The Poetry Center is open Tuesday - Friday from 9:00 am - 5:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm.Visit

Poetry Lesson Plans

Dear Blue, Dear Opal, Dear Magenta: Writing Epistolary Poems to Every Color of the Rainbow
By: Lisa O'Neill
Literary Model:
Lesson Plan: PDF icon epistolary_poems_to_colors.pdf
Bee Lunes
By: Saraiya Kanning
Literary Model: “Intimate Detail” by Heid Erdrich
Lesson Plan: PDF icon beelunes.pdf
The Fish as Dream Bedroom
By: Benny Sisson
Literary Model: “The Fish” by Elizabeth Bishop
Lesson Plan: PDF icon the_fish_as_dream_bedroom.pdf
Rain Songs
By: Saraiya Kanning
Literary Model: “Rain” by Kazim Ali
Lesson Plan: PDF icon lesson_plan-_rain_chants.pdf
Writing a Eulogy Poem
By: Lisa O'Neill
Literary Model: Sherman Alexie's "Eulogy" Lisa O'Neill's "My Journal Was a Hiding Place"
Lesson Plan: PDF icon writingaeulogypoem-lisaoneill.pdf, PDF icon definitionsfortheday.pdf
My shoulder is shimmery, broken pieces of dust
By: Rachel Mindell, TC Tolbert
Literary Model: "Legacy" by Maurice Kenny or student example poems
Lesson Plan: PDF icon my_shoulder_is_shimmery_broken_pieces_of_dust.pdf
Metaphor Madness
By: Saraiya Kanning
Literary Model: "Words are Birds" by Francisco X. Alarcón
Lesson Plan: PDF icon metaphormadness-saraiyakanning.pdf
Witnesses of Birth: Imagining the Beginning of a Character
By: Saraiya Kanning
Literary Model: “Birth Witness” by Ofelia Zepeda
Lesson Plan: PDF icon birthwitnesslessonplan-saraiyakanning.pdf
If You Find Yourself
By: Rachel Mindell
Literary Model: "If You Find Yourself On a Houseboat" by Aimee Nezhukumatathil
Lesson Plan: PDF icon ifyoufindyourself-rachelmindell.pdf
Landscapes
By: Saraiya Kanning
Literary Model: "Detail of the Woods" by Richard Siken
Lesson Plan: PDF icon landscapes-saraiyakanning.pdf

Pages