[quote=@RomanAria]
<Snipped quote by Dedonus>
Just trying to figure out the scansion and then read it in that way. I've learned to talk more-or-less conversationally, if I have scripted sentences to follow. But I can't chant it rhythmically like poetry is designed to be read out loud.

[/quote]
One thing I found to be helpful was to think of the long's as quarter notes and the short's as eighth notes.

Some tips that might help reading Latin Dactylic Hexameter:
1) The last five syllables (i.e. the last two feet) will usually (but not always) be - ^ ^ | - x (where - = long and ^ = short and x = anything).  In all Dactylic Hexameter (abbreviated DH because I don't want to write it out any more. lol), the last syllable can be anything, but you can usually say it long.  This is helpful because even if you butchered the first four feet, knowing that the last two feet usually end like ( - ^ ^ | - x ) will make it sound nice at the end.

2) I know that this might not be the most accepted advice from other educators, but when I start writing down the scansion, I usually start with the fifth and sixth feet.  As the above states, the last two feet should be pretty standard.  While the fifth foot sometimes can be a spondee ( - - ), usually it goes like the above.  After that, you can start filling it out.  Sometimes, just by getting the fifth and sixth feet done, it gives me a confidence boost for completing it.

3) While translating, look out for where there are elisions in the text.  If you can spot them, mark them!  That way, you know that you don't have to pronounce a syllable when you are reading the text!

Let take the first line of Vergil's Aeneid.

[i]Arma virumque cano, Troiae qui primus ab oris[/i].

From tip 1 and 2, we know that [i]primus ab oris[/i] is scanned like ( - ^ ^ | - x ).  Now we already have two of the six feet done!

Now let move onto [i]arma[/i].  The first 'a' is long because it is followed by two consonants (r and m) and because the first syllable of DH must be long.  The second 'a' must be short because it is short by nature (neuter accusative plural) and it is followed by one consonant (v in [i]virumque[/i])  So now we have ( - ^ . | .. | .. | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

Now that we know that the last 'a' in [i]arma[/i] is short, we can safely assume that the 'i' in [i]virumque[/i] is short too.  The next syllable is long because it is followed by two consonants (m and qu - note that qu counts as one consonant together). So now we have ( - ^ ^ | - . | .. | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

Now we can do the same thing with the 'a' in [i]cano[/i] as we did with the 'i' in [i]virumque[/i].  Therefore the 'a' is short.  The 'o' is long by nature because the first person present active indicative ending is a long 'o'.  So now we have ( - ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - . | .. | - ^ ^ | - x )

The next part is tricky.  Unless you know the length of the 'o' in [i]Troiae[/i], it might be difficult to tell what it is.  However, since diphthongs are usually long, we can conclude that [i]Troiae[/i] has two long syllables (also note that the 'i' in [i]Troiae[/i] is a consonant).  Then, since we only have one more syllable left, we can conclude that it is a long as well.

So the final scansion is  ( - ^ ^ | - ^ ^ | - - | - - | - ^ ^ | - x )