Latest Lesson Plans
What’s in a Name? Finding Hidden Pictures in the Letters of the Alphabet
This is a fun out-of-the-box exercise by Frank Ingrasciotta in which we visualize and describe the letters of the alphabet…
Teachers & Writers #BlackLivesMatter Reading List
Collectively, all over the country and world, we are seeing the effects of what happens when we come together in…
Investigation Poetry
In this lesson, read William Blake's "Tyger" poem, experiment with ekphrasis poetry and dive into writing descriptive poems with questions,…
I Remember
Here's an imaginative writing lesson to follow up on your WOWT "Delight Songs" poems. Write lyric "list poems" and use…
Teachers & Writers #BlackLivesMatter Reading List
Collectively, all over the country and world, we are seeing the effects of what happens when we come together in the name of justice. The death of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Nina Pop and so many others has sparked an unprecedented outcry for anti-racist structural change and a complete end to police violence against Black…
Investigation Poetry
In this lesson, read William Blake’s “Tyger” poem, experiment with ekphrasis poetry and dive into writing descriptive poems with questions, about an object of your choice!
Knowledge that Speaks in Difficult Times: An Interview with Sharon Mesmer
Read this interview with Sharon Mesmer by Talia Aharoni about her forthcoming poetry manuscript, teaching international poetry and how AWP led her to Latin American women poets and translation.
I Remember
Here’s an imaginative writing lesson to follow up on your WOWT “Delight Songs” poems. Write lyric “list poems” and use anaphora with the help of Joe Brainard’s “I Remember”.
Educating the Imagination: Colson Whitehead Interviewed by Matthew Sharpe
This article previously appeared in Teachers & Writers Magazine, Volume 34, Issue Number 3, Jan-Feb 2003.
Three Words Away a Poem Awaits
Teacher Joanna Fox writes about her experience using typewriters to excite her poetry students and to engage them in generative writing and the power of language.
Letters to a Young Writer
Anne Waldman writes inspiring and insightful advice to young poets about developing their craft and connection to poetry.
Recipe Poems
This lesson introduces the concept of metaphor by inviting young writers to create recipes for abstract things in life.
The Braver We Become: An Interview with Elizabeth Acevedo
Poet and best selling author Elizabeth Acevedo talks with T&W writer Matthew Burgess about her journey with writing, education and teaching.
Free Verse: An Interview with Dave Johnson
An interview with Free Verse founder, Dave Johnson who for the past ten years has used poetry to transform probation offices across New York City into artist spaces filled with street art, poetry workshops and open mics!