Middle School English · Grades 6-8
Middle School Poetry
Listen to poems, look closely at them, then write your own.
A poem packs a lot into a few words. Poets use sound, pictures and patterns to make you feel something, often in less than a page.
This course has seven short units for grades 6-8. Each one teaches one tool poets use, with classic public-domain poems, notes, a “Read it to me” button, a writing prompt and a self-guided quiz. Start with Unit 1 and go in order, or jump to the one you need.
The Units
Unit 1
Sound and Rhythm: How Poems Make Music
Rhyme, meter, alliteration and onomatopoeia, with poems you can hear.
Unit 2
Imagery: Painting with Words
Sandburg’s “Fog” and Williams’ red wheelbarrow: how poets help you see, hear and feel.
Unit 3
Figurative Language
Similes, metaphors and personification.
Coming soon
Unit 4
Haiku
Tiny poems about one moment in nature.
Coming soon
Unit 5
Limericks
Funny five-line poems with a bouncy beat.
Coming soon
Unit 6
Ballads
Poems that tell stories, often meant to be sung.
Coming soon
Unit 7
Free Verse and Sonnets
Poems with no set pattern, and poems with a strict one.
Coming soon