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[Casey Stengel, full-length portrait, wearing sunglasses, while playing outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers] (LOC) by The Library of Congress

"Casey at the Bat" may not be great poetry, but it is a great poem. For some reason, I keep getting this Saturday morning cartoon image of Casey:
But this is one of those poems that makes middle schoolers say that they really do like poetry. It is a great poem to teach narrative poetry, repetition, rhyme, and rhythm. In fact, use this reading by James Earl Jones to really hit home with this lesson (yes, the pun was intended):
Since "Casey at the Bat" is a narrative poem, you can have the students use a story map to analyze the narrative elements:
You can help students set a purpose for reading by asking them to consider the different emotions that people feel about baseball.

Another fun way to have students outline the action in the poem is to give them a baseball diamond template and write the events on each of the bases:


Once students have read the poem, have them do one   of the following activities:

  • Design a baseball card for Casey.
  • Prepare a list of interview questions and answers that Casey might have been asked at a post-game conference.
  • Read "Casey's Revenge" by Grantland Rice and compare and contrast the two poems.
  • Read "Kelly at the Bat," a parody of "Casey at the Bat" published a month later.
  • Research and write an informative essay about the history of baseball.
  • Write a poem about a well-known baseball player.
  • Write a story about what happened to Casey in the days, months, and/or years following the famous game.

A great picture book tie-in (on a more serious note) is Baseball Saved Us by Ken Mochizuki.


Here are some websites with more information about the poem and other baseball trivia that you and your students might find interesting:

http://www.joslinhall.com/casey_at_the_bat.htm

http://www.capanson.com/

http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casey_at_the_Bat

You might also want to check out this poem "Analysis of Baseball" by May Swenson.


Melissa Etheridge






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