These are poems about events or people in American history that you can use in your classroom. These would be great to use as bell ringers, discussion starters, or to reinforce/review content. Some of these poems are in the public domain and some are not. If the poem is not in the public domain, I have provided a link to an outside website. I cannot post those poems on my website because of copyright laws, but you can use them in your classroom for educational purposes under the fair use doctrine.
Paul Revere’s Ride by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson – American Revolution
Harriet Tubman by Eloise Greenfield
O Captain! My Captain! by Walt Whitman – death of Abraham Lincoln
The New Colossus by Emma Lazarus – Statue of Liberty, immigration
My Boy Jack by Rudyard Kipling – World War I
I, Too by Langston Hughes – segregation, example of Harlem Renaissance poetry
