This beautifully crafted site provides students with in-depth information on American writers and their works. Students can use the site's search feature to zero in on an era in American history, a specific author, or a book title. The site features many video clips from the companion C-SPAN series. A high-speed connection is a must.

tag(s): authors (107), poetry (193)

Shel Silverstein's outside-the-box style of poetry has delighted students for years. Find Screen Savers, animated Shel-creature-people to enjoy, reproducibles, and more await your enjoyment. Click on Poetry Month to find more activities and games that you can use during April. Your students will chuckle at Shel's own reading and lively animation of several of his poems. This is a site to explore with your class.

tag(s): humor (15), poetry (193)

Turn the excitement of the Olympics into a meaningful writing assignment. This lesson plan asks students to explore the aesthetic characteristic of athletics, drawing from their own experiences as well as examples in popular media. Thoughts and impressions are recorded in a reflective journal. Using the data as a foundation, students conduct Internet research, view short informative video clips, take digital photographs, and synthesize all of the information into an original cinquain poem. The lesson plan allows you to select your state and grade level to see the standards for your state.

tag(s): sports (82), writing (324)

This lesson creates a wonderful interdisciplinary connection between creative writing and American history. After using a variety of resources to learn more about the American Revolution, students select an historical figure from that era, and compose an acrostic poem describing that individual's contributions. Aligned to National Standards.

tag(s): creative writing (124), writing (324)

The New York Public Library developed this collection of works by nineteenth century female African American writers. The resources include fiction, poetry, essays, and more; all are formatted in an easy-to-use on-screen display. Those who teach American literature will find this an interesting supplemental resource.

tag(s): africa (148), african american (115), authors (107), poetry (193), women (151)

Using the works of Emily Dickinson, William Blake, and Langston Hughes, this lesson plan introduces students to figurative language and encourages them to create poetry using personification. After learning about the characteristics of personification and identifying examples, students discuss how figurative language affects the reader, collectively form a word list, and independently compose an original work. A peer-editing worksheet is included. Aligned to National Standards.

tag(s): figurative language (17), poetry (193)

Build vocabulary and writing skills with this lesson plan that introduces young students to acrostic poetry and guides them through the creation of their own compositions. After some group vocabulary brainstorming with letters of the alphabet and teacher modeling, students begin to construct an original free-verse poem using their first name as the foundation. Includes creative ideas for extension activities. Aligned to National Standards.

tag(s): poetry (193)

Add this Kenn Nesbitt poetry site to your resource of kid-friendly poetry. This site is a treasure with podcasts, a rhyming dictionary, games, videos, tips and lessons for kid to write poetry. Browse through dozens of examples and choose a few to illustrate rhyme scheme, meter, or alliteration. These are not literary masterpieces, but they will engage your most resistant students, and perhaps inspire some original poetry. If your school blocks YouTube, the videos won't be viewable.

tag(s): humor (15), poetry (193)

This collection of more than 1400 poems, 500 poet biographies, and 100 audio clips is a helpful and well-organized resource for both students and teachers of American literature. Search by poet or title to locate texts and biographical information. Visit the Listening Booth to give your students the opportunity to hear the voices of Robert Frost, T.S. Eliot, and many other beloved American poets! The site also contains information about National Poetry Month, celebrated every April, and a list of major American poetry awards with recent recipients.

tag(s): poetry (193)

Introductory poetry unit which uses class discussion, critical writing assignments, and personal reflection to help students learn poetic vocabulary. The lessons are developed to forge links between the poems from the unit and the text book used throughout the year. The unit is designed for lower high school students.

tag(s): poetry (193), writing (324)

This unit of lesson plans surveys a wide range of poets including women, African-American, and nineteenth-century poets. Lessons are thematically broken into three categories, "What is Poetry?" "Poems of Childhood," and "Self and Society." A "Teaching Guide" is included and offers suggestions on presenting the material in a variety of ways, making this unit suitable to any high school grade.

tag(s): poetry (193)

Through the study of paintings, books, photography, and poetry, students will learn about the history of Black dance. With an emphasis on the evolution of Black dance from the African period through the Harlem Renaissance and beyond, this unit emphasizes research as a tool for meaningful choreography. The culminating activity is a video production that chronicles a living history through movement.

tag(s): africa (148), african american (115), dance (31)

This British site offers significant breadth and depth on nearly every aspect of poetry, especially the craft of writing poetry. Divided into beginner and advanced sections, the content accommodates a wide range of interests and experience. This is a great one!

tag(s): poetry (193), writing (324)

Students will learn a little about Langston Hughes and the events of his time in the introductory Narrative of this lesson. The lesson explores Langston Hughes' poetry, setting it as a "vehicle by which students are exposed to the African-American experience in the United States of the 1920s through the 1960s."

tag(s): poetry (193)

Explore African-American poetry and fiction in this study using a wide gamut of language arts skills integrated with social studies themes about community, family, and culture.

tag(s): poetry (193), short stories (18)