Introduction to Poetry - Whole Unit - Over 20 Poems!

Corresponding PowerPoint Presentation Saved to Google Drive!

Daily Step by Step Lesson Plans

Perfect for Distance Learning or Printable Packets

Poetry allows for a unique format of written word that can be accessed on a variety of

planes. As such, it allows us as teachers to correct that false notion that many students hold toward reading: it's boring. Over the course of my years, I have told many students that if reading is boring, they are doing it wrong. It was with that idea in mind that I created this four week Poetry unit.

Here, I have gathered poems that I believe students can not find boring. I have thrown the literary canon to the side and dug for poems that spark interest and thought. The goal in choosing texts was to find diverse voices that jump off the page.

This unit allows teachers to scaffold each poem for diverse learners in a student centered classroom. Some poems are meant to be dissected over the course of days while others are one page print and go worksheets. For example, Still I Rose has been formatted into task cards while Stoppinf by the woods on a Snowy Eve has Been formatted for illustration. Follow the lesson plans or create your own plan!

Documents Include:

• PowerPoint guide
• poetic devices note sheet
• Song analysis writing assignment

Primary readings:

• Ozymandias by Percy Shelley
• I'm nobody! Who are you? by Emily Dickinson
• Ten Things I Hate About You
• The Eagle by Alfred Lord Tennyson
• Still I Rise by Maya Angelou
• Harlem & Dreams by Langston Hughes
• The Sound of Silence by Paul Simon

Supplemental Readings include:

• The Mending Wall by Robert Frost
• Annabel Lee by Edgar Allen Poe
• Oranges by Gary Soto
• Zombie by Delores Mary O'Riordan
• Lift Every Voice and Sing by James Weldon Johnson
• Women by Alice Walker
• A Stone is Nobody by Russel Edson

Assessment Readings:

• Petit the Poet by Edgar Lee Masters
• On Aging by Maya Angelou
• Wynken, Blynken and Nod by Eugene Field

Google Drive Linked Documents:

• Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening by Robert Frost
• Shipping Label Annotation Guide
• The Lesson of the Moth by Don Marquis
• The River Merchant's Wife by Li Po (Translated by Ezra Pound)
• There's no Frigate like a book by Emily Dickinson
• Fire and Ice by Robert Frost
• Coming from Kansas by Myra Cohn Livingston

For the first few days, students will work in a whole group setting with the teacher to uncover the layers of poetry via an interactive PowerPoint. Students will be asked to read and annotate the poetry following six steps to reading poetry that can be seen in the preview on page two. Activities also include quick-write, WebQuest, group poetry circles, and a culminating essay assignment.

The lesson plans are written out in such a way that even a sub could follow them! All resources are included or linked within the text.