Choosing poems that will engage all of the learners in your class can be a challenge. You might try palindrome poetry or X, but another option is choosing a theme your students love and running with it! For some of my students, that means sports!
Read on for a lesson plan and 5 sports-themed poetry examples to use in your high school English classes at any time of year!
Lessons with Poetry
To teach with these poems you might use some of your usual ideas for analysis.
First, read the poem to note and notice. They might consider:
- Words that are unknown (identify and then define)
- Anything that stands out
- Thoughts on the title and connection to the poem
- Rhyme scheme
- Any particular images, symbols, or words that stand out
- How do the images relate to the sport and then to things beyond the sport
On a second read, get students to consider what the poem is about… how they could summarize or explain it. This can be done as a think-pair-share, where students make their own notes first, then share with an elbow-partner, and finally share in larger groups or with the whole class.
8 Sports Poetry Options
Here are eight poems focused on sports that have been a hit with many of my students.
A Boy Juggling a Soccer Ball by Christopher Merrill
The poem is amazing because it shares how a player, after practice, plays with a ball juggling it against his leg, from foot to foot, etc. The WHOLE poem describes these moves. It’s simple but so clear in its imagery.
Fast Break by Edward Hirsch
The poem in couplets mimics the rhythm of a basketball game and the title play of a fast break.
Get more stories and poetry about basketball in this collection.
It Is Maybe Time to Admit That Michael Jordan Definitely Pushed Off by Hanif Abdurraqib
This 2019 poem is about famed Chicago Bulls player Michael Jordan and an infamous play during the NBA finals in 1998 against the Utah Jazz. The prose poem focuses on this play and ties it to family death (Jordan’s father had died during the basketball season).
It’s a bit heavy since it does mention the death of a parent (Jordan’s as well as the poem’s subject’s mother) so proceed with caution but if you can include it in class, Abdurraqib’s poetry is always worth it!
The Rookie by January Gill O’Neil
The story of a young man playing in little league who makes a great catch. He returns to his teammates at the end of the game and is confronted by a comment about his race. The poem is not explicit but rather a microaggression that is impactful for the child and his parent.
Sports History by Brett Fletcher Lauer
This 2015 poem focuses on a man who loves lots of things about sports but isn’t particularly adept at any sport. It is humorous and filled with simple imagery that students can really grasp.
You Can’t Put Muhammad Ali in a Poem by Juan Felipe Herrera
This 2016 is told in an interesting layout with broken lines and is as much about the boxer Muhammad Ali as it is about pacifism.
How to Triumph Like a Girl by Ada Limón
This 2015 poem by the current US Poet Laureate is, like all of her work, simply amazing! Focusing on racehorses the poem says so much more than just being about horses.
Round 3 by Eloisa Amezcua
From the poet: “Before turning pro, ‘Schoolboy’ Bobby Chacon was notorious for starting fights in liquor store parking lots after school. He began training as a boxer in the late ’60s after his future wife, Valorie Ginn, encouraged him to make a living out of his natural fighting skills. Chacon went on to win two world boxing championships during his sixteen-year career, though he faced many tragedies and pitfalls along the way.”
Poetry Writing Made Easy
As a final way to up the challenge with students after they’ve read one or more of these poems, ask them to write their own! This is a great opportunity to work on precision in language, connotation and denotation, sensory details, and more!
- Pick a sport
- Brainstorm keywords related to the sport
- Think of a main image that could be depicted/described
- Write a draft using the brainstormed words/images
- Share with a peer and review and revise
- Finalize the poem
To me, you can’t go wrong with any one of these poems. And the subject is quite engaging for many since it is very accessible. I hope you and your students get to enjoy some of these sports poetry options.
