Eighth grade students are required to study a variety of literary genres, among them poetry. According to their Terra Nova scores, they still lack mastery in reading comprehension. This unit will address that gap by providing opportunities for the student to read silently and aloud within a group, and to learn various forms of poetry as well as write some original verse. In providing these opportunities, the unit meets TN Curriculum Standard for Language Arts Reading 6-8 which states: "The student will develop the reading skills necessary for word recognition, comprehension, interpretation, analysis, evaluation, and appreciation of the written text." The unit also addresses item #22 of the Survey (My students use Internet in my class to research topics) since the students will use Internet to research poetry forms.