Language Arts: Thursday, February 28, 2019 Handouts: * None Homework: * “Write Your Own Poem,” due tomorrow, BOC, NLW 1) Create poem using a rough draft on notebook paper 2) Copy poem onto rubric handout 3) Type and print out poem, 2 copies 4) Create an authentic illustration Original artwork, collage, or photos Assignments due: * None

Lesson Goal: Learn about ballads, another type of narrative poetry. Outcomes: Be able to . . . Define the term ballad. Analyze a ballad and identify its poetic devices. Summarize the plot in a ballad. Evaluate a ballad that has been put to music.

Starter #1 This week we have looked at narrative poetry, and there are a number of different types of narrative poems. Yesterday we read an epic poem. What do you recall about an “epic”?   An epic is a long poem that chronicles (tells in chronological order) the story of a hero who must overcome life-threatening obstacles as he makes a long journey. What famous epic poem is our earliest form of literature in the Western world? The Iliad and its sequel, The Odyssey, are two famous epic poems from Greek mythology. Both are book-length stories written entirely in poetic verse, dating back to the 8th century B.C.

Starter #2 Yesterday we read an epic poem was written in the 1800s by a famous American poet. What did we read, and who wrote it?   We read a portion of “Song of Hiawatha,” which featured the hero during his childhood. The person who wrote it was Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.

Starter #3 Today we’re going to read a ballad that was written in the 1960s. It became popular on the radio when the author put music in the background as he recited the ballad. The man who wrote this was a popular TV actor named Lorne Greene. Your grandparents would recognize his name. They were probably kids when this ballad was played on the radio.   Have any of you ever watched an old Western on the re-run channels called, Bonanza?  This ballad has nothing to do with the TV show Bonanza, but the person who wrote it happened to be the star actor in Bonanza, who played the part of “Ben Cartwright.” But Lorne Greene was a real “artist,” someone who loved not only acting, but also writing and singing.

What’s happening in this ballad? What’s the story about? Starter #3 Let’s turn in our Poetry Booklets to the very last page. Read this ballad silently, on your own. See if you can figure out who the main characters are and what happened in the story.   What’s happening in this ballad? What’s the story about? Is the narrator inside the story or outside of it? So is this ballad written first person or third person? Have any of you ever watched a Western? Have any of you ever wished you could have been a cowboy? We need a reader who can bring this ballad to life as a narrator. Who volunteers? Discuss then use the recording to read it a second time: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxfBYPKSLvo