Finding engaging and age-appropriate middle school poems does not need to be challenging. I have created three different lists outlining some suggested poems for 6th, 7th and 8th grade. I also included links to premade poetry units that include lessons to help students learn about this fantastic literary genre.
Middle School Poems
6th Grade Poems
- “On Turning Ten Poem” by Billy Collins
- “Bleezer’s Ice Cream” by Jack Prelutsky
- “Summer” by Walter Dean Myers
- “At the Library” by Nikki Grimes
- “English is a Pane” by Morgan Dude
- “Sick” by Shel Silverstein
This 6th Grade Poetry Unit contains 8 engaging lessons for middle school classrooms. Students will enjoy this differentiated and relevant unit. This unit helps students analyze a variety of poetry forms – poems, songs, spoken word, and create their own poems to be presented at a poetry café. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Teacher Feedback
This is my first year teaching middle school English and this product was perfect. So easy to implement and the students were very engaged. — Kirsten L
7th Grade Poems
- ”Oranges” by Gary Soto
- “Dreams” by Langston Hughes
- “I’m Nobody! Who are you?” (260) by Emily Dickinson
- “Did I Miss Anything?” by Tom Wayman
- “This Is Just To Say” by William Carlos Williams
- “Masks” by Shel Silverstein
- “Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon
This 7th Grade Poetry Unit contains 8 engaging lessons for middle school classrooms. Students will enjoy this differentiated and relevant unit. This unit helps students analyze a variety of poetry forms – poems, songs, spoken word, and create their own poems to be presented at a poetry café. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Teacher Feedback
This unit had everything I needed to teach a great Poetry Unit. I loved the selection on Poetry Analysis. — Erica W
8th Grade Poems
- “The Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost
- “Harlem (Dreams Deferred)” by Langston Hughes
- “The Rose That Grew From Concrete” by Tupac
- “We Real Cool” by Gwendolyn Brooks
- “Nothing Gold Can Stay” by Robert Frost
- “Immigrants” by Rupi Kaur
This 8th Grade Poetry Unit contains 8 engaging lessons for middle school classrooms. Students will enjoy this differentiated and relevant unit. This unit helps students analyze a variety of poetry forms – poems, songs, spoken word, and create their own poems to be presented at a poetry café. Find this resource on Shopify CAD or Teachers Pay Teachers USD.
Teacher Feedback
My students were very engaged and I loved how relevant the examples were. Definitely a great way to spice up the topic of poetry! — Krista F
Each Poetry Unit Includes
- 8 Engaging & Interactive Lessons
- Detailed Lesson Plans
- Answer Keys
- individual PDFs of student pages for uploading to Google Classroom or other online learning portals
- Google Slides graphic organizers for 1:1 schools
- Anchor Charts
- Student Choice
- Group Work
- Quizzes
- Assessment
- Title Pages For Easy Lesson Access
- Rubric and Points-Based Assessment Options
Print out this list of middle school poems and add some to your poetry unit when you teach it again.
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