53 High School Poems: Literary Analysis, Poetry Close Reading, ELA Lesson Plans

Want to be done planning your high school poetry lessons for the rest of your career?

A collection of close reading and discussion questions, activities, and writing prompts on 53 poems that I have taught multiple times over the years, this bundle will provide you with over three months of rigorous, engaging and ready-to-go lessons to teach your students to analyze poetry on their own. The worksheets included here are great choices for supplementing a thematic unit, for adding more voices and perspectives to your unit on a novel or play, or for a substitute plan.

The variety of materials, real-life connections, and innovative approaches to the information will keep students engaged and excited about learning. Additionally, the concrete text-based questions and unique sources discourage cheating, encourage students to answer for themselves, and help students to truly comprehend how poetic elements function to create meaning.

Every lesson contains questions for close reading and discussion, answer keys, freewrite prompts and suggestions for creative interactive notebook activities, and ideas for assessment. In all, there are over 100 engaging and thought-proving freewrite prompts to get your students past writer’s block and writing freely.

All of the answer keys quote the important passages, so there is no guessing on your part as to which parts of the poems are most important. When you discuss the questions with your classes, you can point them to the sections to make sure that they are engaging with the poetry and working to interpret the sometimes challenging language.

With 10 different suggestions for assessment including essays, projects, slam poetry performances, and quizzes with rubrics and guides, you will have plenty to chose from—and you won’t get bored grading student work.

There are no lectures or power points here—students will do the work themselves, with guidance from their teacher. Rather than telling them what the poems mean, you will be empowering them with the confidence and skills to tackle a poem on their own.

***This is a growing bundle, which means that you will get any additions for free.***

Poems Covered:

“To My Dear and Loving Husband” by Anne Bradstreet

“Verses upon the Burning of our House, July 18th, 1666” by Anne Bradstreet

“Sonnet 18 [Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer Day]” by William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 73 [That Time of Year Though Mayest in Me Behold]” by William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 130, [My Mistress’ Eyes Are Nothing Like the Sun]” by William Shakespeare

“Sonnet 138, [When My Love Swears that She is Made of Truth]” by William Shakespeare

“Much Madness is Divinest Sense” by Emily Dickinson

“This is My Letter to the World” by Emily Dickinson

“When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer” by Walt Whitman

"I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman

“Kubla Kahn” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley

"I ,Too” by Langston Hughes

“Let America Be America Again” by Langston Hughes

"Harlem" (also known as "Dreams" or "A Dream Deferred") by Langston Hughes

“Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes

“Theme for English B” by Langston Hughes

“Sonnet to a Negro in Harlem” by Helene Johnson

"We Were the Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar

“If We Must Die” by Claude Mckay

“If and When Dreams Come True” by W.S. Mark

“Richard Cory” by Edwin Arlington Robinson

“The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus

"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost

“Do Not Go Gentle into That Goodnight” by Dylan Thomas

“Sonnet: The Ladies Home Journal” by Sandra Gilbert

“The Tropics of New York” by Claude McKay

“A Supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg

“Elena” by Pat Mora

“La Migra” by Pat Mora

“Postcard from Kashmir” by Agha Shahid Ali

“My Uncle’s Favorite Coffee Shop” by Naomi Shihab Nye

“The Island Within” by Richard Blanco

“We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks

“Prospective Immigrants Please Note” by Adrienne Rich

“Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich

“The Victims” by Sharon Olds

"Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde

“The Birthday of the World” by Marge Piercy

"2000 lbs." by Brian Turner

"Hurt Locker" by Brian Turner

"Eulogy" by Brian Turner

“The Trail of Tears: Our Removal” by Linda Hogan

“Busted Boy” by Simon Ortiz

“Postcard from Kashmir” by Agha Shahid Ali

"Half-Hanged Mary" by Margaret Atwood

“Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood

“Mama” by Emtithal Mahmoud

“Head Over Heels” by Emtithal Mahmoud

“You Have a Big Imagination or 400,000 Ways to Cry” by Emtithal Mahmoud

“The Writer” by Richard Wilbur

“38” by Layli Long Soldier

“Elegy for Mike Brown” by Danez Smith

The following units are all included at a significant discount when you purchase this bundle:

Poetic Devices | Elements of Poetry | Poetic Elements | Poetry Activities (normally priced at $7.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Poetry Unit: Close Reading & Literary Analysis Introduction | Poetry Activities (normally priced at $6.99) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Shakespeare Sonnet 18 | Sonnet 130 | Sonnet 73 | Love Metaphor Unit (normally priced at $6.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

"We Real Cool" Gwendolyn Brooks & Popular Music | Analyzing Unintended Messages (normally priced at $2.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

William Shakespeare Sonnet 138 and Dorothy Parker Poetry Lesson: Love and Lies (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Robert Frost: The Road Not Taken | Questions for Close Reading and Analysis (normally priced at $1.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

"Half-Hanged Mary" poem by Margaret Atwood | Questions | Lesson Plan (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

"Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde | Poetry Lesson | Close Reading (normally priced at $1.47) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Sharon Olds' Poem "The Victims" | Poetry Lesson: Family, Divorce, Point of View (normally priced at $1.47) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Margaret Atwood "Siren Song" | Poetry Lesson: Gender Studies, Classical Allusion (normally priced at $1.47) The full priced version of this resource is here

Naomi Shihab Nye, Claude McKay, Richard Blanco: Immigration Poetry Lesson (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Contemporary War Poetry Lesson | Brian Turner | Videos & Close Reading Questions (normally priced at $2.99) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Growth Mindset Lesson Plan | Poetry | "Invictus" | Growth Mindset Poems (normally priced at $2.99) The full priced version of this resource is g here.

"Richard Cory" & "If and When Dreams Come True” | The Great Gatsby Poetry Unit (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Poetry Analysis Lesson: Tradition, Consumerism, and the Search for the Self (normally priced at $2.99) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Pat Mora: Immigration & The American Dream | Poetry Lesson | Questions (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Shakespeare: Sonnet 73 & Dylan Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night (normally priced at $2.99). The full priced version of this resource is here.

Samuel Taylor Coleridge's Kubla Khan: Dreams, Drugs, and Inspiration | Lesson (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is g here.

"Let America Be America Again," Langston Hughes | Creative Writing | Questions (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Creative Writing, Diction, Tone, & Satire in Poetry: William Carlos Williams (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Emma Lazarus "The New Colossus" & Adrienne Rich: Poetry Lesson on Immigration (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Adrienne Rich "Diving Into The Wreck" | Poetry Lesson to Teach Close Reading (normally priced at $1.47) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Harlem Renaissance Poetry Unit: Race & the American Dream | A Dream Deferred (normally priced at $3.99) The full priced version of this resource is here.

"I Hear America Singing," Whitman & “I, Too," Hughes | Questions (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Anne Bradstreet Puritan Poetry Lesson | Upon the Burning of Our House | Handouts (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Marge Piercy Poem Lesson | Rosh Hashanah | Activities | Close Reading (normally priced at $1.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Slam Poetry Unit: Poetry Activities, Poetry Writing, Genocide Literature (normally priced at $6.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

"Annabel Lee" Edgar Allan Poe Activities | Poetry Unit Plan | Poetry Lesson (normally priced at $3.97) The full priced version of this resource is here.

Langston Hughes Poem | Harlem Renaissance | Theme for English B (normally priced at $2.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

Claude McKay Poem: If We Must Die | Harlem Renaissance Poetry Unit (normally priced at $2.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

“Busted Boy” by Simon Ortiz | Native American Literature | Native Poem (normally priced at $1.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

“Mother to Son” | Langston Hughes | Figurative Language | Google Classroom (normally priced at $1.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

Native American Unit on Dakota 38 | Native American Literature & Primary Sources (normally priced at $3.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

Black Lives Matter Distance Learning Google Classroom: Poetry Analysis (normally priced at $2.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.

Trail of Tears Unit | Native American Literature | Indian Removal Unit (normally priced at $3.97). The full priced version of this resource is here.