How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

We’ve had requests for how to grade poetry in homeschool high school. Here are our thoughts.

How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

For years I enjoyed teaching the writing component of the yearly Language Arts credit for our local homeschool high schools in co-op and group classes. One of my favorite moments came each year when our freshmen faced their first poetry unit. The first day of class would be full of moans and groans. However, by the last day of the unit, even the most reluctant were getting a kick out of writing poetry (and felt confident about their skills)!

One of my favorite stories was of a young fellow whose life goal was to become a firefighter. We could all see that he would be a courageous emergency service person. I could also see his lack of confidence in his writing abilities. He comforted himself that he probably wouldn’t need to write much in his future career. He felt so awkward that day in class!

I encouraged the students that poetry writing is a good skill to know AND that I did not expect them to become poets.

I simply wanted them to gain the communication skills that poetry can give them:

Better use of vocabulary. (We are limited in what we think and how we communicate by the number and usability of our words.)
Increased confidence in their creativity. (Creativity is a necessary component of problem solving skills.)
More fun with high school writing! (Poetry, well presented, is SO much fun!)

My goals for teaching poetry did not include:

Turning homeschool high schoolers into world-class poets
Making them hate poetry by using a pretentious, busywork-filled curriculum
Intimidating them by expecting them to churn out deep poetry full of lofty ideas

The curriculum that met all these goals, of course is 7Sisters Poetry Writing!

This series of downloadable poetry-writing guides take teens from the I never wrote a poem in my whole life stage to the I’m feeling some confidence in my poetry-writing skills stage. Here is the progression we used (1 per year):

Introductory Guide to High School Poetry Writing (9th grade- although some 10th graders with no poetry-writing experience joined us each year)

Introductory Guide to Poetry Writing — Click image for full description.

Intermediate Guide to High School Poetry Writing (10th grade or 11th grade- if they started poetry writing in 9th grade)
Advanced Guide to High School Poetry Writing (11th grade or 12th grade- if they started poetry writing in 9th grade)

For the homeschool high schoolers who discovered that they LOVED poetry so much that they wanted more, we added:

British Poetry (reading and understanding poems)
American Poetry Reading and Writing (a fun guide to reading and writing different poetry styles)
World Poetry Reading and Writing (a fun guide to reading and writing different poetry styles)
Poetry Analysis (Who should do Poetry Analysis? Those who have completed several poetry guides and want more skills)

World Poetry Reading and Writing Guide — Click image for full description.

We have found that sometimes homeschool moms feel intimidated by grading poetry produced by their high schoolers. It is such a different writing genre than essays or research papers! So, here 3 ways to handle it!

How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

Grading Poetry Version 1:

When teens are just starting out OR are writing poetry for the love of poetry, grade generously. If a student has create a poem and presented it neatly, give an *A* because:

For beginners you should aim more for encouragement than *being amazing*.
For more experienced poetry writers who are writing for the sheer love of poetry, most of their work is extra credit and you want to reward initiative.

Grading Poetry Version 2:

Have your homeschool high schoolers grade their own poetry. Have them assign a grade and explain how they earned the grade. This is a good way for you and your teens to understand their thinking about their poetry writing. As they examine their own poetry, they will improve their own skills!

Grading Poetry Version 3:

Use (or freely adapt) this rubric.

Rubric for the Poetry

Score 0-4

0-2 little or no evidence of that requirement being attempted

3-5 a clear attempt at the requirement made, but very poorly done

6-7 requirement met, much improvement could be made

8 requirement met, some improvement could be made

9 requirement met, almost perfect!

10 perfect job!

_____Assignment turned in on time

_____Assignment neatly prepared

_____Directions followed

_____Utilized poetic language (according to the style of poem being studied)

_____Utilized descriptive vocabulary (according to the style of poem being studied)

_____Included at least a first and second draft of the poem

_____Correct spelling

_____Exhibits creativity

_____Total points earned (give 2 points extra credit for illustrations) 80 Total points possible

_____Percentage of possible points (Final Score) Comments

That’s it! Grading poetry for homeschool high school is not that hard! You can do it (and so can your teens)!

Download some 7Sisters Poetry Writing Guides and get started. Your teens will find that poetry is really pretty fun!

BTW- If you’re having trouble keeping up with your paperwork before and after grading, check out this post from our friend, Anne Karako.

Also, for teens who get excited and want a full year/full credit of poetry, here’s a syllabus for a poetry credit to walk them through the process.

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How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

How to Grade Poetry for Homeschool High School

I simply wanted them to gain the communication skills that poetry can give them:

My goals for teaching poetry did not include:

This series of downloadable poetry-writing guides take teens from the I never wrote a poem in my whole life stage to the I’m feeling some confidence in my poetry-writing skills stage. Here is the progression we used (1 per year):