poems

The great American ballpaark where the sun shines all day Now I'm walking down Riverside by Ernest Lawrence Thayer © || NARRATOR || The score stood four to two, with but one inning more to play. And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same, A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast; They thought, if only Casey could get but a whack at that - We'd put up even money, now, with Casey at the bat..__NARRATOR end
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 * ||  || Casey at the Bat." - Albert Spalding ||   ||
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 * READERS THEATRE. || Casey at the Bat
 * READERS THEATRE. || Casey at the Bat
 * ** Published: The Examiner (06-03-1888) **
 * The Outlook wasn't brilliant for the Mudville nine that day:

BOYS GROUP 1__ But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake, And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake; So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat, For there seemed but little chance of Casey's getting to the bat. But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all, And Blake, the much despis-ed, tore the cover off the ball; And when the dust had lifted, and the men saw what had occurred, __GIRLS GROUP 1__ There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third. Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell; It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell; It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat, For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat. There was ease in Casey's manner as he stepped into his place; There was pride in Casey's bearing and a smile on Casey's face. And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat, No stranger in the crowd could doubt 'twas Casey at the bat. __BOYS GROUP 2__ Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt; Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt. Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip, Defiance gleamed in Casey's eye, a sneer curled Casey's lip. And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air, And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there. Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped- "That ain't my style," said Casey. "Strike one," the umpire said. From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar, __NARRATOR__ Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore. "Kill him! Kill the umpire!" shouted someone on the stand; And its likely they'd a-killed him had not Casey raised his hand. With a smile of Christian charity great Casey's visage shone; He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on; He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew; But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, "Strike two." "Fraud!" cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud; __GIRLS GROUP 2__ But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed. They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain, And they knew that Casey wouldn't let that ball go by again. The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, his teeth are clenched in hate; He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate. And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow. __NARRATOR__ Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; But there is no joy in Mudville - mighty Casey has struck out. "Phin" ||
 * ** Casey at the Bat by Ernest Lawrence Thayer © ** ||  ||   ||

down to Pete Rose Way

the perfect chaos when he slid and the way he made you pay every single thing he did He did the Pete Rose way

walk through hell in a gasoline suit if there's one more game to play diving down this boulevard they call the Pete Rose Way

He'd be the first to tell you how many outs he made never said he was the best but oh how hard he played

Ask about the Big Red Machine what would Sparky say I guess he'd probably tell you that they played the Pete Rose Way

Oh Brandon, Bronson, and Joey Oh, Aaron, Johnny and Jay There are many lessons to be learned Going down the Pete Rose Way

1. As a pre-reading the class will use the style of Readers Theater to read aloud the two poems. The Casey at the bat poem, the script will involve a narrator group to start and end the poem. groups boys and girls to rotate the four or five sentence paragraphs. I want the boys and girls to be seperate so the grils don't get drowned out. The idea is to hear the poem aloud and really put some emphasis into it get the of sense of urgency that can happen in baseball.

3. Use the brainstorming sheet to come up with as many ideas to write a poem about baseball.The materials used in this activity are illustrated books and magizines so the students can see pictures of pitchers, hitters and the whole field and stands full of people to get a good idea of the images portrayed in the poem. The alliterarion brainstorming model is used. Place the word BASEBALL in the middle of the sheet. Make four squares surrounding the center word. In each square put one of the words: players, positions, equipment and baseball situations. Fill in the squares with terms that reflect these words.

2. As a reading exercise to analyze the poem the students will fill out the sheet: Thinking stratigies of effective readers. They will visualize, connect (own experience), question(wonder), evaluate(determine importance), analyze(notice text structures, vocaburary, purpuse), recall(summerize). This will help the students get a feeling for baseball and the poem.

4. Use Casey in your poem. Create a poem for which Casey has a different outcome. It can be in the same model as the original poem. Select a baseball shape to use to write your poem in.

5. Complete your Poem.

Assessment will be how well you used the poem and exercises to understand what happened in the poem.In rubric form:

3 points- understood the importance of the situation and what happened. you should create the same importance with a different ending.

2 points- understanding baseball but missed the importance

1 point - lacks any uderstanding of baseball.