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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 20

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 7R5 · 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 7 of 20 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: 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

    What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

    The Library Is an Ocean

    The library is an ocean,

    And every shelf a wave;

    I dive in every afternoon

    And surface feeling brave.

    • ABAB
    • ABCB
    • AABB
    • ABBA

  2. Question 2

    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.
    • Reading leaves the speaker feeling stronger and more confident.
    • The speaker is scared of the library.

  3. Question 3

    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
    • Onomatopoeia
    • Alliteration
    • Metaphor

  4. Question 4

    What is the rhyme scheme of this poem?

    Saturday Market

    The baker stacks her golden bread,

    The farmer weighs a pear,

    A fiddle's music twirls and spins

    Like ribbons through the air.

    • ABAB
    • ABCB
    • AABB
    • ABBA

  5. Question 5

    What is the setting of this poem?

    Saturday Market

    The baker stacks her golden bread,

    The farmer weighs a pear,

    A fiddle's music twirls and spins

    Like ribbons through the air.

    • A snowy forest
    • A school gym
    • A busy market
    • A quiet library

  6. Question 6

    Which line contains a simile?

    Saturday Market

    The baker stacks her golden bread,

    The farmer weighs a pear,

    A fiddle's music twirls and spins

    Like ribbons through the air.

    • Like ribbons through the air.
    • The farmer weighs a pear,
    • The baker stacks her golden bread,

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