Hi, Friend!

Thanks for dropping by.

As a fellow Language Arts teacher, I know firsthand what

it feels like to have a million (and one) things to teach and
never enough time. On top of that, there’s never enough
planning time to carry it out the way you’d like.

That’s why I’m sharing my favorite lessons and classroom

activities for middle school Language Arts teachers.

My goal is to strike a
happy and healthy balance
between content + rigor +
engagement and share my
findings with others.

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Dear Teacher,
Teaching poetry can be difficult if it isn’t something you are
passionate about. I often talk about how I avoided my poetry unit
like the plague for a very long time… until I realized poetry was just
like anything else I perceived as “difficult.” It was just something that
I needed to dive in and get more familiar with.

In this free resource, you’ll see how I break down the Elements of
Poetry into a logical lock-step sequence. From there, you’ll see the
question bank I use to encourage students’ thinking.

Finally, you’ll get free, exclusive access to my poetry analysis

stations. These can be used with any poem… which means they can
be used again & again!

If you enjoy this free resource and want to know more about
teaching poetry, check out the lessons below & slide this email into
your primary inbox (no spam!). I’ll follow it up with some practical
ideas & fun resources in the coming days. J

Questions? Suggestions? Requests? I’d love to hear from you, so

don’t forget to leave feedback or reach out to me at
info@heynatayle.com.
 the
ELEMENTS OF POETRY
Poetry is a type of literature that uses the musical elements of language
to express thoughts and emotions. It is written to help make sense of the
world around us by offering new perspectives and ways to see the
world, allowing us to connect and empathize with one another and
understand things more deeply.

SPEAKER
The voice that
1
narrates a poem STRUCTURE
is the speaker. Poems are
2 arranged in
group of lines
SOUND called stanzas.
DEVICES
Rhyme, meter, 3
repetition, and
more all
emphasize SENSORY
sound to create LANGUAGE
rhythm. 4 Language that
appeals to the
five senses,
FIGURATIVE also known as
LANGUAGE imagery.
Nonliteral 5
language that THEME
helps readers 6 The message or
see ideas in insight about life that
new ways. the poem conveys.

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
 Elements of Poetry
QUESTION STEMS

SPEAKER
Who is the speaker of the poem? How can you tell?
What is the speaker's attitude toward the topic?
What does the poem reveal about the speaker?

STRUCTURE
How is the poem arranged?
Is there a pattern in the structure of the poem?
Does the structure of the poem relate to the topic? If so, how?

CONFLICT
SOUND DEVICES
Describe the rhythm of the poem.
How does the poet use rhyme? Is there a rhyme scheme?
What elements does the poet use to create a musical quality in the poem?

SENSORY LANGUAGE
Which words or phrases does the poet use to create a strong word picture?
What do the poem's images suggest about the speaker's attitude toward the
topic?

FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
What type of figurative language is used in the poem?
How does the use of figurative language contribute to the tone of the poem?
Why does the poet use [device] in [the third stanza]?

CONFLICT
THEME
What is a possible theme of the poem?
How is the theme of the poem developed?
Why did the poet write this poem?

ELEMENTS OF LITERATURE
poetry form & structure

© Natayle Brown
 poetic devices
Directions: Read your poem with poetic devices in mind.
1. HIGHLIGHT in ORANGE any examples of imagery.
2. HIGHLIGHT in ORANGE any sound devices
• Ex: alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia
3. HIGHLIGHT in ORANGE any examples of figurative language
• Ex: simile, metaphor, personification, hyperbole, oxymoron
4. Answer the STATION 2 questions on your recording sheet.

© Natayle Brown
 poetic voice
Directions: Read your poem with poetic voice in mind.
1. NAME the speaker at the top near the title in BLUE highlighter.
2. HIGHLIGHT in BLUE any words with positive or negative
connotations.
3. HIGHLIGHT in BLUE any additional words or phrases that show
the speaker’s point of view or attitude.
4. WRITE in the right margin in BLUE the different tones you pick
up on in the poem.
5. Answer the STATION 3 questions on your recording sheet. © Natayle Brown
 theme
Directions: Read your poem with the intention of uncovering the message.

1. Highlight the TITLE of the poem with a PINK highlighter.

2. Highlight the topic of the poem in PINK.
3. THINK about the poet’s message about that topic.
4. WRITE a theme statement in PINK at the bottom of your
poem.
5. Answer the STATION 4 questions on your recording sheet.

© Natayle Brown
analysis
STATION 1: FORM & STRUCTURE
1. Write a statement that best describes the structure of the poem. (Stanzas, lines, rhyme, etc.)

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. In what ways might the structure add meaning to the poem?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

STATION 2: POETIC DEVICES

1. Pick one example of imagery, figurative language, or sound device and explain its meaning.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

2. What is the speaker trying to express through his/her use of poetic devices?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
©Natayle Brown
analysis
STATION 3: POETIC VOICE
1. Pick one example of a word or phrase with a negative or positive connotation. Explain.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Describe the tone(s) of the poem. Does the speaker change at all? Explain.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

STATION
STATION 4: THEME
2: POETIC DEVICES
1. Explain the theme of the poem.

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. Which stanza or line(s) are most important to the theme? Why?

_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

©Natayle Brown
 Thank You
Thank you so much for purchasing this resource! I
sincerely hope this resource is helpful for you and your
classroom. I would absolutely love to hear from you, so
feel free to drop me a line at info@heynatayle.com

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Check out this post for more
ideas for your poetry unit!