Poetry Around the World: An In-Depth Poetry Study

Poetry can be a powerful literary tool when students understand its many elements. In this 5-lesson unit, students will be introduced to literary role models, performers, and writing craft techniques. Lessons will include an overview of the elements of poetry while simultaneously offering many ways for students to implement these elements in their own writing.

Overall, students will engage with as well as create their own poetry from three worlds: The United States, Ghana, and a world that they have imagined for themselves. As they learn about the injustices and movements of these worlds, they can then use poetry to explore their own identities and voices. This idea allows students to participate in a literary sensory experience by simultaneously considering the subjects of place, home, and/or belonging.

This social justice unit seeks to engage students of color to learn from writers who look like them, and students of other backgrounds to learn about the traditions and accomplishments of artists of color, African and American alike.