Hello!
I am also doing Literature Units 1/2 now.
Hmmm, what do you mean by 'present a reading'? Like, analysing as you read the text out loud?
We have analysed poems earlier on in the year so here are some tips to get you started! I find that printing the poem/s out and annotaiting them by hand is very useful as you get a lot of ideas.
You should look for various literary devices such as alliteration, metaphors, similes, assonance, sibilance. They may seem simple when you look at them on the surface but think about maybe where you have seen them before or you can connect them to your experiences and figure out what they mean that way. After all, the magic of literature is writing your own interpretation.
Also, you should look for how many syllables there were in each line of the stanza and compare it to other stanzas or lines. For example, if one stanza had a consistent 6 syllables in each line and then in the next stanza, there were only 3 syllables, it could represent something quick and sudden is going to happen sue to the fast pace.
Also, look for clues to other literary texts as there may be some meaning there with the different connections being made.
What type of poems are you studying? Are they like story poems with a poem or are they more about describing something?
I hope this helped and feel free to ask me questions!