Since Robert Frost encouraged our founder Marie Bullock to “get poetry into the high schools” in the 1960s, we’ve been assisting teachers in bringing poetry into the classroom. Here, you’ll find poetry lesson plans, poems for kids and for teens, essays about teaching, a calendar of teaching resources for the school year, a glossary of poetry terms, and more. Our lesson plans, most of which are aligned with the Common Core, have been reviewed by our Educator in Residence with an eye toward developing skills of perception and imagination. 

Read more about Teach This Poem’s impact. 

Lesson Plans for Autumn

Browse this selection of lesson plans featuring poems about autumn.

Lesson Plans about Family

The following lesson plans feature poems poems exploring many different kinds of family relations

Lesson Plans for Halloween

Browse this selection of lesson plans featuring poems for Halloween, including poems about ghosts

Lesson Plans for Hispanic Heritage Month

To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month in September and October—and all year long—browse t

Lesson Plans for Native American Heritage Month

The following lesson plans feature poems from the rich tradition of Native American poetry

Lesson Plans by Theme

Find poetry lesson plans organized by theme, occasion, and class subject, including lesson plans featuring poems about social justice, the environment, and many other topics.

Lesson Plans

395 Lesson Plans

Teach This Poem: “October” by Evalyn Callahan Shaw

Teach This Poem, though developed with a classroom in mind, can be easily adapted for remote learning, hybrid learning models, or in-pe

Elementary School

Teach This Poem: “pitter/patter” by heidi andrea restrepo rhodes

Teach This Poem, though developed with a classroom in mind, can be easily adapted for remote learning, hybrid learning models, or in-pe

Elementary School

Teach This Poem: “Ship of Theseus ” by Rodney Gomez

Teach This Poem, though developed with a classroom in mind, can be easily adapted for remote learning, hybrid learning models, or in-pe

Elementary School

Teach This Poem: “The Carillon” By Rosalía De Castro, Translated By Garrett Strange

Teach This Poem, though developed with a classroom in mind, can be easily adapted for remote learning, hybrid learning models, or in-pe

Elementary School