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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 18 of 20

Poems and Plays

Stanzas, rhythm, meter, dialogue and stage directions.

What your child practices

Your child names the parts of poems and plays (verse, stanza, rhythm, meter, cast, scene, dialogue, stage directions) and explains how they differ from stories.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 4R5 · the parts of poems and plays: verse, rhythm, meter, characters, setting, dialogue and stage directions

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. Poems have lines grouped into stanzas, with rhythm and sometimes meter.
  2. Plays have a cast, scenes, dialogue and stage directions. The speaker’s name comes before each line.
  3. Prose is stories and articles in ordinary sentences and paragraphs.

Example: Which feature is found in plays but usually not in poems? Both can have lines and rhythm. Only plays tell actors how to move. Answer: Stage directions

Poems and Plays in New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 18 of 20 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Revise & Polish and before Arguments, Evidence and Responses.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    "Whisper, whisper, goes the breeze, / Rustling softly through the trees." How many lines does this poem have?

    • Two
    • One
    • Three
    • Four

  2. Question 2

    A play is divided into parts that happen in one place and time. What are they called?

    • Stanzas
    • Captions
    • Verses
    • Scenes

  3. Question 3

    Which feature is found in plays but usually NOT in poems?

    • Lines
    • Stage directions
    • Word choice
    • Rhythm

  4. Question 4

    What is writing that is arranged in lines with rhythm called?

    • Verse
    • An index
    • A glossary
    • Prose

  5. Question 5

    In a script, where do you usually find the name of the character who speaks?

    • Before the line, often in capital letters
    • In the stanza break
    • At the end of the play
    • In the glossary

  6. Question 6

    A poem that does not rhyme and has no regular rhythm is called…

    • A stanza
    • A scene
    • Free verse
    • A stage direction

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