-
-
-
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,…
-
“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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Beat the Winter Blahs with Holiday Lipogram Poetry
Created by Betsy Potash of Spark Creativity This guest post is written by Betsy Potash of Spark Creativity. Looking for a fun holiday pop-up poetry workshop you can try this December? How about challenging students with the hilarious, fun intricacies of a lipogram?! Melissa (you know, the founder of this site!) first shared this idea with me last year and…
-
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…
-
March Madness Poetry Bracket
Note: This bracket is from last year. For those who already used this bracket, I will be posting a whole new bracket with new poems in early March 2024! I love using students’ interests in one thing (March Madness) to get them excited about another thing (poetry). Lessons like Poetry and Basketball inspired by Ja Morant and the NBA All-Stars…
-
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…
-
In Honor of Women: Hip Hop Verse, Poetry, & Performance
This generative activity celebrates the women in our lives and comes to us at perfect timing – Black History Month and Valentine’s Day. Next month is Women’s History Month – also perfect! This lesson includes an engaging writing prompt and mentor texts by Tupac, Common, Talib Kweli, and Cleveland Winfield himself!
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
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…
-
Poetry as Service Learning
My seniors visited our district’s elementary school to teach a poetry workshop and it was awesome! Our school’s motto is “Learn, Lead, and Serve,” and I can’t think of a better opportunity for our students to live our motto and serve as role models in our school community. How It Went Down Two groups of upperclassmen, each with about 5…
-
#TeachLivingPoets Favorites for National Poetry Month
To celebrate National Poetry Month, I want to share some of my favorite #TeachLivingPoets lessons, prompts, resources, and poems. And, as I always say, I encourage you to find your own favorites — who jives the best with your community of students and with you as an educator and reader. Favorite lessons I love doing this lesson created by Jessica…
-
Reading visual texts with “The Call,” the Super Bowl halftime show trailer
Okay, so I know this isn’t exactly poetry, but isn’t it? What even is poetry? Can a visual or a commercial be considered a poem? Whether you think so or not, this lesson offers students an opportunity to practice the skills of close-reading and formulating insights and analysis using a highly engaging and currently relevant visual text: the Super Bowl…
