This mini-unit is an introduction to poetry and can be used in middle school or early high school. Each lesson should take about an hour and covers basic such as: Prose vs. Poetry, Traditional vs. Organic Poetry, poetry structure, figurative language and sound devices, context clues, tone, and meaning. Several examples of poems are provided along with notes, guided practice, and indepent assessments. 

This is a collection of poems created by a six-year-old boy named Jonny. It includes nine poems, two of them are in English, and the rest of them are in Chinese. Jonny's mother Qi Guo wrote them down whenever Jonny said, "mom, I come up a poem". And then she asked Jonny to illustrate pictures for some of his own poems. The rest of illustrations were drawing by Qi Guo. Qi Guo published this collection of poems to OER Commons as an Open Education Resource book.

This course considers some of the substantial early twentieth-century poetic voices in America. Authors vary, but may include Moore, Frost, Eliot, Stevens, and Pound.
We’ll read the major poems by the most important poets in English in the 20th century, emphazinig especially the period between post-WWI disillusionment and early WW II internationalism (ca. 1918-1940). Our special focus this term will be how the concept of “the Image” evolved during this period. The War had undercut beliefs in master-narratives of nationalism and empire, and the language-systems that supported them (religious transcendence, rationalism and formalism). Retrieving energies from the Symbolist movements of the preceding century, early 20th century poets began to rethink how images carry information, and in what ways the visual, visionary, and verbal image can take the place of transcendent beliefs. New theories of linguistics and anthropology helped to advance this interest in the artistic/religious image. So did Freud. So did Charlie Chaplin films.
We’ll read poems that pay attention both to this disillusionment and to the compensatory joyous attention to the image: to ideas of the poet-as-language-priest, aesthetic-experience-as-displaced-religious impulse, to poetry as faith, ritual, and form.

Lila Gray instills her own love of poetry in her students by encouraging them to write original works and finding poems that express who they are. Her weekly open mic sessions create a perfect venue for building confidence and helping students find their voice while still hitting core standards and learning lifelong skills.

PDF Link to summary and appreciation: PDF : https://drive.google.com/file/d/19pEm0fne9Zo1Ke2tDNSF3X_vqfHrgWwg/view?usp=sharing

"Song of the Open Road" is a poem by Sir Walt(er) Whitman from his 1856 collection ‘Leaves of Grass’. It is widely admired by people of all age groups.
It symbolically speaks about self-awareness, free-will, tenderness of heart, mobility, love and freedom.
Out of the fifteen sections of the original poem, Yuvakbharati English book of Std. XII has prescribed the first section of the poem. This multi-themed poem has been written in free verse, and motivates us to cross hurdles, be optimistic and live in a free and democratic society. The title is apt as it depicts the poet’s free will and carefree tone. It appeals to the readers as it urges them to join the poet’s journey of the open road which is democratic and free.
Indoors is a place of secret and silent despair. It's only roads where people walk with some meaning and purpose. A road is classless and the most democratic segment of a society.Road symbolizes mobility. So don't stay at one place, move ahead. Mobility makes you wise and versatile!
Summary of the first section:
Sir Walt(er) Whitman’s “Song of the Open Road” is a celebration of travel - an ode to himself or any democratic individual. He embarks upon a journey “Afoot and light-hearted…” He is free to choose wherever he wishes. He chooses his own journey after being fed up of experiencing four-walled home spun politics, high philosophies and bookish disciplines. He feels self-contented and doesn’t desire anything more in life. He doesn’t want the influence of powerful or wiser people who appear good in their power and persona (constellations). He doesn’t want their support as he himself is his good fortune. He is the maker of his own luck. Mother Earth would take care of him. He appeals to his fellow-travellers to travel with him on that democratic path in which he himself is travelling. The powers and influence of great people are nothing when compared to a winding, tortuous road which bears stresses and turns of events due to passengers. The road bears our stress (burden), still takes us to the goals we had set for ourselves before commencing. There may be situations when difficulties would arise, but no shortcut or escaping would work. He tells the fellow Americans to understand the concept of freedom and break free from the fetters of conventional rules. In conclusion, he separates himself from the rest of the world by keeping himself in brackets and admits that he admires his delicious burdens because of their symbiotic relationship with each other - burdens fill him; he fills them in return!
Regards
Sudhir Khullar
License
Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed)

This lesson requires students to use their reading, comprehension, and analysis skills to analyze a poem and respond creatively to the selection.

In this module, students will learn a basic understanding of Traditional Haiku will be explored from definition to creation.