Spring is the time for poetry, and this year marks the 20th anniversary of National Poetry Month! Introduce your students to poetry, and about the poets and their verbosity. Our lessons ask the kids to pick up pens and write, and we assure that the material should excite.

Write a Song!
ELA; Grade 2

Pick your favorite song and try your hand at writing your own lyrics. Pair the talents of Shel Silverstein with Taylor Swift as you learn about alliteration, rhyme and syllables. The lesson ends with a karaoke session, so prepare for creative displays of expression.

Annotating Poetry – The Road Not Taken
ELA & Social Studies; Grade 8-10

Poetry can seem complicated because of its unique form and language, but unlocking a poem’s meaning through annotation, notes, and research offers a clearer understanding. Use The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost to practice annotations, decipher connotations, and learn through observation.

Also available in the Annotating Poetry series are activities for Edgar Allen Poe, Sylvia Plath, Shakespeare, and many others.

Star Sluggers
ELA & Math; Grade 7

This Sunday marks the start of the new MLB Season, so check out Star Sluggers for a look at some of the greatest hitters of all 30 teams both past and present. Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig? Mike Trout or Tim Salmon? Perhaps it’s time to reexamine.

In addition, in the aftermath of the recent terrorist attacks in Ankara, Turkey, and Brussels, Belgium, your students may have questions and concerns about terrorism and safety. If you’d like to address these in your high school, our not-for-profit partner, Bridges of Understanding, has developed free lessons to help classrooms open a discussion on terrorism, as well as understand vocabulary in the media regarding ISIS, to provide students with context for these horrific acts of violence. These lessons can be found below and on the NextLesson website.