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Word Scramble Poem
Today’s prompt is inspired by Angelo Geter, AKA EyeAmBic, the Poet Laureate Emeritus of Rock Hill, SC. Before we dive in to the lesson, I want to share a couple of my favorite poems of his. In his collection More God Than Dead, he chronicles his journey into widowhood after tragically losing his wife, and deals with themes of grief,…
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“Do Us Good” by Amanda Gorman, a poem inspired by Wicked
You know me — when a new Amanda Gorman poem drops, I get excited! With the premier of the Wicked movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande, Gorman unveiled her newest masterpiece inspired by the film, “Do Us Good.” Your students do not need to have seen the movie to be able to appreciate Gorman’s poem. This poem speaks to…
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Poetry paint swatches
This post is written by fellow LNC teacher Jessie Locke, who teaches 8th grade ELA. She is a graduate of Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), is in her 18th year of teaching, and is a National Board Certified Teacher. She taught elementary school for 8 years, and has been in 8th grade since 2014. I can’t wait for my own children…
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Poetry Blog Exchange
Student choice. Genuine investment. Low-stakes writing practice. Poetry analysis. Digital citizenship. Personal engagement. Empowering student voice. A few years ago in the nascence of #TeachLivingPoets, I (Melissa) was brainstorming ways to get students invested in not just poetry, but poets. Reading individual poems wasn’t offering the kind of long-term appreciation I was hoping to nurture. At the time, I was starting my…
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NEW! March Madness Poetry Bracket 2024
I love using students’ interests in one thing (March Madness) to get them excited about another thing (poetry). Lessons like this visual reading lesson inspired by the the Super Bowl LVI half-time show is one of my most visited #TeachLivingPoets posts. My March Madness poetry bracket last year was a huge success, but I wanted to make an updated one…
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Shoe Design as Poetry Analysis
When I get an out-of-the box idea for a poetry analysis lesson, chances are it’s inspired by my son, like this basketball-NASCAR mash-up with a Hanif Abdurraqib poem. The other day, my son asked for a pair of “nice shoes” for his birthday, and we got to talking about what he would want them to look like. Two things came…
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Poetry in the Makerspace
This post is written by Jenny Bruesewitz, a high school turned middle school English teacher in Bay Village, Ohio. Jenny presented about ELA and the Makerspace at NCTE 2023 and OCTELA 2024 (Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts). The #teachlivingpoets tone bottle activity changed my classroom. The creation process resulted in great discussion and a visible representation of…
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Poetry Portfolios: Teaching Poetry “From the Inside Out”
This post is written by Zach Czaia, a poet and high school English teacher working in Minneapolis, MN. His second poetry collection, Knucklehead, was published in 2021 with Nodin Press. Check out his Substack, “Teacher / Poet” here. The longer I teach English literature, the more convinced I am that to do justice both to the subject I teach and the…
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How Food Invokes Poetry – the miracle of abundance
By Kashiana Singh This post is written by Kashiana Singh. When Singh is not writing, she lives to embody her TEDx talk theme of Work as Worship into her every day. Her chapbook Crushed Anthills by Yavanika Press is a loco poetic journey through 10 cities. Her second full-length collection, Woman by the Door was released in 2022 with Apprentice…
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Exploring structure in Hanif Abdurraqib’s poem “It Is Maybe Time to Admit That Michael Jordan Definitely Pushed Off”
This lesson will get your students up and moving! Hanif Abdurraqib is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His poetry has been published in Muzzle, Vinyl, PEN American, and various other journals. His essays and music criticism have been published in The FADER, Pitchfork, The New Yorker, and The New York Times. His first full length poetry…
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Words for the People – a teaching unit for the podcast hosted by Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate
This lesson was created by Jessica Salfia from Spring Mills High School, Martinsburg West Virginia. This unit is made possible by the Academy of American Poets with funds from the Mellon Foundation. Hosted by Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate, each Words for the People NPR podcast episode features an established writer and an emerging writer, sharing their wisdom to help you free…
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Poetry Analysis Using Color
This activity can be used with any poem and at any grade level — high school, middle school, even elementary school. To get students in the right headspace for this kind of analysis, we brainstorm the connections between colors and feelings, we consider our personal associations with certain colors, and we discuss how color can be used to tell a…
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Poetry Literature Circles
This post is brought to you by Zach Czaia, a poet and high school English teacher working in Minneapolis, MN. His second poetry collection, Knucklehead, was published in 2021 with Nodin Press. Check out his poetry podcast, Open Your Hands on Spotify or Google Podcasts or follow him on social media @czaiazach. Some Notes on Literature Circles & Poetry Collections…
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Tribute Poem: “SESTINA” by Porsha Olayiwola
Anytime I can find ways to combine poetry and basketball, I jump on it. Today’s lesson uses a poem by Boston Poet Laureate Porsha Olayiwola read at a ceremony honoring the late Bill Russell at the Celtics opening of the 2022-23 season against the 76ers. Skills of focus for the lesson: Sample slides: This lesson is appropriate for middle and…
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3 Poems by U.S. Poet Laureate Ada Limón
“We find it hard to settle our brains down, and poetry offers us that silence, that quiet space, and allows us to reconnect with ourselves, with an idea, or with an emotion.” Ada Limón Ada Limón is the 24th U.S. Poet Laureate and the 1st Latina to hold the position. Her work has also won the National Books Critics Circle Award and…
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Teaching Unit for Lauren K. Alleyne’s Honeyfish
This 10-day unit is created by Brian Hannon, Director of Secondary Curriculum for LMSvoice. He currently teaches AP Literature , AP Language , and Team-Taught English 11 in Alexandria, Virginia. Brian was the co-founder of the poetryN.O.W., and through his involvement with this organization, Brian went on to found the two largest youth poetry events in his area, the Hyper Bole and…
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Teaching Unit for Sand Opera by Philip Metres
Philip Metres is the author of ten books, including Shrapnel Maps (Copper Canyon, 2020), The Sound of Listening: Poetry as Refuge and Resistance (University of Michigan, 2018), Pictures at an Exhibition (University of Akron, 2016), Sand Opera (Alice James, 2015), and I Burned at the Feast: Selected Poems of Arseny Tarkovsky (Cleveland State, 2015). His work—poetry, translation, essays, fiction, criticism, and scholarship—has garnered fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Lannan…
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Teaching Finna by Nate Marshall
This 10-day unit is created by Brian Hannon, Director of Secondary Curriculum for LMSvoice. He currently teaches AP Literature , AP Language , and Team-Taught English 11 in Alexandria, Virginia. Brian was the co-founder of the poetryN.O.W., and through his involvement with this organization, Brian went on to found the two largest youth poetry events in his area, the Hyper…
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Color poem: pop-up poetry to get students thinking like a poet
My personal education goal this year is to incorporate more creative writing opportunities into my core English classes. In American Literature, my juniors had just learned about the symbolism of the green light so the timing was perfect to pause for a moment of creative expression. This activity can be done with ANY color and with any book that uses…
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Teaching Perfect Black by Crystal Wilkinson
This lesson was created by Jessica Salfia and Karla Hilliard from Spring Mills High School, Martinsburg West Virginia. Crystal Wilkinson, Kentucky’s Poet Laureate, is the award-winning author of Perfect Black, The Birds of Opulence , Water Street and Blackberries, Blackberries. She is the recipient of a 2021 O. Henry Prize, a 2020 USA Artists Fellowship, and a 2016 Ernest J….
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Teaching “White Lies” by Tara Betts
This lesson was created by Brian Hannon, who is the Director of Education at LMSvoice, and teaches at Hayfield Secondary School in Alexandria, Virginia. Tara Betts is the author of Break the Habit (Trio House Press, 2016) and the chapbook 7 x 7: kwansabas (Backbone Press, 2015). She is the Poetry Editor at The Langston Hughes Review and Founder of WhirlwindCenter. Betts is Poet…
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Hyperdoc for Rudy Francisco
Today’s post comes from guest author Kelly Lawlor. Kelly is a high school English teacher with 10 years experience teaching grades 7-12. She started her career in Pennsylvania where she graduated from college. Currently, she lives in Massachusetts with her family and 75lb. boxer. Kelly does her best to support, encourage, and challenge students through different hands-on learning opportunities. She…
