Links to Lesson Plans and Teaching Resources
There are a number of online resources available that can support your Poetry Out Loud programming, including, but not limited to, the ones listed on this page.
For biographical information about poets that appear in the 2025-2026 POL anthology:
Modern American Poetry: https://www.modernamericanpoetry.org/
Academy of American Poets: https://poets.org/
Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/
Poetry By Heart: https://poetrybyheart.org.uk/
For a glossary of poetic forms and terms:
Glossary of Poetic Terms—Poetry Foundation: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/education/glossary
Glossary of Poetic Terms—Academy of American Poets: https://poets.org/glossary
For general lesson plans and resources on teaching poetry:
https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/ekphrasis-using-inspire-poetry
https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/discovering-traditional-sonnet-forms
https://poets.org/lesson-plan/poems-about-poetry
https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teaching-poetry-reading-conversation-writing-cycle
https://poets.org/lesson-plan/adding-insult-poetry
For lesson plans related to specific poems or poets in the 2025-2026 POL anthology:
Willa Cather
“Prairie Spring”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-prairie-spring-willa-cather
Paul Laurence Dunbar
“We Wear the Mask”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/behind-masks-exploring-culture-through-art-and-poetry
“We Wear the Mask”—ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/behind-masks-exploring-culture?tab=2#tabs
General, ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/poet-paul-laurence-dunbar
Robert Frost
“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-stopping-woods-snowy-evening-robert-frost
General, ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/poet-robert-frost-born
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
“Learning to Read”—Edsitement.neh.gov: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/frances-ellen-watkins-harpers-learning-read
Langston Hughes
General, Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-let-america-be-america-again-langston-hughes
General, Edsitement.neh.gov: https://edsitement.neh.gov/lesson-plans/poets-voice-langston-hughes-and-you
General, ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/discovering-passion-poetry
General, Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/we-sing-america
James Weldon Johnson
“Before a Painting”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-painting-james-weldon-johnson
Emma Lazarus
“The New Colossus”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-new-colossus-emma-lazarus
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Haunted Houses”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-haunted-houses-henry-wadsworth-longfellow
“Haunted Houses”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/ghosts-and-spirits
Claude McKay
General, Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-america-claude-mckay
Alice Duer Miller
“Our Own Twelve Anti-suffragist Reasons”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-our-own-twelve-anti-suffragist-reasons-alice-duer-miller
Marianne Moore
“Poetry”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-poetry-marianne-moore
Alexander Posey
“Coyote”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-coyote-alexander-posey
Phillis Wheatley
General, Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-being-brought-africa-america-phillis-wheatley
Walt Whitman
“Election Day, November, 1884”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-election-day-november-1884-walt-whitman
“I Hear America Singing”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/teach-poem-i-hear-america-singing-walt-whitman
“O Captain! My Captain!”—Poets.org: https://poets.org/lesson-plan/and-winner-poetry-and-film
General, ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/today-walt-whitman-birthday
William Carlos Williams
General, ReadWriteThink.org: https://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/calendar-activities/william-carlos-williams-born
General, PoetryFoundation.org: https://www.poetryfoundation.org/articles/1588846/william-carlos-williams
Other Teaching Resources
Ambrose Bierce—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/kemo/learn/photosmultimedia/ambrose-bierce-narratives.htm
Willa Cather—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/people/willa-cather.htm
Willa Cather—WillaCather.org: https://www.willacather.org/about
Paul Laurence Dunbar—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/places/dunbar-house.htm
Ralph Waldo Emerson—RWEMA.org: https://rwema.org/
Robert Frost—NHStateParks.org: https://www.nhstateparks.org/find-parks-trails/robert-frost-farm-historic-site
Francis Scott Key—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/fomc/index.htm
Emma Lazarus—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/stli/index.htm
Abraham Lincoln—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/liho/index.htm
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/long/index.htm
Edgar Allen Poe—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/edal/index.htm
Carl Sandburg—National Park Service: https://www.nps.gov/carl/index.htm
Robert Louis Stevenson—Parks.ca.gov: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=472
Henry David Thoreau—Mass.gov: https://www.mass.gov/locations/walden-pond-state-reservation
Walt Whitman—NJ.gov: https://www.nj.gov/dep/parksandforests/historic/waltwhitmanhouse.html
Lesson Plans by Eileen Murphy that complement Poetry Out Loud
Sonic Patterns: Exploring Poetic Techniques Through Close Reading
Students use the idea of a composed memory and their knowledge of sonic patterns to draft, revise, and share their own original text.
Speaking Poetry: Exploring Sonic Patterns Through Performance
Students engage in a variety of vocal activities and performance techniques based on word sounds and then prepare a recitation for small group performances and compare their interpretative choices as part of the reflection process.
“My favorite part of Poetry Out Loud is how, by hearing the nuances of each person’s delivery, I feel like I know them – even though in most cases, we’ve only just met. There’s something very personal about the way one gives a poem, and it’s truly incredible to see.”
Greer Kennedy, 2024 Vermont Champion