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7th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 7 of 15

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.

Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) teks student expectation: 7.8(B) · poetic forms, stanzas, rhyme and meter

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 Texas

In the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS), this is unit 7 of 15 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: Texas Education Agency (TEA)

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

    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.

    • Serious
    • Gloomy
    • Humorous
    • Furious

  2. Question 2

    What is the rhyme scheme 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.

    • ABABA
    • ABBAA
    • AABBA
    • AAAAA

  3. Question 3

    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
    • Free verse
    • Sonnet
    • Limerick

  4. Question 4

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

  5. Question 5

    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.

    • ABBA
    • ABAB
    • AABB
    • ABCB

  6. Question 6

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

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