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NSW SelectiveYear 7 entry

Poetry in Selective Reading: how to read a poem

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To read a poem in Selective Reading, your child reads it twice: once for the feeling, then again to find the techniques that made that feeling. Then they pick the option that the poem's own words support.

Watch the full lessonPlay the preview

The full lesson is in the SelectiveReady app. A free account opens How and Why Authors Write; this lesson needs a paid plan.

Updated 16 October 2026 · Facts checked 12 October 2026

Reading and Understanding Poetry (lesson preview)

A short preview from the SelectiveReady lesson “Reading and Understanding Poetry”, on poetry for the NSW Selective test.

Published:

Read the video transcript

And here is the question we need to solve. It's very specific. What technique does the poet use in line two? That's it. We only have to focus on that second line. So how do we crack this one? It's a simple three-step process. First, just isolate that line, and the trees bowed their heads in the storm. Step two, you analyse the action. Just ask yourself a simple question, can a tree actually bow its head? No, of course not. That's something a person does. So, what do we call it when we give a human action to a non-human thing? Well, that leads you straight to step three. You've identified the technique. It's personification.

Reading and Understanding Poetry is a full lesson in the SelectiveReady app, and it needs an account. A free account opens one lesson, How and Why Authors Write; the other lessons need a paid plan1SelectiveReady · 13 October 2026 · Published. The preview on this page has English and Chinese captions.

2

What will your child learn in this lesson?

Your child learns that a poem is a code, not a jumble, and that the devices are the key. They'll be able to read a poem twice with a different job each time, name five devices and explain what each one does.

The clip solves a question about one line of a storm poem. The full lesson adds the two-read method, the decoder toolkit, three traps and a checklist.

3

Is poetry part of Selective Reading?

Yes. The Department lists poetry among the kinds of text in the Reading test: non-fiction, fiction, poetry, magazine articles and reports2NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published.

The Reading testWhat it means for poems
172NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published questions in 452NSW Education · 12 October 2026 · Published minutesA poem is short, so time goes into the second read
Answers are multiple-choice2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · PublishedCheck each option against the poem's words, not just its feeling
all texts are read on screen2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · PublishedPractise reading poems on a screen as well as on paper
The practice papers say there are no marks lost for incorrect answers3NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · PublishedA careful choice is always worth making
4

How should a child read a poem?

The lesson calls a poem a song without music: the words have to make the rhythm and the feeling on their own. The tools poets use to do that are called literary devices.

So your child reads twice. The first read is only for the feeling: happy, sad, tense or calm. The second read hunts for the words that made it.

5

What is the method for poetry questions?

The lesson's rule is feeling first, technique second. For a question about one line, three quick steps follow.

Read a poem twice: first for the feeling, then for the techniques: simile, metaphor, personification and alliteration.

  1. Read once for the feeling

    Don't analyse yet. Let the poem's mood settle.

  2. Isolate the line

    Find the exact line the question names, and read only that.

  3. Ask what the words are doing

    Can that thing really do that action? Is there a like or as? Does a sound repeat?

  4. Name the device, then its effect

    Choose the option that has both: what the poet did and why.

6

Which poetic devices should my child know?

The lesson's toolkit has four devices, plus imagery as a whole family. These examples are ours.

DeviceHow to spot itExample
SimileCompares using like or asThe bus climbed, slow as honey.
MetaphorSays one thing is anotherThe sun was a coin dropped in the sea.
PersonificationGives a thing a human actionThe old gate sighed.
AlliterationRepeats the first soundWet wind whipped the washing.
ImageryAppeals to the five sensesThe smell of hot chips and sunscreen
7

What does a worked poetry question look like?

We wrote this short poem and question to show the method.

The Bus Home (our practice poem)
The school bus groans up Hollow Hill,
its windows fogged with breath and chatter.
The sun is a coin dropped in the sea,
and still the bus climbs, slow as honey.

Question: In line three, the sun is "a coin dropped in the sea". What does the poet suggest?

StepWhat your child thinks
First readTired, slow, the end of a long day
Isolate the line"The sun is a coin dropped in the sea"
Like or as?No, so it's a metaphor, not a simile
EffectA small, shining sun sinking into the water: the sun is setting and the day is ending

The answer is the option about the sun setting. The poem has more to find: the bus "groans" (personification) and climbs "slow as honey" (a simile).

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What traps catch children in poetry questions?

The most common trap is mixing up similes and metaphors. A simile always uses like or as; a metaphor never does.

TrapExampleFix
Simile or metaphor?Calling "the sun is a coin" a simileCheck for like or as
Only the surface meaning"The trees bend over in the wind."Name the device and what it shows
Answering a different questionListing devices when asked about moodMood needs a feeling word: tense, calm, joyful
9

Can my child try one on their own?

Here is a question from our free reading set, on a poem about a windy washing day. Your child answers it, then checks the explanation.

Practice question · SEL-RE-TST-S2-q1

Westerly

The westerly arrives before breakfast, shouldering the side gate open, rattling the pegs in their bucket like a pocketful of loose change.

By nine the line is a ship in full sail: sheets bellying out, white and enormous, Dad's work shirts flinging up their arms as if the whole street had scored a goal.

The towels try to leave. The socks cling on by a single peg each, small and stubborn, kicking at nothing. Mum holds the basket on her hip and laughs into the wind until it steals the laugh as well.

All day the wind takes, and takes, and takes: leaves from the gutter, the dog's good mood, a tea towel we will never see again.

Then, near dusk, it simply stops. The sheets hang down, exhausted, quiet. I carry them in against my chest, still warm, smelling of sun and distance, and fold the whole wild day into squares.

In the second verse, Dad's work shirts are "flinging up their arms". The poet presents the shirts as if they are

  1. A

    struggling hard to break free of their pegs.

  2. B

    giving up, like someone who has been caught.

  3. C

    waving goodbye, as if about to fly away.

  4. D

    cheering wildly, as if celebrating a big win.

Show answer and explanation

Answer: D

Answer: D

The line goes on: "as if the whole street had scored a goal". People fling up their arms like this when they cheer a goal, so the shirts are pictured as excited fans celebrating.

Why the other options are wrong

  • A: Struggling against the pegs describes the socks 'kicking at nothing', not the shirts.
  • B: Raised arms can mean surrender, but the next line links them to scoring a goal.
  • C: It is the towels that 'try to leave', not the shirts.

  1. First read

    Playful and busy: a wild wind, flapping washing, Mum laughing.

  2. Isolate the line

    Dad's work shirts are "flinging up their arms".

  3. What are the words doing?

    Shirts can't fling up arms, so the poet gives them a human action: personification.

  4. Effect

    Read on: "as if the whole street had scored a goal". The shirts are cheering, so D.

10

How can my child practise poetry at home?

A few minutes a day with short poems builds the habit. Children's poetry collections at the library are a good start.

Two reads a day

Read one short poem aloud. Say one feeling word, then find the line that made it.

Device hunt

Find a simile, a metaphor and some personification in a song or a picture book.

Make one up

Write a line that turns the weather into a person. Then explain what it shows.

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Questions parents ask about poetry in Selective Reading

What's the difference between a simile and a metaphor?

A simile compares with like or as: "fought like a lion". A metaphor says it is the thing: "was a lion in the fight".

Does my child need to know poetic terms?

It helps. Knowing the five in the table lets your child see how a poem makes its feeling, which is what the questions ask about.

Do children have to write a poem in the Reading test?

No. Reading answers are multiple-choice2NSW Education · 13 October 2026 · Published.

Is the full lesson free?

It needs an account. A free account opens one lesson, How and Why Authors Write; the other lessons need a paid plan1SelectiveReady · 13 October 2026 · Published.

Next questions

Selective Reading →Lesson: How and Why Authors Write →Lesson: Words in Context →Free Selective practice test →The NSW Selective test explained →

Sources and checks

  1. SelectiveReady

    SelectiveReady · Checked 13 October 2026

  2. Selective high school practice tests

    NSW Department of Education · Checked 13 October 2026 · Practice materials: personal or non-commercial use only; CC BY 4.0 does not apply (page notice). Page text: CC BY 4.0.

  3. Selective High School Placement Test, Thinking Skills Question Paper, Practice Test 1 (2026 entry practice tests, PDF)

    NSW Department of Education · Checked 13 October 2026 · Practice materials: personal or non-commercial use only; CC BY 4.0 does not apply (page notice). Quoted briefly with credit. Saved text: the cover-page instructions only; the question pages are not stored (W§3.22).

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