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This past week, I read an excerpt from Karen Hesse's novel Out of the Dust aloud to my seventh graders. The novel is set in the Oklahoma Panhandle during the Great Depression. The novel is written in free verse and told from the point of view of Billi Jo Kelby. It is a beautiful novel, which would make a great read aloud for middle schoolers.

As part of the lesson, I taught four specific genre features: free verse, format, alliteration, and imagery.

• Free verse is poetry that does not rhyme and has no rhythm. When read, it has the natural cadence of the spoken word. Free verse is also some of the easiest poetry for students to write.
• Format is the way that a piece is written. Out of the Dust has lines of varying lengths. This again goes along with the fact that it's written in free verse.
• Alliteration is the repetition of the initial consonant sound. Students love to play around with this poetic device. It can be both amusing and serious.
• Imagery is using words that creates a specific image in the reader's mind. 

After reading an excerpt from Out of the Dust, encourage students to try their hand at their own free verse poem.

Here is one of my own:

Pressing Necessity

Early mornings I rise

To the sound of coffee gurgling

And spewing to start the chores

That help keep my family going

I empty the dishwasher

And wash a load of laundry

As the sun begins to peek

Its face above the horizon

I cherish the solitude

As it's the only time

That I feel truly alone

But I know that these moments

Are but fleeting because there are

Pressing necessities that must be done.

~M.R. Etheridge