Revisiting Casey at the Bat

1. Organize students at a central place in the classroom such as the reading rug. Share a reading of the poem Casey at the Bat. Discuss the poem. What do you think Casey might do next? How could he be more successful? What goals do you expect to meet? Why do you set goals for yourself? How do you feel when you achieve a goal? Allow time for discussion.
2. Students will create visuals to represent their interpretations of the poem. Begin by asking them to cover work areas with recycled newspaper. Use Crayola® Washable Markers to color white paper. Spritz the paper with a wet paintbrush so the wet marker colors blend into each other. Lift and tilt the wet paper to watch the color run. Spritz until your background is as colorful and free as you like. Dry on a flat surface.
3. Invite students to think of a goal to set for themselves. It might be athletic, academic, artistic, or personal.
4. Students use Crayola Washable Markers to draw themselves in the process of achieving goals. Draw facial expression and body language to illustrate feelings when success is achieved.
5. Allow time in the school day for students to share their artwork and goals with small groups of classmates.

LA: Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

LA: Engage effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grade level topics and texts, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly.

LA: Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of discipline-specific tasks, purposes, and audiences.

SS: Explore factors that contribute to one's personal identity such as interests, capabilities, and perceptions.

SS: Identify and describe ways family, groups, and community influence the individual's daily life and personal choices.

VA: Use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

VA: Use visual structures of art to communicate ideas.

VA: Select and use subject matter, symbols, and ideas to communicate meaning.

Organize a Career Day for students. Invite community members and parents to speak about their careers, successes and challenges that they have faced, as well as how they have worked to overcome the challenges. Students attend talks by Career Day volunteers and write a reflection after each session.

Students collaborate in small groups to discuss challenging things they have tried and been successful at, as well as things at which they have not been successful. Make a list of both. Focusing on the unsuccessful items, have students fold a piece of paper in half, drawing themselves on one side when unsuccessful. On the other half, students draw a picture of themselves preparing to try the task again. How are the sketches similar? How are they different?

Working with a partner or individually, students write a poem about facing challenges and keeping positive even in the face of defeat. Be prepared to present the poem to classmates.