Poetry for Protest and Peace

Grades 2/3

This RPLC unit is developed to teach students all about poetry, including how it has been and can be used to promote justice. Throughout this unit, the students will work on foundational skills around words and language, equipping them to write simple poems. The students will also read poetry to understand the deeper meaning. They will work on identifying and analyzing literary devices including metaphor, simile, symbolism, imagery, mood, and tone. With new skills in their pockets and a stronger understanding of change-making poets throughout history, the students will write their own poems with the themes of protest or peace. Informed by the developmental interest of fairness and justice, this unit is designed to engage students in grades 2-3 in poetry while empowering them with the ability to make change with their words.