POETRY PLAN
Revision as of July 2022. This plan gives more time than the previous one for longer poems for families who wish to memorize the selections, or to add additional poets per term if families wish.
Note: The 36 week charts will not be updated for the 2022-23 school year, so you’ll need to use this document as your guide if following the new plan.
Helpful Guide
How to Read a Poem by Sally Thomas
Useful for all levels, though for Levels 1 and 2, it’s definitely not necessary to ask most of these questions. A parent might gently acclimate a young child to observing patterns of rhyme, for example, as the child might notice things in nature. Poetry study and nature study have a lot in common, in fact, and this may be a useful way to think about approaching poetry, especially in the early years: mostly to delight in it, but also to talk about whatever somebody notices in a poem. Note that until Level 4, The Harp and the Laurel Wreath is the core text for poetry, unless otherwise indicated. Parents are welcome to substitute poems from other resources, or use other anthologies — a number of our favorites are listed at the end of this document. But HLW does give, over many years, a rich and thorough introduction to the tradition of poetry in English, at accessible but gently challenging levels. Families are also encouraged to read poetry outside school time for enjoyment. Families with 3 or more children may want to pick 1 or 2 levels’ poetry to focus on rather than each year’s selections. The lesson plan for poetry at this level is simply to read aloud together and enjoy. Families may opt to memorize a poem weekly, or at their discretion. Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath: Robert Louis Stevenson 1-2 poems per week NB: All these poems are in the public domain and may be found easily online and printed out, if a family desires a free option. It is all right to revisit poems the family might have read earlier, as in all the selections from Robert Louis Stevenson’s A Child’s Garden of Verses. In fact, The Harp and the Laurel Wreath is set up to reintroduce the same poems again and again at higher levels, with the idea that each rereading will bring pleasure and the reward of greater insight. There are more Stevenson poems in The Harp and the Laurel Wreath than there are weeks in the term. Families are welcome to substitute favorite Stevenson poems not listed here for any of the listed poems. Some very short poems are doubled up, giving two poems a week. Week 1: Whole Duty of Children, p. 19, At the Seaside, p. 19 Week 2: Rain, p. 20, Happy Thought, p. 20 Week 3: Singing, p. 20, Time to Rise, p. 21 Week 4: Windy Nights, p. 28 Week 5: Bed in Summer, p. 28 Week 6: Where Go the Boats, p. 29 Week 7: Foreign Lands, p. 30 Week 8: The Land of Counterpane, p. 31 Week 9: My Shadow, p. 32 Week 10: The Wind, p. 33 Week 11: The Moon, p. 34 Week 12: Open/Exam Week For a poetry “exam,” the child may choose one poem to recite from memory Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath: A.A. Milne NB: Milne’s When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six, from which selections are taken, are also listed for this level. Milne’s poems are in the public domain and may be easily found online as well. Again, if these have been read before, it is FINE to read and enjoy them again. Week 1: The Christening, p. 40 Week 2: Furry Bear, p. 41 Week 3: At the Zoo, p. 42 Week 4: Disobedience Week 5: Buckingham Palace Week 6: The King’s Breakfast Week 7: Pinkle Purr Week 8: Rice Pudding Week 9: If I Were King Week 10: Market Square Week 11: Us Two Week 12: Open/Exam Week **Poem to memorize for Christmas, if desired: A Christmas Carol, p. 47 Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath: General Children’s Poems Week 1: Singing Time, p. 21, I’m Glad, p. 22 Week 2: Once I Saw a Little Bird, p. 21 Week 3: Bird Talk, p. 22 Week 4: The Little Turtle, p. 23 Week 5: Animal Crackers, p. 23 Week 6: Merry Sunshine, p. 25 Week 7: There Once Was a Puffin, p. 26 Week 8: The Owl and the Pussycat, p. 43 Week 9: The Duel, p. 45 Week 10: The Song of Mr. Toad, p. 46 Week 11: Psalm 23 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Students continue reading in The Harp and the Laurel Wreath. This level offers a wide and generous feast of reading in the English and American poetic tradition. Because poems are longer, many are offered at a rate of one every other week, to facilitate reading and memorization. NB: Primary Language Lessons includes poetry lessons. The family may choose to do the PLL poetry lesson for a week instead of the poem listed in the rotation, OR to skip the PLL lesson and concentrate on the poem listed in the rotation. It is advisable not to try to do both. Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: The Flag Goes By, p. 59 Weeks 3-4: The Children’s Hour, p. 60 Weeks 5-6: The Village Blacksmith Weeks 7-8: The Tide Rises, the Tide Falls Weeks 9-11: Casey at the Bat Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Old Ironsides, p. 68 Weeks 3-4: Hiawatha’s Childhood, p. 69 Weeks 5-6: Columbus, p. 73 Weeks 7-8: America for Me, p. 74 Weeks 9-10: Sea Fever, p. 75 Week 11: Requiem, p. 83 Week 12: Open/Exam Week **Poem to memorize at Christmas, if desired: Christmas Everywhere, p. 76 Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Spring, p. 81 Weeks 3-4: Christopher Columbus, p. 84 Weeks 5-6: Pocahontas, p. 86 Weeks 7-8: George Washington, p. 87 Weeks 9-10: Benjamin Franklin, p. 89 Week 11: Captain Kidd, p. 83 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: The Fool’s Prayer, p. 77 Weeks 3-4: The Ballad of William Sycamore, p. 90 Weeks 5-6: Paul Revere’s Ride, p. 94 Weeks 7-8: Sheridan’s Ride, p. 100 Weeks 9-10: The Star-Spangled Banner, p. 103 Week 11: O Captain, My Captain!, p. 99 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Solitude, p. 104 Weeks 3-4: The Destruction of Sennacherib, p. 105 Weeks 5-6: The Spider and the Fly, p. 107 Weeks 7-8: The Ride of Collins Graves, p. 109 Weeks 9-10: How They Brought the Good News from Ghent to Aix, p. 112 Week 11: A Child’s Wish, p. 106 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Poem to memorize for Christmas: Christmas Bells, p. 63 Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Charge of the Light Brigade, p. 115 Weeks 3-4: Father William, p. 117 (you may also like to read Lewis Carroll’s parody of this poem) Weeks 5-6: An Old Woman of the Roads, p. 119 Week 7: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, p. 118 Week 8: The Night Has a Thousand Eyes, p. 118 Week 9: The Violet, p. 120 Week 10: The Builders, p. 121 Week 11: The Eagle, p. 124 At this level, students continue to explore a wide and varied feast of poetry in English via The Harp and the Laurel Wreath, reading, enjoying, and memorizing. As time goes on, their reading becomes more mature and sophisticated, though they will occasionally encounter some old friends from earlier levels. As in Level 1A, students will encounter occasional poetry lessons in their language-arts text, Intermediate Language Lessons. A family will need to choose between the poetry lesson and the poem in the week’s rotation; do not do both. Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Week 1: Be Strong!, p. 122 Week 2: Jabberwocky, p. 123 Weeks 3-4: Hymn, p. 125 Weeks 5-8: Horatius at the Bridge, p. 159 Week 9: On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer, p. 170 Week 10: from The Princess, p. 171 Week 11: The Arrow and the Song, p. 185 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath: Speeches from Shakespeare Weeks 1-2: from The Tempest, p. 145 Weeks 3-4: from Julius Caesar, p. 146 Weeks 5-6: from Hamlet, p. 148 Weeks 7-8: from Henry V, p. 149 Weeks 9-10: from Henry V, p. 151 Week 11: from Macbeth, p. 153 Week 12: Open/Exam Week **Poem to memorize for Christmas: The Light of Bethlehem, p. 124 Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath & resources from the public domain Weeks 1-3: The Lady of Shalott Weeks 4-8: The Ballad of the White Horse Week 9: Lochinvar, p. 179 Weeks 10-11: The Soul, p. 181 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Woodman, Spare That Tree!, p. 182 Weeks 3-4: A Psalm of Life, p. 184 Weeks 5-6: In School-Days, p. 191 Weeks 7-8: The Barefoot Boy, p. 187 Weeks 9-10: When the Frost’s On the Punkin, p. 199 Week 11: The Arrow and the Song, p. 185 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath: Shakespeare, Speeches and Sonnets* Week 1: from The Merchant of Venice, p. 153 Week 2: from The Merchant of Venice, p. 154 Weeks 3-4: Sonnet XVIII, p. 156 Weeks 5-6: Sonnet XIX, p. 156 Weeks 7-8: Sonnet XXX, p. 157 Weeks 9-10: Sonnet XXXVI, p. 157 Week 11: Sonnet CXVI, p. 158 *Helpful resource: The Art of the Sonnet **Poem to memorize for Christmas: In the Bleak Midwinter Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: Winter Memories, p. 193 Weeks 3-4: Dickens in Camp, p. 194 Weeks 5-6: The Things That Will Not Die, p. 197 Weeks 7-8: The Builders, p. 186 Week 9: The Maldive Shark, p. 195 Week 10: There Are Gains for All Our Losses, p. 196 Week 11: Conscience and Remorse, p. 201 In this level, students continue to develop as readers of poetry, bringing more and more maturity and sophistication to their encounters with poems. While they are still reading primarily for enjoyment, at this level it is appropriate to begin to consider and notice literary devices in their reading. They will wish to read and refer to the glossary of these terms in The Harp and the Laurel Wreath, pp. 219-222, which may be assigned at the beginning of the first term in this level, alongside the short poem set for that first week. Note that the text includes study questions at this level. The student should largely ignore them, though they might be used as prompts for informal, casual discussion as opportunities arise. Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Week 1: literary terms, pp. 219-222, “In Coventry,” p. 223 Week 2: The Vulture, p. 224 Week 3: The Height of the Ridiculous, p. 225 Weeks 4-5: How Cyrus Laid the Cable, p. 226 Week 6: Why Tigers Can’t Climb, p. 228 Weeks 7-8: My Familiar, p. 230 Week 9: When I Was in Love, p. 232 Week 10: Portrait By a Neighbor, p. 233 Week 11: The Ticket Agent, p. 234 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: The Feast of Padre Chala, p. 235 Weeks 3-4: Robinson Crusoe’s Story, p. 239 Weeks 5-6: The Cremation of Sam McGee, p. 241 Weeks 7-8: Matilda, p. 246 Week 9: Strictly Germ-Proof, p. 248 Weeks 10-11: The Sycophantic Fox and the Gullible Raven, p. 249 Week 12: Open/Exam Week **Poem to memorize for Christmas: I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Week 1: The Purple Cow & Cinq Ans Aprés, p. 251 Week 2: The Embarrassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet, p. 252 Week 3: Jabberwocky, p. 254 Week 4: Thy Neighbors’ Fault, p. 256 Week 5: How to Tell the Wild Animals, p. 257 Week 6: I Never Saw a Moor, p. 258 Week 7: Hymn to the Night, p. 258 Week 8: Barter, p. 259 Week 9: Fame & Father Damien, p. 261 Week 10: Prayer of a Soldier in France, p. 262 Week 11: High Flight, p. 263 Term 1: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Week 1: Guilielmus Rex, p. 264 Week 2: O Captain! My Captain! P. 265 Week 3: Daffodils, p. 267 Week 4: When I Was One-and-Twenty, p. 271 Week 5: The Head and the Heart, p. 293 Week 6: Travel, p. 294 Week 7: The Wild Honeysuckle, p. 297 Week 8: The Chambered Nautilus, p. 298 Week 9: The Snow-Storm, p. 299 Week 10: The Lake Isle of Innisfree, p. 306 Week 11: Prospice, p. 309 Week 12: Open/Exam Week Term 2: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Weeks 1-2: How the Great Guest Came, p. 311 Week 3: Little Boy Blue, p. 314 Week 4: The Day is Done, p. 317 Week 5: The Tables Turned, p. 319 Week 6: The Virgin, p. 321 Week 7: The Destruction of Sennacherib, p. 322 Weeks 8-11: Lepanto, p. 323 Week 12: Open/Exam Week **Poem to memorize for Christmas: The Burning Babe, p. 374 Term 3: The Harp and the Laurel Wreath Week 1: The Passionate Shepherd to His Love, p. 330 Week 2: The Nymph’s Reply to the Shepherd, p. 331 Week 3: A Song, p. 332 Week 4: To Celia, p. 334 Week 5: To Virgins, to Make Much of Time, p. 335 Week 6: A General Communion, p. 336 Week 7: Love (III), p. 337 Week 8: The Pulley, p. 338 Week 9: Edward, Edward, p. 370 Week 10: Get Up and Bar the Door, p. 372 Week 11: Sonnet LXI, p. 379 Poetry in this level will be concentrated on the poetry of World Wars and other voices of the twentieth century. Parents may choose to print out the linked pages for each term and bind them. Here again, while students may continue to exercise a more sophisticated level of reading, informed by literary terms, they are reading primarily to experience these poems, not to analyze them. There is no “secret code” to poetry, although some poems may need repeated readings, and exercise in use of the dictionary, to penetrate what is happening in them. Term 1: War Poetry Week 1: Channel Firing Week 2: Peace Week 3: Joining the Colours Week 4: War Girls Week 5: For the Fallen Week 6: In Flanders Fields Week 7: Strange Meeting Week 8: Adlestrop Week 9: Naming of Parts Week 10: The Death of the Ball-Turret Gunner Week 11: The War in the Air Term 2: The Harlem Renaissance Week 1: December 1919 Week 2: The Heart of a Woman Week 3: Dunbar (the title alludes to the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar) Week 4: November Cotton Flower Week 5: America Week 6: Dreams Week 7: Childhood Week 8: A Black Man Talks of Reaping Week 9: Hard Time Blues Week 10: Lift Every Voice and Sing Week 11: I, Too Week 12: Open/Exam Week Poem to memorize for Christmas: Christmas, Harp and Laurel Wreath, p. 315 Term 3: Twentieth Century American Poetry Week 1: The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter Week 2: Winter Trees Week 3: Janet Waking Week 4: First Fig Week 5: A Jellyfish Week 6: [In Just-] Week 7: Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird Week 8: The Fish Week 9: The Writer Week 10: We Real Cool Week 11: Prayer Week 12: Open/Exam Week For family read-alouds and strewing for children to pick up and read. Talking to the Sun, Kenneth Koch and Kate Farrell* How to Eat a Poem, Kenneth Koch All the Silver Pennies, Blanche Jennings Thompson Early in the Morning, plus other children’s titles by Charles Causley The Rattle Bag, Seamus Heaney and Ted Hughes* Golden Treasury of Poetry, Louis Untermeyer Opposites, More Opposites, and a Few Differences, Richard Wilbur Favorite Poems Old and New by Helen Ferris 30 Poems to Memorize Before It’s Too Late, David Kern *especially good for poetic traditions outside England and America Poetry is integrated into the 4 year high school literature plan. Level 5 Year 1: Classical Epics, British poetry to 1500 Level 5 Year 2: Dante, Poetry & Prose from the Elizabethan to the Neoclassical Age Level 6 Year 1: Poetry from the Romantic to the Victorian Age Level 6 Year 2: Genre study of poetry using Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense Ways to “do poetry” in your homeschool:
Level 1B
Level 1A
Level 1A Year 1
Level 1A Year 2
Level 2
Level 2 Year 1
Level 2 Year 2
Level 3
Level 3 Year 1
Level 3 Year 2
Level 4
Further Poetry Resources for Levels 1-4
Levels 5 & 6
