An introductory activity my Theatre I students enjoyed was picking slips of paper with quotes from Shakespeare's plays out of a container, lining up on the curtain line, and taking turns hurling the lines out to the house. I'm attaching my collection of lines as a starting point.
The project my Theatre I students enjoyed most was working up and performing a short monologue from a play by Shakespeare. They chose from a collection of monologues I laid out on a table, then wrote it out or typed it, paraphrased it line by line, and memorized it. We worked on them for a short while every day, then they performed them in front of the class as the culmination of our study of the Elizabethan period. Email me if you'd like my monologue selection.
I have recommended before the educational introduction to Shakespeare that Miramax put out when
Shakespeare in Love came out. Miramax uploaded it to YouTube a few years ago, so it is free. I found it a great lesson plan for when I had to be absent, whether we were currently studying the Elizabethan Period or hadn't gotten to it yet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAfih_YUgMk------------------------------
CJ Breland
Retired Theatre Arts Educator
NC
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Original Message:
Sent: 03-24-2022 15:17
From: Analiese Hamm
Subject: Fun Shakespeare Activity?
I am currently a K-12 media specialist, but I have missed the classroom so much, I have convinced admin to let me teach my Fundamentals of Theatre class for part of my day! We have not had a theatre class in our school since I stopped teaching it five years ago! So I am excited to get back into things.
I am working on my curriculum map, and I have almost a project a week in place!... But I am not happy with my Shakespeare week ideas. I am thinking something along the lines of a Shakespeare festival and have the students direct their own "Shakespeare Shorts" as scenes. But I think this is ALOT to take on in one week, especially since the "shorts" I have are from plays they have not seen in their lit classes! Anyone else have anything fun for teaching ole Will, The Renaissance, and Elizabethan Theatre?
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Analiese Hamm
ECHS Drama Director
Echols County High School
Statenville GA
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