11 Poetry Lesson Plans For Middle School

middle school poetry unit

Teach your students what a poem is as well as all the important information necessary while teaching poetry, like: vocabulary, sound devices, types of poetry, figurative language, how to analyze a poem, and how to find rhyme scheme.

In this resource, you will receive a packet of graphic organizers/guided notes along with a Powerpoint lesson that teaches the following terminology:

poem, speaker, line, stanza, quatrain, couplet, cinquain, tercet, refrain, symbol, theme, mood

tone, imagery, juxtaposition, oxymoron, pun, paradox, allusion, proverb, foot, iamb, iambic pentameter, enjambment, anaphora, metonymy

simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole, irony

rhyme, rhyme scheme, slant rhyme, rhythm, meter, alliteration, consonance, assonance, onomatopoeia, repetition

narrative, lyrical, haiku, ballad, sonnet, limerick, free verse, acrostic, concrete, blank verse, blues poem, elegy, ode, prose, villanelle

Students LOVE reading and analyzing Kobe Bryant’s “Dear Basketball” Poem. In this activity, they will complete a Poem Analysis & Compare/Contrast Paired Text Activity. The paired text students will look at is Michael Jordan’s 2003 Retirement Letter, also titled “Dear Basketball.”

In 2015, Bryant announced his retirement through “Player’s Tribune” in a poem titled “Dear Basketball.” In the poem, Bryant shares his love for the sport with the world. Bryant later earned an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for “Dear Basketball” in 2018.

Included in this lesson:

nothing gold can stay

This lesson is a poem analysis of “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost. This is a perfect side activity for the novel The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton!

This activity also works if you are looking just to teach about the poem itself. Your students don’t have to be reading The Outsiders.

In Chapter 5 of The Outsiders, Ponyboy recites the poem “Nothing Gold Can Stay.” This poem plays a major role in the novel as it represents the universal message to stay gold and stay pure. Have your students analyze the poem and build their comprehension; it will make analyzing the theme of the book much easier later on! The poem analysis will touch on important literary elements such as: rhyme scheme, tone, theme, metaphor, alliteration, allusion, imagery, and personification.

To enhance their learning and make the lesson more engaging, students will also study a poem with a similar theme. Students will listen to the Bob Dylan song, answer the questions, analyze the lyrics, and then compare and contrast the themes present in both texts.

out out robert frost

In this Poem Analysis and TDA Essay (Text Dependent Analysis), students will first read and answer questions for the poem “Out Out—” by Robert Frost. Students will then write a TDA based on themes and figurative language in the poem.

In this lesson plan:

Writing Poetry — Haiku, Concrete, Acrostic, Limerick, Free Verse (Middle School)

Students will write their own original poems with this lesson and activity created for middle school students (6th, 7th, 8th, or 9th grade).

Make writing poetry fun for students by giving them choice! Students will first learn about five different types of poems. Then, they will choose 3 of the 5 poems they’d like to write. Students will write their rough drafts in a packet, and then finalize their work on blank pieces of paper which result in beautiful wall art for your room.

In this ELA resource, you will receive:

Teach your students all about Blackout Poetry with this fun lesson and activity!

In this resource, you will receive:

middle school poetry packet

This Poetry Packet includes 5 Poems your students will read and analyze. The poems included are suggested for a Middle School Poetry Unit: 7th, 8th or 9th Grade ELA.

This packet is a wonderful tool because you can have students complete the analyses of the poems in a variety of ways: whole-class, independently and/or collaboratively.

The poems included in this packet are:

In this packet, students will work on poetry skills such as: rhyme scheme, rhyme, allusion, imagery, assonance, consonance, alliteration, hyperbole, theme, tone, mood, author’s purpose, personification, and connotation.

Assign your students a one pager poetry analysis project and have your students share their understanding of ANY POEM by imaginatively blending their written ideas with colorful images from the text. You can pick one poem for your whole class to use or have all your students pick their own individual poems! Students’ artwork make for unique and creative analyses of the literature and also make great bulletin boards!

Included in this purchase is:

Students are encouraged to include several of these literary devices, poetic devices (sound devices), and figurative language elements into their final projects: metaphor, simile, personification, hyperbole, imagery, pun, oxymoron, paradox, idiom, allusion, symbolism , assonance, consonance, alliteration, anaphora, rhyme, rhyme scheme, repetition, onomatopoeia, cacophony, mood, tone, and theme.

This resource includes a Poetry Assessment for upper middle school students (7th, 8th, or 9th grade ELA). You will receive a printable PDF copy as well as an EDITABLE word document in case you would like to make modifications. A detailed answer key is also included!

The format of this test includes:

(35 questions in total)

The Poetry Test covers the following terms: