1. Poems
identify key characteristics of a variety of forms or genres of oral, print and other media texts.

2. Poetry Poetry is a very expressive form of writing.
There are many different types of poems.
Poems often have rhythm and they sometimes rhyme, especially those written for children.

3. Language
Poems often use very colourful and expressive language to explain an idea or event or get an emotional reaction from a reader.
Poetry can often be recognized by the way it looks on the page.
Most commonly, poems have short lines grouped into verses, or stanzas.

4. Classifying Poems Poems are generally classified by content and form.
Some poems are classified mainly by their subject or content:
Narrative (longer poem that tells a story)
Ballad (long poem or song that tells a story that has been passed down through generations)
Lyric (short poem focusing on the poet’s feelings)

5. Classifying Poems Based on Form or Appearance
Some poems are classified mainly by their form or appearance:
Limerick (5-line poem in which lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme and lines 3 and 4 rhyme - AABBA rhyming pattern)
Haiku (non-rhyming 3-line poem with a total of 17 syllables)
Sonnet (14-line poem with strict rules for rhythm and rhyming patterns)

6. Classifying Poems Based on Form or Appearance
Concrete (a poem that is laid out on paper to look like its subject; also called a Shape poem)
Free Verse (a poem with no identifiable rhythm or rhyme)

7. Rhyming Patterns
The rhyming pattern of a poem gives a letter to each rhyme at the end of a line.
For instance, in one stanza, if the first and third lines rhyme and the second and fourth lines rhyme, the rhyming scheme or rhyming pattern would be written as ABAB.