CEClang.95


TITLE:  Teaching Shakespeare

AUTHOR:  Ginger Stout, Wyoming Girls School;
         Sheridan, Wyoming

GRADE LEVEL:  9-12

OVERVIEW:
I thought I would share some of my thoughts about teaching
Shakespeare to my students who are all adjudicated
delinquent girls residing in a state supported institution.

I teach "The Tempest", "Macbeth", "Hamlet, "Julius Caesar",
"Romeo and Juliet", "Merchant of Venice"  and "Othello"
primarily because they are the plays we have available and
are fairly easily categorized for beginning, intermediate,
and advanced Shakespeare scholars.

I approach the study with any group of students with the
same premise: the plays were meant to be seen and heard. We
read every line aloud, each student taking a part for a day.
I rotate through the students and omit no student, no matter
how poor her reading skills.

Naturally, the plays are tough going at first.  As we
progress, we make a list of unfamiliar words and expression
which crop up on butcher paper hanging from the bulletin
board.  Soon "hence" and "thee" are no longer intimidating.
Since very few students are comfortable initially, the class
grows together.

I never assign reading homework.  Trying to read Shakespeare
alone and silently is rarely very productive.  The girls
highly approve of this homework policy.  However, once a
week each student, with no exceptions, is required to recite
from memory a portion of what we have read that week.  The
first week they learn five lines; the next week, 10 entirely
new lines; the next week, 15 and so on until we have
completed the play.  The girls quickly discover that working
diligently on the play each day in class will facilitate
getting through the play more quickly.  Goofing around is
not a problem.

Of course, I do quite a bit of explaining as we read.  But
soon, my explanations become questions and the students
provide the answers.  Eventually they both ask the questions
and provide the answers.
My students relate well to the common Shakespearean themes.
There is no problem with relevance, it's simply a matter of
discussing the action in terms that students understand.

"...He's a little bit archaic; you know, the language, but
if you put in the time...you see every different kind of
person...every different situation there is in the
world..and you see the whole thing in poetry."  Supreme
Court nominee Stephen Breyer, explaining why Shakespeare
tops his list of favorite authors.