Lesson Plans

By Sylvia Chan and Sarah Kortemeier

Students will use the refrain as a technique to help them explore their experiences of fear and of power, reflecting on how the two might be connected. The literary model for this lesson plan is Douglas Kearney's "No Homo." 

By Sarah Kortemeier

Students will write a poem that features a volta (a change in the poem's argument), using Ada Limón's "What I Didn't Know Before" as a model. 

By Matthew John Conley and Sarah Kortemeier

Students will explore the effects of line endings by discussing lineation in an existing poem and generating lineated poetic text. Students will also listen to and transcribe poetry.

By Sarah Kortemeier and Ryan Winet

Students will use assonance to reinvigorate and examine their relationship with a familiar place.

By Sarah Kortemeier and Julie Lauterbach-Colby

Students use prompts drawn from Roger Bonair-Agard's "allegory of the black man at work in the synagogue" to write about the identities they inhabit.