There is no place for judgmental red pens or harsh standardized tests in The 7th Grade Poetry Foundation. There is no right or wrong, pass or fail—just truth, as seen through the eyes of a 13-year-old ...

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If you paid any attention at all in high school English, you probably remember iambic pentameter, most likely from reading Shakespeare, and perhaps even other meters like trochaic tetrameter (the ...

Poetry can be intimidating. As students, many of us were taught that the goal of reading a poem was to “understand” exactly what the poet was trying to say. No small charge. The Common Core State ...

“Rappahannock.” “Allagash.” “Monongahela.” Were there ever three more beautiful words for rivers? All three names (for rivers in Virginia, Maine and Pennsylvania, respectively) derive from Native ...

In 2017, poet Sarah Holbrook was excited to learn that two of her poems were chosen to appear on the 7th and 8th grade Texas state standardized test. On a lark, Holbrook tried answering the ...