Latest Lesson Plans
Multilingual Approaches Toward English Prose
2022 Bechtel Prize Winner Shilpi Suneja's students make language their subject. "The dominance of English is a lie we tell…
Voilà! Raising Spirits and Conjuring Magic in the Poetry Classroom
There is something about that word, voilà, at the start of the poem that generates a little magic.
Birthing Poetry: A Window into “The Poetry Studio” and the new collection, Another World: Poetry and Art by Young People
Poet Ann Gengarelly shares experiences from her work in "The Poetry Studio" where students found inspiration in nature.
Mixing It Up with Dickinson: Two High School Poetry Workshops
Poet Terry Blackhawk introduces students to Dickinson's lack of orthodoxy, worship of nature, and independence.
Mixing It Up with Dickinson: Two High School Poetry Workshops
Poet Terry Blackhawk introduces students to Dickinson’s lack of orthodoxy, worship of nature, and independence.
Nature’s Wonder: Finding Creativity and Connecting Writing to the Natural World
In a poetry writing activity inspired by nature, students find connection and community.
Reading and Critiquing Trauma Memoirs
“Her words and experiences triggered me over and over again. I wasn’t ready to face my own demons. How could I possibly read and critique a memoir about hers?”
Serious Lightness: A Profile of Teaching Artist Joanna Fuhrman
“When you are teaching creative writing, you always get students to start with the idea that a poem creates a picture with words. It doesn’t only have to be a picture you see; it also can be something you smell and hear and taste. A poem is an experience of the world. That is true no matter what grade a student is in.”
You Never Forget Your Firsts: Making Memories Vividly Present with Mary Kinzie’s “First Passion”
This lesson plan based on “First Passion” by Mary Kinzie asks students to play with spacing and punctuation to create poetic effects.
It Was the Year of Quiet Cities: Writing Poems about Pandemic Times
Sometimes life is so strange we need fantastic language to describe it. Students explore the surreal in this lesson plan inspired by Joanna Fuhrmann’s poem “The Year of Yellow Butterflies.”
YOU ARE WHO WE LOVE: A Lesson Plan for Collaborative Poems Inspired by Aracelis Girmay
Aracelis Girmay’s poem “You Are Who I Love” becomes inspiration for a collaborative poem lesson plan.
The Beauty of the Snail and the Blinking Rain: A Conversation with Aracelis Girmay about Poetry, Teaching, and Picture Books
Born and raised in Santa Ana, California, Aracelis Girmay earned a BA at Connecticut College and an MFA from New York University. Her poetry collections include Teeth (2007), Kingdom Animalia (2011), and the black maria (2016), as well as collage-based picture book changing, changing (2005). Aracelis is the editor of How to Carry Water: Selected…
The B+ Student: On Balance, Brevity, and Powder Days
Everybody thinks teachers want all their students to get As. And, of course, we are happy when they do. But as a human being who is also a teacher, you can’t help but hope for more for your students.
Giving the Writer Permission to Play: An Essay in Four Acts
By Judith Chriqui Benchimol ACT I When my sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Fine assigned an essay on Guy de Maupassant’s short story “The Necklace,” I panicked. I didn’t understand the essay prompt or know how to structure my response to her questions. I couldn’t think the way Mrs. Fine wanted me to think. I wrote in…