Approaches to Teaching Shakespeare

Classroom Activities

Classroom Activity #1 Pre-Unit Activity

Have a parent meeting or parent letter three weeks in advance of your unit. Send out a letter to your parents or better yet have meeting WITH FOOD and explain to the parents what you are doing with your unit. Show them the version of Macbeth you are going to use. This unit is based on using the Comic Book Shakespeare Macbeth by Timber Frame Publications. Go over the gory parts of Macbeth with them so that they can address concerns they have with you about the content. You can always eliminate a part of the text by cutting and pasting or switch to a storybook version if they have concerns. This is also a good time to solicit volunteers for making costumes, helping with scenery for producing a play, sending in supplies for the projects, or coming in to help read with the individual students.

Classroom Activity #2 Sample Literacy Guide for Week 1

Literacy – Introduce Shakespeare by giving students some famous quotes, "I am not bound to please thee with my answers", "Be great in act, as you have been in thought" "A Horse, A Horse! My kingdom for a horse!" "To be or not to be: that is the question." Explain that the person who wrote these lines was a very famous Englishman who lived in the 16th and 17th century. Introduce the concept question board with our topic of Shakespeare's world. Locate England on the map, including Stratford upon Avon and London. Introduce Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) English to the students and have them transform some simple sentences into sentences containing the words 'tis and thee and thine, etc. Introduce the Shakespearean plays under the headings of comedies, tragedies, and histories. Explain that Macbeth is a tragedy. Review the cast of characters listed at the beginning of their comic book. Pull out ten vocabulary words from Act 1 Scene 1 and have students make predictions before reading, using these words about what will happen in the beginning of the play. Employ a variety of reading strategies through the week as your read to build fluency, i.e. partner reading, choral reading, popcorn reading, silent reading, rereading, etc.

Macbeth

Day 1 – Act 1, Scene 1 and 2 Probable Passages, Concept Question Board (CQB)

Day 2 – Act 1, Scene 3 Personal Vocabulary Log (PVL), Probable Passages, CQB

Day 3 – Act 1, Scene 4 and 5 Cause and Effect Charade Mini Lesson, PVL, CQB

Day 4 – Act 1, Scene 6 and 7 Sequencing Mini Lesson Flow Chart, PVL, QCB

Day 5 – Act 2, Scene 1 and 2Discussion on Paper, PVL, CQB

Classroom Activity #3 Make A Hornbook6

Materials For Each Student

Cardboard, 12" long by 6" wide

4 brads

double sided tape

clear contact paper or plastic page protector

heavy-duty hole puncher

8 1/2 by 5 1/2 piece white writing paper, ruler, scissors,

Directions

1. Draw a rectangle 9" long by 6" wide on the cardboard and draw a 3" long by 2" wide handle at the bottom. Cut out this spade-shaped cardboard piece.
2. Write the alphabet in lower case and upper case letters on the white writing paper.
3. Center the paper on top of the cardboard.
4. Attach it at the top and bottom with double sided tape.
5. Cut a 9x6 clear plastic protector and align on top of the cardboard paddle.
6. Punch a hole in all four corners of the cardboard and secure with the brads.

Classroom Activity #4 Recipe for Apple Moye7

*I intend to try making this in a Dutch oven using coals outside

Ingredients for 4-6 people

8-10 applesknife

1/4 cup watersaucepan

2 egg yolksfork

2 tablespoons butterglass measuring cup

1 teaspoon cinnamonmeasuring spoons

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 cup sugar

1. Peel and core the apples, quarter them, and put them in the saucepan with the water.
2. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 20 minutes or until tender.
3. Mash the apples with a fork and blend in the egg yolks, butter, spices, and sugar.
4. Cook over very low heat for 10 more minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Serve hot or chilled, with or without ice cream or cookies.