This is intended as a N A P L A N or general classroom activity to get students to respond to the multiple levels of a poem and to respond in a structured way to indicate their understanding. On the theme of growing up, friendship and the influence of peers on our development, here is a beautiful ballad about a childhood friendship by Billy Joel brought to life to show the way we change and grow apart. The lyric in full is given along with a video of the performance of the lyric.

Gordon Lightfoot's stirring ballad THE WRECK OF THE EDMUND FITZGERALD is a powerful tool to use when teaching the ballad form. The enthralling and terrible tale of the mighty transport ship that never made it across Lake Superior in one of Canada's greatest naval disasters is presented here as 1. a film clip, MP4 with the full lyrics 2. student handout with the lyrics and comprehension questions

Don McLean's VINCENT is presented with a visual representation and annotation for all the difficult words on the side of the poem. Questions are structured to go from literal to metaphorical, and are 1. multiple choice 2. short answer 3. short essay response

This is a lesson in itself, or an assessment item as preferred. Alfred Noyes' celebrated ballad THE HIGHWAYMAN in full. Visually realised with the text is fully annotated, with difficult words explained in side bars. Reading comprehension about literary elements. Then a letter writing exercise on point of view. Do play the best recording of the poem by PHIL OCHS obtainable on You Tube as part of your presentation.

Harry Chapin's CATS IN THE CRADLE about wish fulfilment, father and son relationships and the irony of getting what you always hoped for is presented here in full lyric, with a fifteen part multiple choice set of questions and an exemplar essay analysis of the poem, presented as a punctuation exercise.

STREETS OF LONDON Multiple Choice Levels of Meaning Listening and Reading Stimulus and Test Suitable for early middle school Years 7/8/9 Theme of Social Commentary and Social Protest. Along with a dramatic cover sheet with the song lyrics of Ralf McTell's famous ballad urging us to look and see the hardships of the underclass around us, there are 20 questions, structured as follows 1. Five "Right There" specific / literal questions 2. Five "Gather the Information" questions requiring longer reading across the entire text. 3. 10 Inferential questions based on the implied meaning and the writer's intentions.