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Student Activity Sheet:
Writing A Ballad

Songs have been used for many years and are actually poetry put to music. This combination can produce a very pleasant or meaningful experience. Most songs are made up of stanzas. A stanza is a group of lines with a pattern that is repeated throughout the song. Each stanza has the same rhyme pattern.

Songs often use a very simple rhyme pattern like couplets. A ballad is a song that uses a pattern called a ballad stanza. The stanza has four lines in which the second and fourth lines share the rhyme, but the first and the third lines do not share a rhyme with any line in that stanza. Each line also uses a specific amount of syllables. The first line and the third line use 8 syllables and the second and fourth lines use 6 syllables.

Line 1 - 8 syllables
The engine makes the thrust to go.
Line 2 - 6 syllables/last word rhymes with line 4
Wings make lift, pulling high!
Line 3 - 8 syllables
My fuselage is sleek and strong.
Line 4 - 6 syllables/last word rhymes with line 2
Rise above weight - I fly!
Read this sample ballad that uses ballad stanzas:

Bleriot's Dream

BY SUSANNE ASHBY

For years he toiled on the ground
over a crazy scheme.
He yearned to make a machine fly;
that was his absurd dream.
He drew, he built, he flew, he crashed;
'imes he went round and round.
No matter the bruises, breaks, sprains;
his hope was still profound.
Then came that morning in July
when his craft was ready.
To prove how good it really was
must fly true and steady.
Twenty miles wide, the Channel was
a daring flight to make.
From France to England by airplane
there was a lot at stake.
The motor coughed, the prop did roar,
down the field it did speed.
Quickly climbing into the sky
Pegasus, winged steed!
The French coast disappeared beneath
as swirling mist embraced.
The waves reached up as he flew by
and clouds tried to give chase.
Alone in the sky he flew on
to make his vision true.
White Cliffs of Dover flashed below;
O'er England's coast he flew!
Landing was rough - a broken prop -
loud shouts came from the crowd!
Thirty-seven hours in flight -
the people were quite wowed!
Louis went down in history
as the first one to fly
Across the Channel in a plane;
his dream flight ne'er to die!
 Bleriots dream

Student Activity Sheet: Writing a Ballad

Directions: Follow the form for ballad writing below to help you create a ballad about the Wright Brothers' quest for flight. Break down their quest into individual years, setting each year into a stanza that summarizes the setbacks and achievements faced by the Wright Brothers. Have the final verse extol their finest accomplishment: controlled, engine-powered flight.
Step 1:

Manned glider with attempts at turning, August 1901

This stanza will introduce the Wright brothers and tell about their earlier attempts at manned gliders and how they were successful at making turns in their manned gliders.
Step 2:

Breaking the distance records for gliding with full control of the aircraft, October 1902

This stanza will talk about how they solved the problem of gliding with full control.
Step 3:

Achieving engine-powered flight, December 1903

This stanza will review the fateful day when they succeeded in controlled, engine-powered flight.
Chorus

General information

Then add a chorus that gives general information about the who, what, when and where of this momentous occasion.


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