Poetry Activities for an Elegy (w/ To an Athlete Dying Young')

Here's how to implement this versatile poetry analysis resource, focusing on A. E. Housman's celebrated poem "To an Athlete Dying Young." Get introduced to elegy poems through structured annotation, thorough literary analysis tasks (including short answer questions and an essay assignment), and an interesting creative poem-writing exercise.

Witness the transformative power of this resource as your students engage in depth with poetry analysis!

Instructing with this resource is straightforward! Initiate with the introduction and discussion of the poem using the provided poem analysis activity, perfect as a class opener. Following this, allocate time for students to undertake the guided annotation task and respond to the analysis question that's part of the lesson (an answer key is provided for reference!). Then, students are offered a chance to compose their own poem, drawing on the poetic concept analyzed previously. In conclusion, evaluate students' understanding of the poem and its poetic elements with a literary analysis essay. This final assignment includes a prompt, writing suggestions, peer review, and a Common Core-compatible rubric!

Your TeachSimple download includes:

• A POEM ANALYSIS ACTIVITY: Give students the opportunity to read A. E. Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young” (text included) and analyze the poem via an annotation activity and accompanying analysis questions (answer key included). Ideal for a bell ringer!

• A CREATIVE WRITING ASSIGNMENT: Provide students the opportunity to further develop their understanding of elegies with a creative poem writing assignment (tied to one Common Core Writing Standard). Ideal for sub plans!

• A LITERARY ANALYSIS ESSAY: This essay assignment builds on students' understanding of elegies and Housman's "To an Athlete Dying Young.” The assignment handout includes essay guidelines, analysis prompt, literary analysis writing tips, and a peer review checklist. The included rubric is tied to 4 Common Core ELA Standards and includes a link to an editable rubric that allows for grading customization and seamless integration into Google Classroom and many other Learning Management Systems (LMS's)

Although this resource can be fitted for any secondary Language Arts classroom, it has been carefully designed to work best in grades 9 through 12. The included rubric is subtly but specifically tied to Common Core ELA Standards for Language (1 and 2) and Writing (2 and 4). This resource is provided in print-ready, bookmarked, and adjustable PDF files and PowerPoint Show files.

This resource contains 5 pages and 1 Google Sheet.