The most seminal experience in my teaching theatre was the opportunity to be part of the Globe Education Academy program through UC Davis 15 years ago when I was able to spend a couple weeks at the Globe Theatre studying embedding Shakespeare into my high school English and Theatre classes. Plus I have gotten to share those strategies with my fellow teachers over the years as I continue mentoring first year teachers and colleagues in the trenches with me.
I have taken every opportunity to do conferences and workshop sessions at the London Globe Theatre and connect with the Royal Shakespeare Co. in Stratford-upon-Avon as I do love my Shakespeare, most recently this past summer 2023, but for all the times in between I rely on Creative Shakespeare – The Globe Education Guide to Practical Shakespeare by Fiona Banks. Her text is filled with activities and strategies for bringing Shakespeare’s language/plays to life, especially Chapter 3 which presents the foundational practices of the Globe process. More recently, a new Globe Practices matrix was compiled that expands on the Creative Shakespeare text. These strategies can be adapted to all grade levels and connect the theatre experience to the English Language Arts, social studies, the sciences or even mathematical concepts. They may also be familiar to you as a variation of a very similar activity with a different name and be useful in the rehearsal and production of process of any and all performance pieces, not just Shakespeare.
My Wednesday Wisdom piece is to share one of those wonderful and easily implemented strategies with you.
FOUR CORNERS or OPINION SPECTRUM – multiple variations/uses. Any time you want students to explore an opinion, you can use this strategy. Have one corner for Strongly Agree, one for Agree, one for Strongly Disagree, one for Disagree. Pose the question or statement and have students take a stance. Allow students to discuss within their group. Then have one from each group share out, allow students to change “corners” if they want to based on others’ reasoning. You can have this be a preview to opinion writing or preview/review of a story or piece. Can discuss the different reasons as evidence of claims.
*I have used this activity with my students in my English and Theatre classes for in-class study, act and scene work, as well as during the full rehearsal process, usually focused around thematic statements. It can be used with any text. Some examples with my students: 1776—the Musical, The Complete Works of Wm Shakespeare (abridged), The Laramie Project, Les Mis, Love on the High Seas – a modern commedia del Arte 1-act, Macbeth, Pride & Prejudice, Queens, Romeo & Juliet, and To Kill a Mockingbird.
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Carol Hovey
Drama Director
Livermore High School
Livermore, CA
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