1. Livaudais Cleveland High School
Poetry Unit
Livaudais
Cleveland High School

2. Billy Collins poem “Introduction to Poetry”
I ask them to take a poem
and hold it up to the light
like a color slide
or press an ear against its hive.
I say drop a mouse into a poem
and watch him probe his way out,
or walk inside the poem's room
and feel the walls for a light switch.
I want them to waterski
across the surface of a poem
waving at the author's name on the shore.
But all they want to do
is tie the poem to a chair with rope
and torture a confession out of it.
They begin beating it with a hose
to find out what it really means.
Discuss why students often dislike poetry and why it has been
mis-taught.
Show clip from Dead Poet’s Society:

3. Poetry Read-A-Thon
Students will choose 10 poems to read outside of the poems presented in class and then write prose “responses” to the poems they read. A response will be words and students can respond to one or two of the following elements of the poem:
images of the poem
sounds of the poem
subject(s) of the poem
emotional effect(s) of the poem
the poem’s meaning(s)
questions about the poem
questions the student would like to ask, if he/she could speak to the poet
The students keep a log of their reading. The log will include each poem’s title, author, and the date the student read the poem and presented his or her response to the teacher. The teacher will maintain a master log of all the poems read by the class. Due at the end of the unit

4. Poetry Terms Tone Symbolism Metaphor Simile Onomatopeia Alliteration
Assonance
Theme
Structure
Rhyme
Rhythm
Imagery
Allusion

5. Diving Into The Wreck
Lesson Plan with Adrienne Rich’s Diving Into the Wreck

6. The Raven and Poetical Devices
Read “The Raven” by Poe and have students highlight and label poetical devices.
Students will answer the analytical questions:
What is your reaction to this poem? What do you like/dislike about it and why?
What is the tone that is created in this poem? How does Poe use poetical devices to create this tone?
What is the theme of this poem? How does Poem use both tone and other poetical devices to create this theme?

7. Light and Dark
Group Lesson plans – discuss the symbolism of light and dark/seasons/time of day – East/West – death and dying and lifecycle
Give each small group a copy of a poem:
There’s a certain Slant of light (258) by Emily Dickinson
Acquainted with the Night by Robert Frost
Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
The Coming of Light by Mark Strand

8. Light and Dark Continued
Have students answer questions:
What jumps out at you in the poem? What do you see?
What kind of light is in the poem?
Where is the light coming from? Where does it go?
Where is the dark in the poem?
What associations are made with the light?
What associations are made with the dark?
What do you think the poem is about?
What is your evidence?
What questions do you have about the poem?
Share poems and answers with whole class.

9. Harlem Renaissance Poetry Web Quest
Partners – choose a poet and research the poet- how his life affected his poetry – write one paragraph that explains. Choose one poem that you have not already encountered in school that you really like and can explain. You will present this bio, poem, and explain the poem, its theme and poetical devices, and how the life/times impacted the theme. Only two groups can have the same poet and only if you choose different poems.
Create powerpoint or prezi with the bio and the poem and the explanation of theme with poetical devices and connection to life/times.

10. Harlem Renaissance Poets
Langston Hughes
Countee Cullen
Margaret Walker
Claude McKay
Anne Spencer
Angelina Grinke
James Weldon Johnson
Georgia Douglass Johnson

11. Robert Frost Read and Discuss “The Road Not Taken” and “Birches”
Relate to Life of an almost grown teen – choices and regret and childhood and happy places and mixed feelings

12. Modern Songs
Students bring in a copy of the lyrics of one of their favorite poems.
Why? What does it mean to you? When do you listen? What does it make you think of? Feel?
How does the song use poetical devices? (see, not scary!)