The Thesaurus Verse Poetry Lesson Plan

This blends poetry, vocabulary building, and creative writing into one fun activity that’s easy to differentiate across levels. It’s a great way to teach kids that words matter—and choosing the right ones makes all the difference.

🎯 Objective

Students will explore synonyms using a thesaurus and apply them in writing a Thesaurus Verse—a poem that creatively layers similar words for impact and rhythm.

What is Thesaurus Verse™?

Thesaurus Verse uses synonyms to create poems full of meaning, rhythm, and emotion. Instead of just one word, we explore different ways to say the same thing (or the opposite) and use those choices to shape the poem.

Note: while synonym poetry also uses synonyms, what I have seen of them is that they are couplets, with the first line listing synonyms, and the second line is a descriptive phrase. The title is the base word here as well. So I came up with the Thesaurus Verse for an earlier post here. There might be something similar out there, and if you know of it, do let me know.

🔗 Connections

• Learning Connection: This lesson helps students build vocabulary, explore word choices, and express creativity through language.
• Poetry Connection: Thesaurus Verse teaches that poetry isn’t just about rhyme—it’s about choosing the right words to create mood, rhythm, and meaning.
• 📚 Book Suggestions: Use these books to spark ideas and model rich vocabulary:
  • The …Can Be Books by Laura Purdie Salas
  • Poetical Dictionary by Lohren Green. (A note to teachers: Please read through and find poems that would best work for your students needs from this collection)

🗂️ Lesson Plan Outline:

1. Hook (10 mins)

Ask: “What’s another way to say ‘happy’?” Write answers on the board and introduce the thesaurus as a tool to find fun, creative word choices. Discuss how different words can change a sentence’s meaning.

2. Mini-Lesson (15 mins)

Show a short Thesaurus Verse example (see below). Highlight how synonyms are stacked or layered for effect.

Example:

Happy

Merry, joyful, cheerful, beaming—
My smile grows wide, my eyes are gleaming.
Ecstatic, thrilled, on cloud nine,
This sunshine feeling? Totally mine.

Discussion:
How do synonyms like “joyful” and “beaming” change the feeling of the poem? Show how a thesaurus can help find words that fit the tone of a poem. Try to find phrases that will fit as well, like “on cloud nine” or “sunshine feeling!” (See also – kennings)

3. Guided Practice (20 mins)

Activity:
Choose a simple emotion or noun as a class (e.g., “cold,” “fast,” “tree”).

• Use the thesaurus to brainstorm synonyms.
• Discuss how different words give different shades of meaning. For example, does “icy” feel the same as “cold”? Does “tree” sound different when we say “oak” or “pine”?

Class Poem:
As a class, create a Thesaurus Verse together using the brainstormed words. Let students offer suggestions for synonyms and help shape the poem.

4. Independent Writing (15–20 mins)

Students pick their own base word and write their own Thesaurus Verse. Encourage them to use at least 3-4 synonyms creatively.

5. Share + Reflect (10 mins)

Invite students to read their poems aloud. Discuss how different synonyms and phrases changed the poem’s feeling. sound, or meaning.

🎒 Accommodations for Other Grades

• 1st–2nd Grade: Focus on oral wordplay with word cards. Write a class poem together.
• 6th Grade and Up: Challenge students to add similes or metaphors to their Thesaurus Verses.

🌱 Extension Activities

• Word Wall of Synonyms: Create a rotating wall of “tired words” and their exciting alternatives.
• Collaborative Thesaurus Verse: Write group poems using different base words.
• “Before & After” Activity: Have students write a plain sentence, then rewrite it using Thesaurus Verse style to enhance it.

Terrific Tunes

Today’s NaPoWriMo prompt challenges us to write our own poem that focuses on birdsong! For examples, there is A.E. Stallings’ “Blackbird Etude,” or for an old-school throwback, Shelley’s “To a Skylark.”

A Trio of Tunes(?)

My First Attempt

I first read (and wrote) about the dawn chorus last year in this post, and in the process, learned a little more, so I put some of that learning in here.

The Truth About Twilight Tunes
Did you know the early bird
Gets more than just the worm?
That dawn-time chorus in the trees —
more than “hello” to the morning breeze.
It’s nature’s stage, survival’s test,
The songbird sings to beat the rest.
The earlier he lifts his voice,
The better chance, the brighter choice.
And those perched highest start the tune,
They catch first light, still kissed by moon.
It’s mostly males who start the song,
To claim their space, and a mate along.
He calls, “I made it through the night,
I’m strong, I’m here, I’m full of fight.”
So yes, the early bird — like I said to you —
Sings not just for worms, but also to woo.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Tipping My Hat to the Bard

Since it is Shakespeare Day today, why not a cento-esque offering! I went hunting for bird references from the bard and tried to put them together here. From A Midsummer’s Night Dream and Romeo and Juliet to Taming of the Shrew and Macbeth, a little of a lot.

Tidings o’er the Treetops Borne
(A Shakespearean Cento-ish)

The finch, the sparrow rise and hark—
From sullen earth they pierce the dark.
Like-wise the lark at break of day,
Who tells sweethearts, ’tis time to part way.

The throstle trills his note so true,
The wren pipes soft with quill of dew,
Tirra-lyra, bright songs take wing,
While twenty caged nightingales sing.

With heigh! with heigh! the thrush and jay
Make merry cheer in new-mown hay.
The ousel cock, so black of hue,
With orange-tawny bill breaks through.

The plain-song cuckoo, ghostly-gray—
“Cuckoo, cuckoo,” is all his say.
His echo rolls from hill to hill.

I’ll have a starling taught to speak,
To mimic love—or joy—or pique.

~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites

Tuneful Thesaurus

And since I was in thesaurus mode already, tried one of those when I saw the prompt.

Birdsong
That dawn chorus
that melody-maker —
trilling, lilting, whistling tunes,
morning’s music, sung to the moon.
Cheeping, chiming, soft and bright,
Echoes dancing with the light.
A feathered symphony,
an avian melody,
a sweet serenade –
that floats-our-way.
~ Vidya Tiru @ LadyInReadWrites