You already compare things all the time: two songs on the same playlist, two messages from different people, two versions of the same story. Today you do that with poetry.

You will read two short poems written for this lesson, practise the claim-and-evidence move, then weigh two poems and write one Poetry Comparison Sheet. Use the pair your class chose as anchors in Lesson 91 (titles should be on the board). If those titles are missing, use Still On and The Pitch from this lesson for today only. That sheet is the only portfolio entry from today.

A comparison is not "I liked this one more". It is a claim, then evidence from poem A, evidence from poem B, then what the similarity or contrast shows. Name the technique in the claim when you can (line length, repetition, silence, everyday objects, sound).

Both poems below share a theme: home that is felt rather than said.

Still On

It is on when I leave
and on when I get back.
Nobody turns it off.
The kettle knows my hours
better than I do.
I hang my coat
on the same peg
every night
and nobody says
you are home.

The Pitch

The car is cold.
Dad has the radio on low
so he does not have to talk.
The pitch lights die behind us.
I still have mud on my boots.
He clears his throat once
and that is the whole conversation.
The heater takes the whole way home
to warm up.

Worked claim: Both poems show care without using the word love, but they use different techniques. In Still On, short clipped lines and everyday objects do the work: "Nobody turns it off." In The Pitch, silence and what is left unsaid do it: "He clears his throat once / and that is the whole conversation." Same theme; different techniques (line length and silence).

Using Still On and The Pitch from the previous step, write one short comparison point in the activity on this page. Make it a different point from the worked claim: not line length or silence. Name a technique or mood in your claim, quote from each poem, then say what the contrast or similarity shows. This is craft practice for the sheet you will write later. It is not your portfolio piece: leave the answer in the activity.

The titles of your class's two anchor poems from Lesson 91 should be on the board or in your Portfolio. Changing the weights can change which poem comes out ahead: a comparison is reasoned, not just preferred. The grid does not save, so write your sheet in the next step before you close this page.