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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 13

Poetry Lab

Rhyme, stanzas and speakers

What your child practices

Reading short original poems to find rhyme schemes, count stanzas, identify the speaker, recognize forms like haiku, limerick and free verse, and interpret figurative language and theme.

Alabama Course of Study content standard: 7.4; 7.9 · poetic forms, stanzas and speakers

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Label lines that rhyme with the same letter to find the rhyme scheme: AABB, ABAB.
  2. A stanza is a group of lines. The speaker is the voice in the poem.
  3. Haiku has 3 lines (5, 7, 5 syllables). A limerick is a funny 5-line poem (AABBA). Free verse has no set rhyme or rhythm.

Example: Lines 1 and 2 rhyme, and lines 3 and 4 rhyme. What is the rhyme scheme? Lines 1 and 2 get A. Lines 3 and 4 get B. Answer: AABB

Poetry Lab in Alabama

In the Alabama Course of Study, this is unit 7 of 13 in 7th grade English Language Arts, after Word Mix-Ups and before Punctuation Power.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alabama State Department of Education (ALSDE)

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    What two things does the poem compare?

    The Library Is an Ocean

    The library is an ocean,

    And every shelf a wave;

    I dive in every afternoon

    And surface feeling brave.

    • A book and a boat
    • A reader and a fish
    • A library and an ocean
    • A shelf and a lunch tray

  2. Question 2

    What type of comparison is “The library is an ocean”?

    The Library Is an Ocean

    The library is an ocean,

    And every shelf a wave;

    I dive in every afternoon

    And surface feeling brave.

    • Simile
    • Metaphor
    • Alliteration
    • Onomatopoeia

  3. Question 3

    What does the speaker mean by “surface feeling brave”?

    The Library Is an Ocean

    The library is an ocean,

    And every shelf a wave;

    I dive in every afternoon

    And surface feeling brave.

    • The speaker is learning to swim.
    • The speaker gets wet after lunch.
    • The speaker is scared of the library.
    • Reading leaves the speaker feeling stronger and more confident.

  4. Question 4

    Which two lines rhyme with each other?

    Pete

    There once was a puppy named Pete

    Who snatched every sock off your feet.

    He'd tiptoe and creep

    While you were asleep,

    Then nap on the pile, looking sweet.

    • Lines 1 and 3
    • Lines 1 and 4
    • Lines 3 and 4
    • Lines 2 and 4

  5. Question 5

    What form of poem is this?

    Pete

    There once was a puppy named Pete

    Who snatched every sock off your feet.

    He'd tiptoe and creep

    While you were asleep,

    Then nap on the pile, looking sweet.

    • Haiku
    • Limerick
    • Free verse
    • Sonnet

  6. Question 6

    Which word best describes the tone of this poem?

    Pete

    There once was a puppy named Pete

    Who snatched every sock off your feet.

    He'd tiptoe and creep

    While you were asleep,

    Then nap on the pile, looking sweet.

    • Gloomy
    • Humorous
    • Furious
    • Serious

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