Produced for K-12 educators, Teach This Poem features one poem a week from our online poetry collection, accompanied by interdisciplinary resources and activities designed to help teachers quickly and easily bring poetry into the classroom. The series is written by our Educator in Residence, Dr. Madeleine Fuchs Holzer, and is available for free via email.
Featured Poem
The Rocky Mountains, Lander's Peak
The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak by Albert Bierstadt (American1830–1902). Date: 1863. Medium: Oil on canvas. Dimensions: 73 1/2 x 120 3/4 inches. Credit Line: Rogers Fund, 1907. www.metmuseum.org
Classroom Activities
- Ask your students to look carefully at “The Rocky Mountains, Lander’s Peak” by Albert Bierstadt. What do they see in the colors and brushstrokes of the painting? Where do their eyes go first? Second?
- How does Bierstadt feel about the Rocky Mountains? How do they know? How does the painting make them feel?
- Ask your students to read “Remember” by Joy Harjo silently. Have them circle the images and words that jump out at them. Based on their reading of the poem, ask them how Harjo feels about the connectedness of all things. How is this related to who Harjo is, as a Native American?