Which poems are on the sixth grade sheets?

Classic poems by writers like Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and Lewis Carroll, all old enough to be in the public domain. Each one is printed exactly as the poet wrote it, with the original line breaks, punctuation and capitals, and the answer key comes at the end.

What do sixth grade poetry questions focus on?

Mostly word choice and tone, plus how one line or stanza shapes the whole poem. Students explain what a figurative line means and why a poet repeats a line or changes direction partway through. They also say how the speaker sounds and pick the theme the poem supports.

6th grade poetry analysis

6th grade poetry analysis worksheets

Sixth grade poetry worksheets print one classic public-domain poem exactly as the poet wrote it, then ask five questions about it. Students name the speaker, explain what a figurative line means, say what a repeated line or a shift between stanzas adds, describe the tone, and choose the theme the whole poem supports.

Free printable PDF worksheet, aligned to Common Core RL.6.4, RL.6.5.

Each click picks one of the 15 passages written for this grade. Every sheet comes with its answer key. You don't need to sign up.

The kind of passages you'll get

Read the poem twice, once for what happens and once for how it sounds. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question.

Fable, by Ralph Waldo Emerson

The mountain and the squirrel Had a quarrel; And the former called the latter 'Little Prig.' Bun replied, 'You are doubtless very big; But all sorts of things and weather Must be taken in together, To make up a year And a sphere. And I…

What happens in the poem? a squirrel answers a mountain that has called it a name · a mountain and a squirrel agree to share a forest · a mountain says sorry to a squirrel after their quarrel · a squirrel tries to carry a forest on its back
Answer: a squirrel answers a mountain that has called it a name
What does the squirrel mean by 'I think it no disgrace / To occupy my place'? it is not ashamed of being small · it is ashamed of the place where it lives · it wants the mountain to move away · it plans to take the mountain's place

Each print picks one of the 15 passages written for this grade, and its questions come with it. With 15 to pick from, a second print can land on one you've used, so check the title before you hand it out.

What's on a 6th grade sheet

6th grade sheets draw from 15 passages, 40 to 199 words long. All 15 are on 5th grade sheets too, along with 15 more.

Some of the titles: Silver, by Walter de la Mare, The Arrow and the Song, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Stars, by Sara Teasdale, I'm Nobody! Who Are You? by Emily Dickinson, Lost, by Carl Sandburg, Written in March, by William Wordsworth.

Poem. Read the poem twice, once for what happens and once for how it sounds. Then circle the letter of the best answer for each question. One passage per sheet, with its own question set.

Every version prints on US Letter or A4, with its answer key on the last page.

How to teach this

Read the poem aloud and ask your child how the speaker would say it: in a whisper, a cheer, a tease or a sigh. That voice is the tone, and sixth grade questions ask for it by name. Next, point to one strong word and ask why the poet picked it over a plainer one. Last, reread the final stanza by itself. Many of these poems turn at the end, so a theme has to fit the ending as well as the opening.

Watch for: The speaker is not automatically the poet. A poem can speak as a child, a soldier or a tree, so the questions say 'the speaker' on purpose. Students read each line as a sentence and stop at the line break. The sentence runs until the punctuation does, and a line that spills into the next one is often the point. Naming a device is not the answer to a question about its effect. Rhyme, repetition or a stanza break is right only when the option says what it does to the poem.

Common questions about 6th grade poetry analysis

Which poems are on the sixth grade sheets?: Classic poems by writers like Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Walt Whitman and Lewis Carroll, all old enough to be in the public domain. Each one is printed exactly as the poet wrote it, with the original line breaks, punctuation and capitals, and the answer key comes at the end.
What do sixth grade poetry questions focus on?: Mostly word choice and tone, plus how one line or stanza shapes the whole poem. Students explain what a figurative line means and why a poet repeats a line or changes direction partway through. They also say how the speaker sounds and pick the theme the poem supports.

Related worksheets

Ready to print one?

Want a different passage? Print again. Each print picks one of the 15.

Aligned to Common Core RL.6.4, RL.6.5. Reviewed by the One more sheet team. Content version 241, updated October 2026.

Spot a mistake on this sheet? Tell us. · About these worksheets