This is not meant to be an inclusive lesson plan, rather think of it more like an outline. The lesson here will provide you with an outline you can change as needed to study other areas of poetry.

Ages 8+


WEEK 1 - Haiku

vocab/spelling:
syllable - A word or part of a word that can be pronounced with one impulse from the voice (more info: http://englishplus.com/grammar/00000373.htm)
Play games by jumping or clapping to the rhythm of the syllable in common words.

Haiku - A form of Japanese poetry that doesn't rhyme, is about nature, and follows a 5 line, 7 line, 5 line pattern. (example: http://members.cox.net/berniehpoetry/type/Haiku.html)


Haikus are a good introduction to poetry for kids as most children love nature and Haikus don't rhyme.

W.H. Auden is a famous American poet who wrote Haiku. His works are widely published and available. You can read about Auden here: http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/120

Day 1: Review vocab/spelling
Day 2: Locate information about Auden, read about life
Day 3: Use the internet to find and read several Haikus
Day 4: Pick a topic for a Haiku, draw a picture of the topic
Day 5: Write a Haiku about your topic


WEEK 2 - Acrostic

Vocab/spelling:
Acrostic - An acrostic poem uses the letters of one topic word, written vertically, to begin each line.
Hyperbole - An exaggeration of the truth

Acrostics are usually enjoyed by children as it allows them to write about something they enjoy.

Bruce Lansky is an author and poet, he has written some really great poetry for kids.

Day 1: Review vocab and spelling from week 1 and 2
Day 2: Read Bruce Lansky's "A Partially True Autobiography" at http://www.gigglepoetry.com/autobiography/autobio.html
Day 3: Use the internet to find and read several Acrostic poems
Day 4: Pick several topics for acrostics, write a few small ones
Day 5: Have student write a longer acrostic on paper or use http://www.readwritethink.org/materials/acrostic/, aim for a topic word with 5 or more letters


WEEK 3 - The Art of Rhyming

Vocab/spelling:
Alliteration - The repetition of consonant sounds in a passage (ie: Many men attempted to make Molly mad)
Free verse - poetry without a regular pattern of rhyme

Your child can probably recognize rhyming words already, if not use fun games and nursery rhymes to teach the concept of rhyming.

Day 1: Talk about artistic license when it comes to rhyming (using words that don't rhyme well, ie: big and beg), review vocab/spelling
Day 2: Robert Frost was a very famous poet. Biographies are readily available, or use the information at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Frost
Day 3: Teach your child about rhyming patterns
The last word of each line is assigned a letter, starting with A. Each non-rhyming word gets a new letter, rhyming words have matching letters. Below is an example of a simple ABCB poem.

The cow said "Goodbye!"
The dog said "Hello!"
The cat said "Who's there?"
The horse said "Don't know!"

Day 4: Brainstorm rhyme pairs, the older the child the more complicated the pairs should be (try rhyming the previous vocabulary words!)
Day 5: Challenge your child to write their own poem with a recognizable rhyme pattern using as many pairs of words from the brainstorm session as they can


WEEK 4 - Limericks
Vocab/spelling:
Limerick - a humorous 5 line rhyming poem in the pattern of AABBA
Simile - A figure of speech that relates two unrelated items (ie: The cat moaned as though he was pretending to play the violin.)

Edward Lear is my very favorite poet, he is famous for his limericks and nonsense poems.

Day 1: Review vocabulary and spelling words
Day 2: Visit the Edward Lear Homepage at http://www.nonsenselit.org/Lear/
Day 3: Review rhyme patterns by writing short poems in different patterns
Day 4: Brainstorm nonsensical ideas for limericks
Day 5: Using the AABBA pattern have your student write a limerick

Additional forms of poetry can be found at http://www.shadowpoetry.com/resources/wip/types.html


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