Description
This Poetry Packet includes five classic poems that students will read, annotate, and analyze, making it an excellent fit for a middle school poetry unit in 7th, 8th, or 9th grade ELA. The selections are rigorous yet accessible, allowing students to practice essential poetry skills while engaging with well-known literary voices.
This packet is intentionally flexible, giving teachers multiple options for implementation. Students can complete the poem analyses as a whole class, independently, collaboratively, or in small groups, making it easy to differentiate instruction and adapt to your classroom needs.
The poems included in this packet are “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth, “We Wear the Mask” by Paul Laurence Dunbar, “We Never Know How High We Are” by Emily Dickinson, and “The Gardener” by Robert Louis Stevenson. Each poem offers rich opportunities for discussion, close reading, and analysis.
Throughout the packet, students practice a wide range of key poetry skills, including rhyme and rhyme scheme, imagery, allusion, assonance, consonance, alliteration, hyperbole, personification, connotation, theme, tone, mood, and author’s purpose. These skills are reinforced across multiple texts, helping students recognize patterns and deepen their understanding of poetic techniques.
Perfect for middle school and early high school ELA, this poetry packet provides meaningful practice, strong literary exposure, and flexible instructional options that support both comprehension and analysis.