Reading Poetry at Grade 5 is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on reading poetry closely enough to analyse its structure, aligned to Common Core standard RL.5.10. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 1 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Stanza one:
We kept the table, which was too big,
and the clock, which had never gone,
and a tin of buttons nobody wanted,
and the habit of turning lights off.
Stanza two:
We gave away the good chairs.
We gave away the china, all of it.
We gave away the piano to a school
because none of us could play.
Stanza three:
Ten years on, I would not know the chairs
if I saw them in a window on a street.
But I turn the hall light off behind me
every single time, and think of her.
1. "The clock, which had never gone" — what does this tell you about why it was kept?
2. Who is "her" in the last line?
3. What does "inheritance" mean, and what is the poem's?
2.Read the text, then answer the questions.
The Bell
Stanza one:
The church has gone. They took the stone
for walls and gateposts, load by load.
Where the aisle was there is a field.
Where the door was there is a road.
Stanza two:
The bell they could not sell or break.
It hung in a barn for eighty years,
green with the damp, out of the way,
mute as a stone among the gears.
Stanza three:
Last spring they hung it in the school.
It rings at nine and rings at three.
The children do not know its age
and ring it anyway, and it is free.
Stanza four:
So the building went, and the faith went,
and the road runs where the door was cut,
and still the sound the masons heard
goes out at nine, and comes back, and stops.
1. "Mute as a stone among the gears" — what is being compared, and why does it work?
2. What is a "mason"?
3. What does "mute" mean?
LessonPrint · RL.5.10 · Set 1 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Reading Poetry at Grade 5
Set 1. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. It was kept for reasons that had nothing to do with usefulness. 2. The person who died and whose things were divided — never named. 3. What is passed on after a death — here, a habit rather than any object.
2.1. The silent bell is compared to a stone — and the church's own stone was carted away, which ties the images together. 2. Somebody who builds in stone — here, the people who built the church. 3. Silent — making no sound.
Questions about Reading Poetry at Grade 5
What does the Reading Poetry at Grade 5 worksheet cover?
It practises reading poetry closely enough to analyse its structure — 2 questions for Grade 5, all on Common Core RL.5.10: Read and understand harder Grade 4-5 literature on your own. The instruction to pupils is “Read the text, then answer the questions”, and the answer key follows on the next sheet.
Which Common Core standard does Reading Poetry at Grade 5 practise?
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.10 — RL.5.10, in the Reading: Literature domain for Grade 5. The published standard reads: “By the end of the year, read and comprehend literature, including stories, dramas, and poetry, at the high end of the grades 4-5 text complexity band independently and proficiently.” The worksheet assesses that standard rather than a paraphrase of it.
What age or grade is this worksheet for?
Reading Poetry at Grade 5 is written for Grade 5, typically ages 10-11. It is one of the sheets on RL.5.10, so it suits any pupil working at that standard — including older pupils revisiting it and younger ones working ahead.
Does Reading Poetry at Grade 5 come with an answer key?
Yes. All 2 answers are generated from the same problems as the questions, so the key cannot drift out of step with the sheet. It starts on a fresh sheet of paper, after the questions, so it is not handed out with the class by accident.
How many different versions of Reading Poetry at Grade 5 can I print?
25 — one per pupil, and all 25 ask different questions. Set 1 downloads the whole class as a single PDF. Every version is fixed to its own address, so a sheet printed today holds the same problems when you reopen it next week.
Is Reading Poetry at Grade 5 free to print and photocopy?
Yes. Reading Poetry at Grade 5, its answer key and its 25 versions are free to print and photocopy for your own class, with no account, no email capture and no subscription at the download step. Please do not resell them or republish them as your own.
More practice for RL.5.10
Read and understand harder Grade 4-5 literature on your own.