Latest Lesson Plans
How is THAT a Poem? Winning Over Skeptical Students with E. E. Cummings
Laura Wheatman Hill shares ideas to intrigue students with E. E. Cummings' poem "l(a...(a leaf falls on loneliness)" and teaches…
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,…
Twenty-four Poets Keep Their Third Eyes Open
This article discusses how teaching artist Matthew Brailas teaches fourth grade students a wide range of literary devices through a fun activity called the “Third Eye Experiment.”
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 as pictures then write poems that riff on these pictures using the letters of our own names. The lesson works especially well for visual spatial learners and reinforces those skills for other young writers.
A Students’ Journey Through Literary Submissions
A teacher describes how she encouraged a gifted student to begin publishing their work in a literary journal.
The Writer as Activist
Writers and Teaching Artists came together to answer questions around the writer and educator’s responsibility towards current political movements in the U.S.
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.