a video recording of the poet, Joy Harjo, reading the poem "Remember." The companion lesson contains a sequence of activities for use with secondary students before, during, and after reading to help them enter and experience the poem.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Robert Frost's "Mending Wall": A Marriage of Poetic Form and Content

Studying Robert Frost's "Mending Wall," students explore the intricate relationship between a poem's form and its content.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

The Impact of a Poem's Line Breaks: Enjambment and Gwendolyn Brooks' "We Real Cool"

Students will learn about the impact of enjambment in Gwendolyn Brooks' short but far-reaching poem "We Real Cool." One element of this lesson plan that is bound to draw students in is a compelling video of working-class Bostonian John Ulrich reciting the poem.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Sor Juana the Nun and Writer: Las Redondillas and The Reply

Sor Juana Ines de la Cruz, the first great Latin American poet, is still considered one of the most important literary figures of the American Hemisphere, and one of the first feminist writers. In the 1600s, she defended her right to be an intellectual, suggesting that women should be educated and educators and accusing men of being the cause of the very ills they blamed on women.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Composing Cinquain Poems: A Quick-Writing Activity

Students use themed graphic organizers to compose cinquain poems on topics common in the early elementary classroom.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Lesson 2: Responding to Emily Dickinson: Poetic Analysis

In this lesson, students will explore Dickinson's poem "Safe in their Alabaster Chambers" both as it was published as well as how it developed through Dickinson's correspondence with her sister-in-law Susan Huntington Gilbert Dickinson.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Choosing One Word: Summarizing Shel Silverstein's "Sick"

Students select what they believe to be the most important word in a text that they have read and justify their choice using examples from the text.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Sor Juana, la monja y la escritora: Las Redondillas y La Respuesta

Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, la primer gran poeta de América Latina, es considerada una de la figuras literarias más importantes del continente americano y una de las primeras feministas. En el siglo XVII, defendió su derecho a la educación, proponiendo la mayor participación de las mujeres en la cultura y la pedagogía en una sociedad dominada por los hombres.

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Lesson 3: Navigating Modernism with J. Alfred Prufrock

In this lesson, students will explore the role of the individual in the modern world by closely reading and analyzing T.S. Eliot's "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock."

Material Type: Lesson Plan

Dr. Seuss's Sound Words: Playing with Phonics and Spelling

Boom! Br-r-ring! Cluck! Moo!: Everywhere you turn, you find exciting sounds. Students use these sounds to write their own poems based on Dr. Seuss's "Mr. Brown Can MOO! Can You?"

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Theme Poems

Formerly known as Shape Poems, this online tool allows elementary students to write poems in various shapes.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive

Analyzing and Comparing Medieval and Modern Ballads

Students explore the ballads genre by reading medieval ballads to deduce their characteristics, acting out the ballads, comparing medieval and modern ballads using Venn diagrams, and composing their own ballads.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Mali Empire and Djenne Figures

Archeology offers the most tangible evidence of earlier civilizations. Although archeology has already provided invaluable information pertaining to the life styles and skills of the peoples from this region of West Africa, the archaeological record is still incomplete. The figurative sculptures featured in this resource furnish one part of the historical puzzle of this region. These handsome terracotta sculptures are from the Inland Niger Delta region near Djenne (pronounced JEH-nay; also spelled Jenne), one of several important trading cities that grew and developed during the Mali Empire.

Material Type: Activity/Lab

Language and Power in The Handmaid's Tale and the World

This lesson asks students to analyze the features of a poet's work then create their own poems based on the original model.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan

Discovering Memory: Li-Young Lee's Poem “Mnemonic” and the Brain

Students learn about memory by doing a memory-writing exercise, studying the brain to understand how it affects memory, reading Li-Young Lee's poem "Mnemonic," and creating projects to demonstrate their understanding.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Lesson Plan, Unit of Study

Riddle Interactive

The Riddle Interactive outlines the characteristics of riddle poems and provides direct instruction on the prewriting and drafting process for writing original riddle poems.

Material Type: Activity/Lab, Interactive