These worksheets will teach your students how to identify key imagery and ideas within poems.

Expose your students to a variety of poems and to the language, rhythm, and expression of emotion that make up a poem. Include poetry to assist involvement in daily skill practice such as memory skills, recalling information, comparing and contrasting, counting skills, thesaurus and dictionary use, sequencing, and vocabulary development. The following collection of activity sheets contains short-answer questions about famous poems. After your students have read each poem, they must find the answers to questions about specific characters and events, using words and phrases from the poem itself. The poetry works covered include "Casey at the Bat" by Ernest Thayer, "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll, and "The Spider and the Fly" by Mary Howitt. Answer keys have been provided for each worksheet for instructors.

Make poetry a part of everyday activities to nurture the appreciation of poetry. Review each poetry form with the students prior to having them write and remember to allow time for students to share their poems. Fun Fact: "The Epic of Gilgamesh," written about 2150 BC, is generally considered to be the oldest surviving piece of written poetry in the world. Scroll down to see some the most famous works that we are all familiar with.



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Printable Poetry Worksheets

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Casey at the Bat Worksheet

Poetry Worksheet: Casey at the Bat

At the beginning of the poem, who did the crowd want to bat? How did Casey respond to the cheering of the crowd when he came to bat?

Jabberwocky Worksheet

Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll

The father told the son to beware of what three things? Describe how the jabberwocky approached the boy.

The Spider and the Fly Worksheet

The Spider and the Fly By Mary Howitt

In the second stanza, what did the spider do to try and get the fly inside? In your own words, explain why the fly said she wouldn’t rest on the spider's bed.

Worksheet on How to Read Poems

Reading Poetry

What is the poem about? This poem was written over two hundred years ago. Do you think it has any relevance for us today? Why or why not?

Cinquain Poem Worksheet

The Cinquain

A cinquain is a poem that is five lines long; the syllables in each line follow this syllable pattern: 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.

Poetic Devices Worksheet

Identifying Poetic Devices

As you read the assignment. Can you find any of the poetic devices below? Record at least three poetic devices that you find.

Tones of Poems Worksheet

The Moods of Poetry

What is happening in the poem? Describe the mood or the tone of the poem.

Free Verse Worksheet

Writing Free Verse

Free verse is a kind of poetry that has no rules at all. It does not have rhyme or regular meter. Free verse typically relies on imagery, alliteration, etc. to convey meaning.

Alliteration Worksheet

Alliteration Worksheet

Alliteration is the intentional repetition of consonant sounds in nearby words. Often the repeated sound is at the beginning of each word. Alliteration is a literary device that is often used in poetry.

Poem Worksheet

Understanding Poetry

One of the things that makes poems different from prose is that poets are much less likely to come right out and say what’s on their mind - they don't "hit your over the head" with their message!

Autobiographical Poem Worksheet

Write an Autobiographical Poem

An autobiographical poem is a poem you write about yourself. The autobiographical poem is often written in free verse, which means that An autobiographical poem follows a template that you fill in with details about yourself.

Rhymes in Poems Worksheet

The Swing

Use letters to chart the rhyme scheme of the poem. Write each letter on a line.

Poem Worksheet

The Letter

This eight-line poem called "The Letter," was written by Dr. Charles W. Eliot (1834-1926), and is carved into the stone edifice of the U.S. Postal Museum in Washington D.C. Read the poem, then answer the questions.

Haiku Worksheet

Write a Haiku

Haiku is Japanese form of poetry usually reflecting on nature and feelings. There are three lines in a Haiku. The first has five syllables, the second seven syllables, and the third has five syllables.

Poem Rhymes Worksheet

Success

Does the poem have a rhyme scheme? What is it? Summarize the poem. What message did you take away from it?

Velvets Worksheet

Velvets - Hilda Conkling

This is a copy of the extended poem to be used with the next worksheet.

Analysis of Velvets Worksheet

Analysis of Velvets

Does the poem use a set meter? What is it? Does # of lines per stanza vary? If so, how?

Consonance Worksheet

Consonance in Poetry Worksheet

Consonance is the repetition of similar consonant sounds close together within a word, phrase or sentence. To be noticeable, the words with the repeated consonant sounds have to be close together. While alliteration is the repetition of the first letter of each word, consonance can appear anywhere within a word, and often appears at the end.

Composition Worksheet

Express Yourself with Poetry

Choose a type of poem that you want to write. What will be the topic of your poem?

How to Write a Poem


"I loved my friend.
He went away from me.
There's nothing more to say.
The poem ends,
Soft as it began -
I loved my friend."

All it took for Langston Hughes was six lines. Six lines to stir up the most potent emotions inside of you. And that is what poetry is.

A poem is a condensed piece of writing that aims to impact a reader emotionally. The structure is in a lyrical form where every line is called a verse. The breaks, rhythm, and meter used help to bring out the musical tone of the language. And this tone is what creates such a huge impact.

But how can one write a moving piece of poetry? Let us read further to find out!

Elements of Poetry

Rhythm, form, and literary devices. These three things are crucial to writing a great poem!

Rhythm includes a couple of things in itself. It talks about the lyrical quality of the poem and how it feels when read out aloud. The wording of the poem should mimic the general aura that it holds. The words should have beats according to the feelings that the poet wants to convey. While it is not necessary that these words rhyme, there should be a certain musical quality to them. And the same goes for the meter of the poem. This means applying stress to certain parts of certain words. All for igniting feelings and emotions.

The form of the poem refers to what structure it has. It also focuses on what type the poem is. A slam poem, a ghazal, or a simple sonnet? Where the verse would break. And from where would the new verse begin. All under the element of form.

Literary devices bring life to any written piece of text. And it does so for poetry as well. Alliteration, personification, imagery, and much more help to build up a poem. That too through music.

Choose a topic

You will have to start by devising a topic. This will help you stick to one thing without any diversions.

Brainstorm

Write down all the ideas that you get. Create a mindmap and see what you need to add and when you need to add it.

Structure

Consider all the elements that go into creating a poem and decide which ones you need. This will help you create an outline of what your finished product should look like.

Add Drama

Poems are short but impactful. That is because a lot is said in a few lines. That too through drama. See where your dramatic effects would go best. Plan the setting and go accordingly.

Edit Away at The End!

Once you are done with your first draft, feel free to edit it all you want to create that perfect poem! One that everyone remembers forever.