poetry booklet assignment

• Skip to right header navigation
• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar

15 Fun Poetry Activities for High School

April 8, 2019 //  by  Lindsay Ann //   3 Comments

Sharing is caring!

High School Students + Fun Poetry Activities

If you’re an English teacher, looking for fun poetry activities for high school or middle school students, I’ve got you covered. I’m opening up my poetry toolbox and sharing some of my favorite (and most successful) poetry games and activities!  Whether you’re looking for a stand-alone lesson or something more, there’s something here for everyone.

Pop Sonnets

The creation of pop sonnets is one of my favorite poetry activities to use in conjunction with the reading of a Shakespearean play, but it can be used as a stand-alone lesson. The hook is that modern-day songs have been turned into Shakespearean sonnets. You can study one of Shakespeare’s sonnets and ask students to modernize it. Then, work in reverse by re-working a modern-day song as a sonnet. Or, just use this as a “hook” to help students feel more comfortable with Shakespearean language.   Take a look and thank me later.

Songs as Poetry

Studying modern-day songs is a great way to teach about figurative language and poetic devices while studying poetry. Try reading the lyrics, but omitting or re-writing the metaphors and talking about the change in message/meaning. Look for examples of imperfect rhyme in one of Eminem’s cleaner songs. Study poems as paired texts . Analyze lines from a famous soundtrack. Ask students to bring in their favorite songs and discuss. So. Many. Options!

Here are 12 great songs to analyze if you aren’t sure where to start:

• “Across the Universe” by the Beatles
• “Angel” by Sarah McLachlan
• “Blank Space” by Taylor Swift
• “Chasing Pavements” by Adele
• “Infinity” by Mariah Carey
• “Stereo Hearts” by Gym Class Heroes
• “Counting Stars” by One Republic
• “It’s Time” by Imagine Dragons
• “Imagine” by John Lennon
• “Mad World” by Gary Jules
• “Zombie” by The Cranberries
• “Letter to Me” by Brad Paisley

Slam Poetry

Students need to know that poetry is not dead. It’s living. It’s breathing. It’s storytelling. It’s cool. In April, my classes come alive with the magic of slam poetry as students become authors and performers. They re-discover wonder and learn to let down their guard. They learn that there is intersectionality between their story and the stories of others. They are appreciated. They appreciate others. When I use this fun poetry activity for high school students , my classroom really becomes a true community.

Grab my slam poetry “mini” unit to get your students started with slam poetry!

Not sure which slam poems are school-appropriate and engaging? Here are 40 of my favorite slam poems !

Paint Chip Poetry

This poetry writing activity is FREE if you’re willing to grab some paint chips from your local hardware store, preferably ones with multiple colors in one. Or, Amazon sells an awesome paint chip poetry “game.”

• Have students use one of the color names as the title for a poem.
• Have students write poems in stanzas, using each of the color names as inspiration.
• Have students use all of the color names somewhere in a poem.
• Have students choose two contrasting colors and make a poem of contrasts.
• Have students choose two complimentary colors and make a poem.
• Have students choose a color and write an identity poem.

Blackout Poetry

This is an oldie, but goodie poetry writing exercise for high school students. Copy a page or two from a whole class novel. Or better yet, choose a completely divergent text, maybe a science textbook or page from a dictionary. Students string together words on the page to form a poem, and black-out the rest of the words. If they want to go above and beyond, they can create an original illustration to accompany their blackout poem.

Book Spine Poetry

Take your students to the library (or have them browse a site like Goodreads) and challenge them to create poems from book titles. Each title becomes a line in the poem. An optional challenge: have students choose (or randomly draw) a theme, and their poem has to relate to their chosen theme. If you’re looking for some FREE templates, I’ve got you covered: Click Here !  I created these templates as a quick fun poetry activity for high school sophomores after my librarian told me that having my classes pull so many books would be a pain to re-shelve.

Poetry Tasting

A lot of teachers are loving my reading progressive dinner stations . Poems are short and accessible texts that always rock when used with this activity.

Here are some options for poetry stations, a fun group poetry activity: 

• Choose a certain kind of poem or a certain poetic movement to explore at ALL the stations, i.e. the ghazal or Imagist poetry.
• Choose different kinds of poems or movements to explore at each station.
• Choose poems related to ONE thematic idea.
• Choose poems written by teenagers.
• Choose “famous” poems.
• Choose slam poems.

Poetry Transformations

If you’re studying word choice and tone in poetry, why not have students transform a poem, switching from one tone to another? Then, have students write a reflection analyzing why they made 4-5 important changes.

Found Poems

This poetry activity is exactly what it sounds like. Have students choose / cut-out words from magazines to form “found” poems. Or, have students listen to a TED talk or story, writing down a certain # of words they hear. Then, ask them to use these words + ones of their own to write an original poem.

Easter Egg Poems

If ’tis the season, you might as well use those plastic easter eggs you may have lying around. Put “poetry inspiration” in each egg. At the very least, I suggest a word or phrase. If you want to go “all-in,” create a combination of the items below:

• Random household objects, i.e. a piece of string, a bead
• Newspaper/magazine clippings
• Words/phrases
• Famous first lines
• A “mentor” poem, copied and folded up

Tell students that their challenge is to write a poem inspired by these objects. Or, if you prefer, have students incorporate words / ideas from each object in their poem.

Favorite Poem Project

If you’ve never seen the site “ Favorite Poem Project ,” I suggest checking it out as a poetry unit resource. The site’s goal is to interview a variety of different people about their “favorite poems.” In each short video, an individual shares a personal connection to his/her poem and reads the poem out loud.

After being a fan of this site for some time, I decided to have my students make their own “favorite poem” videos . They explored, chose a poem that they liked “best,” and created videos on Flipgrid discussing their thoughts about the poem and reading it aloud. These videos were then viewed by classmates. Everyone enjoyed this a lot!

Metaphor Dice

Poems as Mentor Texts

Using mentor texts for writing is a powerful strategy for poetry instruction, yet one that I find myself “skipping” because there isn’t time. I have to remind myself to “make” the time because it’s important. If we’re going to spend time analyzing texts, it only makes sense to have students try to use those writing moves in their own writing. After all, students should be writing frequently, and not always for an assessment grade.

Here are 12 great mentor poems if you’re not sure where to start:

• “ We Real Cool ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• “ Montauk ” by Sarah Kay
• “ This is Just to Say ” by William Carlos Williams
• “ Mother to Son ” by Langston Hughes
• “ My Father’s Hats ” by Mark Irwin
• “ Chicago ” by Carl Sandburg
• “ Entrance ” by Dana Gioia
• “ My Father is an Oyster ” by Clint Smith
• “ If ” by Rudyard Kipling
• “ Ode to a Large Tuna in the Market ” by Pablo Neruda
• “ The Bean Eaters ” by Gwendolyn Brooks
• “ The Summer I Was Sixteen ” by Geraldine Connolly
• “ Where I’m From ” by George Ella Lyon (As a bonus, students can submit their poems to the “I am From” project. ) p.s. If you’re looking for ready-to-use templates,  here you go !

Magnetic Poetry

A fun activity to fill extra class time, or just for fun: magnetic poetry . Give each student (or pairs of students) a handful of magnetic poetry pieces. See what they come up with. Take pictures and display around the room.

Interactive Poetry Bulletin Board

Sort of like magnetic poetry, but with a twist, it’s fun to set-up an interactive bulletin board as a fun poetry activity for high school students to try before or after class. You can do this in several different ways.

• Poem of the day + a “feel-o-meter” for students to rate the poem on a scale from “mild sauce” to “hot sauce.” You can have students use push pins to vote.
• Large scale magnetic poetry + a bulletin board becomes “push pin poetry.” You choose the words. Students move them around to form poems.

Hey, if you loved this post, I want to be sure you’ve had the chance to grab a FREE copy of my guide to stream l ined grading . I know how hard it is to do all the things as an English teacher, so I’m over the moon to be able to share with you some of my best strategies for reducing the grading overwhelm. 

Click on the link above or the image below to get started!

About Lindsay Ann

Lindsay has been teaching high school English in the burbs of Chicago for 19 years. She is passionate about helping English teachers find balance in their lives and teaching practice through practical feedback strategies and student-led learning strategies. She also geeks out about literary analysis, inquiry-based learning, and classroom technology integration. When Lindsay is not teaching, she enjoys playing with her two kids, running, and getting lost in a good book.

Related Posts

You may be interested in these posts from the same category.

Common Lit Curriculum: An Honest Review

Incorporating Media Analysis in English Language Arts Instruction

How to Write a Descriptive Essay: Creating a Vivid Picture with Words

The Power of Book Tasting in the Classroom

20 Short Stories Students Will Read Gladly

6 Fun Book Project Ideas

Tailoring Your English Curriculum to Diverse Learning Styles

Teacher Toolbox: Creative & Effective Measures of Academic Progress for the Classroom

10 Most Effective Teaching Strategies for English Teachers

Beyond Persuasion: Unlocking the Nuances of the AP Lang Argument Essay

Book List: Nonfiction Texts to Engage High School Students

12 Tips for Generating Writing Prompts for Writing Using AI

Reader Interactions

[…] Dice: I wrote about this game in my previous blog post about poetry fun, but couldn’t pass by another opportunity to give it a […]

[…] you wonder how to give constructive feedback on creative writing and poetry pieces created by student writers who have put their heart and soul into […]

[…] Teach your high schoolers to annotate using poetry. Have fun with magnetic poetry online! Incorporate art, theatre, or music with black-out poetry, songs as poetry, or poetry slams. Celebrate Robert Frost’s birthday […]

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

• Skip to main content
• Skip to primary sidebar
• Skip to footer

Let’s take your classroom from turbulent to thriving >>

The Classroom Community Copilot

Start with the Heart

in Student Engagement , Teaching Abroad Adventures , Uncategorized ·

Step by Step: Poetry Unit for Elementary Classrooms

Week One of the Poetry Unit Plan – Figurative Language

Week Two – Introduction to Poetry

Engaging Poetry Elements Activity

Fourth Grade Poetry Writing

Weeks Three & Four –Write Original Poetry

More Ideas for Your Poetry Unit Lesson Plans

Creative Writing Prompts

Games to Review Your Poetry Unit

9 Fun Poetry Lessons to Add to Your Next Unit

Poetry Out Loud Lesson Plans

Poetry Writing Lessons

Happy Poetry Writing! It’s such a fun way to expand your students’ writing capabilities, and I hope these poetry lesson ideas help you! And if you’re looking for more ways to engage your students, I’ve got tons of ideas in my free Classroom Community Planner . Download it for free here to keep the fun going after your elementary poetry unit!

11 Poetry Lesson Plans For Middle School

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

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

simile, metaphor, personification, idiom, hyperbole, irony

SOUND DEVICES

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

TYPES OF POETRY

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

HOW TO ANALYZE A POEM

HOW TO DETERMINE RHYME SCHEME

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:

• Anticipation Guide
• “Dear Basketball” poem by Kobe Bryant, analysis and answer key
• Paired Text Excerpt of Michael Jordan’s letter: questions and answer key
• After Reading Poem — Creative Writing Activity

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  on its own  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.

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:

• Full Poem “Out Out—” by Robert Frost (1916)
• Poem Analysis Questions that concentrate on poetic devices (alliteration, allusion, theme, mood, tone, dialogue, connotation, rhyme scheme, juxtaposition) with ANSWER KEY
• TDA Text Dependent Analysis Prompt and worksheets for writing
• TDA Prewriting, planning, brainstorm Graphic Organizer for Students
• TDA Rubric and Grading guidelines based on: content, focus, organization, style, and conventions

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:

• Powerpoint presentation that includes examples and definitions of the following 5 types of poems:  Haiku, Acrostic, Concrete, Limerick, and Free Verse
• Student packet that includes: directions, requirements, and examples of all 5 poems
• An example final draft of a limerick with colored illustration

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

In this resource, you will receive:

• Teacher Guide
• Powerpoint lesson on Blackout Poetry with step by step directions for students to create their own blackout poems in a variety of ways
• 10 Examples of blackout poems
• 40 Pages of printable texts your students can use to make their own poetry
• Editable word document Rubric and Prompt for students

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:

• “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
• “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth
• “We Wear The Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar
• “We Never Know How High We Are” by Emily Dickinson
• “The Gardener” by Robert Louis Stevenson

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.

Your students are going to love this  Poetry Digital Escape Room!  Students will read and analyze the poem  “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost.

They will solve puzzles in this peaceful scene of snowy woods, glistening mountaintops, and a beautiful, serene frozen lake. In this  360°  digital escape room, students will try to escape the woods before the sun goes down! This activity is designed to work for a laptop, tablet, or smart phone.

This game requires reading comprehension strategies, knowledge of poetic devices, and critical thinking skills. Watch the preview video and see exactly what’s inside the digital escape room!

Included in this download are teacher instructions, student instructions (digital), the master lock graphic organizer, answer keys, the full text of the poem, and a reflection sheet (optional).

PLEASE READ: While using this resource, you must have a wi-fi connection and the ability to access the following sites: Google Forms and Kuula.co. Please check that these websites are not blocked by your district’s filter before purchasing. Your students do not need to have a Google account.

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:

• Student directions for the one pager project
• Rubric for the one pager project
• Example one pager (based on the poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night” by Dylan Thomas)
• 10 BLANK TEMPLATES (printable — optional)
• EDITABLE word document so teachers can modify instructions or rubric

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:

• 8 fill-in-the-blank questions with a word bank
• 6 matching questions with poem types
• 5 matching questions with sound devices
• 5 matching questions with figurative language
• A poetry analysis of two poems: “There Will Come Soft Rains” by Sara Teasdale and “Nature” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
• Students will answer 5 multiple choice questions regarding each poem
• 1 constructed response where students will compare the themes of each poem in a fully developed paragraph

(35 questions in total)

The Poetry Test covers the following terms:

narrative poem

lyrical poem

acrostic poem

alliteration

onomatopoeia

personification

Have your students create a collaborative poster and learn about  Robert Frost  in a fun and engaging way!

Your students will create an author biography by researching Robert Frost and establishing his profile on a poster.

Students will learn about Frost and his body of work as an influential author.

Additionally, they will learn the importance of collaboration and effective communication. This project is perfect for  National Poetry Month.

Project Steps:

1) To construct the author study poster, your students will work in groups to conduct research on Robert Frost.

2) Students will then transfer their findings to boxes on the poster.

3) Next, they will work together to color or paint the pieces of the poster.

4) Lastly, students will tape together the final product.

The poster is made up of six pieces of paper, which can be printed on regular copy paper or card stock.

Once taped together, the final product will be  28″ x 15″  and can last a lifetime if you laminate it!

This resource includes the following:

• Step by Step Student Directions (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Project Rubric (PDF & editable word document)
• Author Study Graphic Organizer for Students (PDF & editable word document)
• 6 Blank Coloring Pages that come together as one beautiful poster (PDFs)
• Robert Frost Author Study Answer Key
• Example of Final Project: Completed Text & Fully Colored Body

Check out more from my LITERARY LEGENDS Collection:

• Emily Dickinson
• Langston Hughes
• George Orwell
• William Shakespeare
• Walt Whitman

This resource is a  FULL POETRY UNIT for ELA grades: 7th, 8th, or 9th!  You will get a collection of different lessons, activities, and projects, plus a TDA essay, digital escape room, and final test! I’ve also included an example schedule for teachers to follow day-by-day!

Included in this  middle school poetry unit bundle:

• Introduction to Poetry Lesson & Guided Notes
• Kobe Bryant “Dear Basketball” Poem & Paired Text Michael Jordan Letter
• “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost Poem Analysis and Paired Song
• “Out Out” by Robert Frost Poem Analysis and TDA Essay
• Writing Poetry/Writing Workshop: Haiku, Concrete, Acrostic, Limerick, Free Verse
• Blackout Poetry Lesson and Project
• Poetry Packet — 5 Poems to Analyze
• Poetry Digital Escape Room — Robert Frost Poem Analysis & Comprehension Game “Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”
• Poetry One-Pager Project and Poem Analysis for ANY POEM
• Editable Poetry Test/Assessment for 7th, 8th, or 9th Grade Poetry
• Robert Frost Author Study: Collaborative Poster Project
• Teacher guide with day by day schedule for 3 weeks of Poetry

This bundle is so diverse and your students will get to analyze at least 12 different poems!

1 thought on “11 Poetry Lesson Plans For Middle School”

This looks wonderful!

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

BRYN DONOVAN

tell your stories, love your life

• Writing Inspiration
• Semi-Charmed Life
• Reading & Research
• Works In Progress.

20 Easy Poetry Writing Prompts and Exercises

Although I mostly write fiction now, I started out writing poems. My MFA is even in poetry. I’ve taught beginning poetry workshops at university and also in some fairly unusual settings.

I know a lot of people can use ideas for poems, poetry writing prompts, and inspiration. Even if you write poetry all the time, one of these idea starters might spark your muse or take your writing in a fresh direction. And if you’re a teacher—whether you teach creative writing, English, or grade school—you might be able to adapt one of these for your class!

My favorite thing about poetry is that there aren’t any real rules about how to write a poem. When you find your creative inspiration—whether it’s love, life, or something else—you can just let the words flow. (You can always shape it up later.)

Here are some idea starters, prompts, and exercises that have worked for me before as a poet. You might want to pin or bookmark them for future reference!

1. Pick a song on your iPod, phone, or a playlist at random and let it influence you as you quickly write a first draft of a poem.

2. Go to a café, library, or fast food restaurant. Sit where you can see the door. Write a poem about the next person who walks in.

3. You can also do this in a public place where there are a lot of people talking: write a poem based on an overheard conversation.

4. Write a poem about a wild animal. Mary Oliver, who passed away recently and who was such a great talent and inspiration, has written many poems like this, including “The Hermit Crab,” “ The Shark ,” and “ Wild Geese .”

5. Write a poem inspired by a piece of art. (By the way, the word for a poem or literary work inspired by visual art is ekphrasis . Pretty cool, right?)

6. Write a poem with a refrain: a line or a few lines that repeat, like the chorus of a song.

7. This isn’t the easiest poetry-writing exercise…but I’ve gotten some good poems this way!

Set your alarm for two hours earlier than you usually wake up. Put a notebook and pen next to your bed. When you wake up, free-write for about fifteen minutes. (“Free-writing” means “writing down whatever pops into your head, without thinking too hard about it.”) If you woke up in the middle of a dream, use the dream as inspiration; otherwise, just write whatever comes into your head. Go back to sleep. Later, turn your free-writing into a poem.

8. Write a poem that’s an open letter to a whole group of people.

9. Write a poem that’s a set of directions or instructions.

10. Write a poem about a food. The poet Kevin Young has many examples to inspire you, including “Ode to Gumbo”:

11. Write a poem in which every line begins with the same word. You can change that in revision…or maybe you won’t want to.

12. For this one, you’ll need to either write in a notebook or journal, or on your phone. Go to a store that would be a weird place to write a poem—like a convenience store, a department store, or a drugstore—and write a quick poem.

13. Write a poem that focuses on one color. Federico García Lorca’s poem “Somnambulist Ballad,” translated from the Spanish, or Diane Wakoski’s poem “Blue Monday” might inspire you.

14. Pretend you’re a fictional character from a book, movie, or TV show. Write a poem in their voice.

15. Write an acrostic poem. The first letter of each line spells out a word vertically down the left-hand side of the page. Even for serious poets who would never try to publish an acrostic poem, this is a great exercise to get creative juices flowing.

16. lose your eyes, flip through a book, and put your finger on a page. Whatever word you’re pointing at, use it as a poem title and write that poem.

17. Write a poem late at night, by hand, by candlelight.

18. Fill a page with free-writing using your non-dominant hand. This can help you tap into less rational, more creative thought patterns.

19. Write a poem with very long lines. Walt Whitman’s collection Leaves of Grass might inspire you.

20. Write a poem saying goodbye to someone or something. It could be a happy poem, a sad poem, or both.

I hope you enjoyed this list of creative writing exercises and poetry prompts!

Would you like some more ideas? My book 5,000 Writing Prompts  has 80 more poetry-writing exercises in addition to the ones on this list, plus hundreds of master plots by fiction genre, dialogue and character prompts, and much more.

[spacer height=”20px”]

Do you have a method or exercise that inspires you? Let us know in the comments! I’ve said it before, but I learn so much from the comment section, and I always appreciate it. Thanks for reading, and happy writing!

Related Posts

Share this:

13 thoughts on “ 20 easy poetry writing prompts and exercises ”.

I took a class I thought was on creative writing but the instructor turned out to be a poet. She had us write a short story about a snow storm. She gave us specific things that had to be in it, like a snow shovel and various other objects. Over the next few meeting we condensed the story down until we had the basis for a poem. At the end of the semester, after we had moved on to other things, she asked me if she could submit my poem in a contest for submission in the school’s literary publication. I did not win butI I was thrilled to be nominated. I did however, have a haiku poem in that publication. At the time, I was disappointed the class was slanted more to poetry than creative writing, but what I learned there helped me win some poetry contests along my journey.

Bonnie, I love it that something that started out disappointing turned out to have a silver lining! We really do learn from all kinds of writing.

Thank you for sharing this wealth of information! I have many methods of exercise when it comes to writing. Being creative in other ventures helps my writing and helps me move past “blocks.” I will write poetry or listen to music, but I find the most helpful is being outside, in my garden or simply playing fetch with my dog and looking around at nature to inspire me.

Hi, Savannah! Being outside inspires me, too, and it’s really easy for me to forget about that. I’m so glad you brought that up!

What a wonderful list. While I don’t (can’t?) write poetry, I do enjoy reading it. I had to laugh at #18. When I write with my non-dominant (left) hand I tend to write backward. Others need a mirror to read it, but I don’t. I will be back to try out a couple of your prompts. Thanks for sharing.

Hi Jo! I think anyone can write poetry, but that doesn’t mean everyone enjoys it, of course! That’s funny about writing backwards with your left hand—I don’t think I could do that if I tried. Thanks for reading, and commenting!

Thanks, for sharing this, and I took a creative writinh class in college and even found a website that has all sorts of poetry styles, and forms with examples of each one and definitions as well. It definitely helped me with my poetry, and I also read two books on wriing poetry as well.

Thank you so much!

• Pingback: 20 Easy Poetry Writing Prompts and Exercises – Bryn Donovan – inexhaustiblemuse
• Pingback: Pondering Poetry - MC Rolston
• Pingback: 50 Artist Date Ideas

Hope all is well with you!

Allow us to drop you an email, we’ve had the extreme pleasure this lifetime to be part of over 750 businesses, and we’ve been instrumental in training over a hundreds thousands business owner around the world in the fine arts of sales and marketing, in other words, showing how to turn the ideas, the dreams and the passion into viable business model.

We have too much information to share but I do not want to waste your time, we just wanna let you know that this is somehow a very wonderful opportunity for business owners to be part of.

Something amazing is waiting and this is only a tip of the iceberg, of what’s happening in the online video marketing space right now, and we’re going to talk about a lot more of this later on.

Let us know if this is something you are interested in and we can send you more information.

Janice, Vidaken Company

• Pingback: The Best of the Best Words | Live like you're in the movies

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Discover more from BRYN DONOVAN

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Type your email…

Continue reading

• Skip to main content

Join All-Access Reading…Doors Are Open! Click Here

• All-Access Login
• Freebie Library
• Search this website

Teaching with Jennifer Findley

Upper Elementary Teaching Blog

Poetry Activities for Upper Elementary

Tell your students you are going to study poetry, and you’ll have varied reactions. Some kids will remember the rhymes of their early childhood days with excitement. Others will groan at the thought of cheesy “love poems.” However, you can teach poetry in a way that even the most resistant student will find something to love about this genre. Here are some poetry activities for upper elementary that I think your students will love.

Put it to music.

I always start out a poetry unit by surveying my students: “Who likes poetry?” Many kids will not raise their hands or have some grumblings of how poetry is cheesy or weird. Immediately after, I’ll ask my students, “Who likes music?” Inevitably, every hand will go up. Music is poetry.

Start your poetry exploration by bringing out a few popular songs. Talk about terms like “speaker” (the voice of the poem), “lyric poetry” (a poem that shows emotion), and various poetic devices like rhyme, similes, metaphors, and theme. Connecting those concepts to music before reading traditional poems allows your students to make connections from pop culture to literature and instantly engages them.

Have a poetry reading.

Dim the lights, wear black, and transform your classroom into a poetry slam. Have your students recite their own original works or poems they have read in class. Consider providing small treats and “tea” (water will do the trick). After each student presents their poem, the class can “snap” their fingers to show their appreciation, a tradition in many amateur poetry readings or “slams.”

Before the poetry slam, you can model poetry readings by reciting some of your own original poems or popular poems you teach in class. This not only helps your kids with speaking standards, but it also teaches them the difference in fluency when reading a poem as opposed to other genres.

Use poetry centers.

I love incorporating poetry throughout the year in reading stations and reading centers. There are two ways I do this.

1. Poetry Reading Game Style Centers

My students love anything that involves a bit of a game. So, I created poetry centers that the students could “play” with dice. For the centers, the students read a poem and then roll two dice to answer text-dependent questions about the poem. Click here to see the Poetry Centers in my TeachersPayTeachers store. There are 10 centers, so you can do one a month to have your students reading poems and completing engaging poetry activities all year. Another option is to do a couple a week during the month of April (poetry month) or during your poetry unit.

The printed poem shown in this picture can be found in my Holiday Reading Bundle , which contains an informational text, a fiction text, and a poem for each holiday or season represented.

Shop This Post

Poetry Activities with Google Slides

Explore different types of poetry..

Many students come to 4th and 5th grade with the assumption that all poems rhyme and follow the same type of format. I love teaching my students about some of the different types of poems. Some of these “new to them” poetry types really resonate with students that previously didn’t enjoy poetry.

To introduce my students to the different types of poetry, I use this poetry booklet. It covers eight different types of poems, and each page contains a definition of the type and an example. The students can use the back of each page to try their hand at writing the type of poetry shown.

The booklet also includes a digital Google Slides version with clickable tabs to navigate through the booklet!

To grab the free bundle of activities (including the poetry booklet, poetry BINGO game, and poetry task cards) click on the gif below. Then enter your email address in the pop-up. You’ll be able to download the resource immediately and it will also be sent to your inbox.

Have students create Blackout and Found Poems.

I love having students be creative and unique with poetry. Two of my favorite activities are Blackout Poems and Found Poems.

Blackout Poems: These are poems the students create with a page from old, recycled books or even printed text. The students black out the majority of the words on the page to create a new poem with the still-visible words.

Found Poems: For these poems, the students cut out words and phrases from magazines and compile them to create a unique poem.

To read more about these types and see examples click here or on the image above to see a post from EBCamps.

Poetry Bingo!

Poetry term Bingo is one of my favorite activities to play with my students. Have a call sheet with a list of terms, definitions, and examples. Each sheet will have a definition or example. You can read off the term, and your students will mark where they find the corresponding definition or example related to the word. This is a great way to review upper elementary poetry terms. It’s so much fun; your students won’t even realize they’re reviewing!

Implement seasonal or holiday poems throughout the year.

Another way (besides regular poetry reading centers) to incorporate poetry all year is through seasonal or holiday poems. I use my holiday reading comprehension packs , which contain a poem for each of the major holidays and seasons represented. The resource also includes a variety of printable activities to go with each poem, which really help my students’ poetry comprehension. You can also find holiday poems online here .

Explore poems online.

Speaking of online poems, give your kids the reins and let them explore poems from poetry websites just for kids. One of my favorites is poetry4kids.com . I introduce the site by finding a poem to have the students listen to (either I read it or they listen online). The students will then read the poem aloud on their own for fluency and to increase their comprehension. They’ll pair up and discuss the poems before moving on to analysis. After the initial introduction, it’s fantastic to allow the kids to explore independently or in pairs. The students can also write about the poems they read or create their own poems modeled after the form and structure of the poems.

Poetry Read Alouds

Students love being read to, and poems are great to read throughout the year when you are between books or when you have a few minutes to spare. Here are some recommended poetry books and poets for upper elementary students:

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander

Love that Dog by Sharon Creech

Poems by Bard Bagert, Jack Prelutsky, and Shel Silverstein

How to Get all the Freebies

Poetry is not a scary thing (for teachers or for students) when you use engaging, relevant activities to make it fun for your 4th and 5th grade students. Try some of these poetry activities for upper elementary, and your kids will be reading and creating like old school poets!

Share the Knowledge!

Reader interactions.

March 26, 2018 at 10:52 am

I absolutely adore your blog posts! They’re so inspirational! I love what you do, and the things you post is exactly the kind of things I’m interested in.

October 17, 2021 at 11:16 pm

Thank you so much! Feeling way more confident after reading this!

March 26, 2018 at 8:02 pm

Wow! Thank you so much for sharing so many great resources. I’m going to be doing my first poetry slam after spring break so this is the perfect time to get this email!! Thank you so much!

April 13, 2018 at 8:37 am

Have not received this in my inbox yet. Looking so forward to using it! How long does it take to receive it? Thanks!

February 19, 2020 at 2:18 pm

I would like more of your things about poetry.

September 11, 2020 at 7:01 am

That’s totally compelling. May I counter with a few questions?

https://getsatisfaction.com/people/wavelow9

December 27, 2021 at 5:09 pm

I would love the free poetry booklet! I will be starting a poetry unit with my students after the winter break. Thank you for sharing your resources.

December 31, 2021 at 3:21 pm

This has helped me a lot! I look forward to using the booklet with my 5th graders.

January 4, 2022 at 10:16 pm

I would love to receive the Types of Poetry booklet. I love your resources and am looking forward to using the poetry activities.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

TEACHING READING JUST GOT EASIER WITH ALL-ACCESS

Join All-Access Reading to get immediate access to the reading resources you need to:

• teach your reading skills 
• support and grow your readers
• engage your students
• prepare them for testing
• and so much more!

You may also love these freebies!

Math Posters

Reading Posters

Morphology Posters

Grammar Posters

Welcome Friends!

I’m Jennifer Findley: a teacher, mother, and avid reader. I believe that with the right resources, mindset, and strategies, all students can achieve at high levels and learn to love learning. My goal is to provide resources and strategies to inspire you and help make this belief a reality for your students.

$ 545.00

Intermediate Text and Live Video

Zoom calls Thursdays 6-7pm Eastern

$ 545.00 Enroll Now

Join award-winning poet Caitlin Scarano and complete your first full-length poetry manuscript so it is publication-ready! In this course, you will identify and develop the key themes of your manuscript-in-progress, as well as generate and share new work for that manuscript.

Caitlin will guide you through a clear step-by-step process to ordering, structuring, revising, polishing, and formatting your first manuscript of poems. You will learn how to generate title ideas for your manuscript and draft and revise a compelling book description that will help your book sell if it is published. You’ll read at least two poetry collections to determine how they work.

Each week we will meet on Zoom for one hour to discuss that week’s topic and spend time generating new work together using specific prompts. You will also learn how to identify the right presses and contests to submit your manuscript and the right questions to ask if your manuscript is accepted for publication. In addition, we will discuss how to figure out if self-publishing is the right option for your collection.

Please note: this is not a traditional poetry workshop. This course is designed to help you generate new work each week and gain the skills to complete a manuscript. Though you will receive instructor feedback on your manuscript-in-progress, you will not workshop your poems or be required to provide feedback on your peers’ poems. This course is best-suited for writers who have at least 10-15 poems for their potential manuscript and time to generate more (most full-length collections are 48+ poems). That said, anyone who wants to learn how to put together a manuscript of poems is welcome!

This course pairs well with private coaching from Caitlin Scarano if you’re interested in receiving in-depth reviews and edits on your manuscript-in-progress.

Learning and Writing Goals

Learning goals.

• Brainstorm and develop clear themes for your manuscript-in-progress
• Read and analyze at least 2 poetry collections
• Identify poems in your manuscript most in need of revision
• Learn techniques for ordering and structuring a collection of poetry
• Discuss the pros and cons of traditional and self-publishing to figure out what is best for you
• Gain skills to identify the best presses and contests for your specific manuscript

Writing Goals

• Through weekly writing prompts, write up to 8 new poems for your manuscript
• Generate potential titles for your manuscript
• Draft and polish a compelling book description for your manuscript
• Complete (or have the tools to complete) a full-length, formatted manuscript of poems ready for submission for publication

By the end of this course, you will have the tools and support needed to complete a full-length collection of poems to submit for publication.

Zoom Schedule

This course will meet on Zoom every Thursdays at 6 P.M. Eastern.

Online Manuscript Course Schedule

Week 1: introductions & what is a collection of poems how do they work.

Assignment: Write a new poem and read a collection for Week 2.

WEEK 2: Reading Collection #1

Assignment: Write a new poem and brainstorm on your poetic obsessions/what themes you return to.

WEEK 3: Identifying Key Themes and Anchor Poems

Assignment: Write a new poem and read a collection for Week 4.

WEEK 4: Surprise and Variation in Poetry Collections

Assignment: Write a new poem OR revise a poem; print out all potential poems for the manuscript-in-progress (at any draft stage).

WEEK 5: Narrative Arcs & the Art of Ordering

Assignment: Write a new poem OR revise a poem; identify a poetry book with a compelling description to share with the class.

WEEK 6: Titles and Book Descriptions That Sell

Assignment: Write a new poem OR revise a poem; find at least two publishers or contests you might want to submit your manuscript to for publication.

WEEK 7: Traditional VS. Self-Publishing, Contests, and More

Week 8: formatting, submitting, & what comes next, student feedback for caitlin scarano:.

My writing took a huge leap in strength and clarity as a direct result of Caitlin’s coaching. Her detailed attention and questions challenged me think more deeply and write better. Working with Caitlin is both fun and rewarding. Richard W.

“Caitlin is one of the finest teachers I have ever had. She is very approachable and kind. I enjoyed every week that we met online and always had a clear direction as to what to work on that following week. I highly recommend any class Caitlin is teaching.” —Barb Santucci

About Caitlin Scarano

Originally from Southside Virginia, Caitlin Scarano (she/they) is a writer based in Bellingham, Washington. They hold a PhD from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and an MFA from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Her second full length collection of poems,  The Necessity of Wildfire , was selected by Ada Limón as the winner of the Wren Poetry Prize. Caitlin is a member of the Washington Wolf Advisory Group. Find them at  caitlinscarano.com

Caitlin's Courses

Radical Revision: Get Your Poems Published Call of the Weird: Poetry and Nature A Poet’s Calling Card: Writing and Composing a Chapbook Putting It All Together: Completing Your First Poetry Manuscript

• Name * First Last
• Classes You're Interested In