-Ted Tibbetts
The daunting task of designing an entire unit of Shakespeare lessons can feel like, well….Exit, pursued by a bear. While these units hold so much potential, helping students over the Elizabethan language barrier can be tough. So tough, in fact, it can be tempting to “do you any embassage to the Pigmies, rather than” attempt to convince students that Shakespeare can be fun. By planning a series of progressive skill building activities, however, you will find that students will clamor for more! Really.
Shakespeare Units: Backwards Design
When designing Shakespeare units, consider “Backwards Design” if you are a Marzano follower, or “keeping the end in mind” if you are a Covey acolyte. Some teachers may want to emphasize literacy, essential questions, or cultural allusions. As I have discussed before, I prefer to focus on the performance. The process fosters teamwork (“I don’t want to play Juliet, you play Juliet-No I don’t want to play Juliet-okay, fine, I’ll play Juliet), and resiliency, (“Gulp, there’s an audience out there”). I find that textual and cultural literacy will occur de facto, though I usually include few activities to ensure that happens. However, when considering the big picture of what I want my students to know or be able to do: perform a Shakespeare scene. I consider this the third and final phase of the unit.
To get to phase three, we must deliberately plan phase two. (For you Monty Python fans, five is “right out.”) . How do I teach students the skills necessary to perform a scene? For English class students, many who have 1) never acted before and 2) are initially terrified of the process, I like to keep it relatively simple. Clearly, they need to understand what the words mean and how they feel about what they are saying. They need to be able to “speak the speech…trippingly on the tongue” so it doesn’t sound like a drunken cowboy at a hootenanny. (No offense to you drunken cowboys out there.) They also need to know how to use space to communicate ideas so they’re not either standing in a line or a circle oblivious to the audience. Finally, they should know how to depict a character.
Phases of Shakespeare Lesson Planning
BUT, before we can get to any of the skill development, we have to plan phase one. In many pedagogical circles, educators emphasize the need to clarify misconceptions. Most importantly, as Shakespeare teachers, we must change the student paradigm that Shakespeare is a boring, pompous dead white guy impossible to understand. Or, in other words, eliminate “Shakesfeare.” (I usually begin this process by telling them that many of Shakespeare’s original audience couldn’t read and that there or more sex jokes in the opening of Romeo and Juliet then in an entire episode of Game of Thrones.) Consequently, many of my phase one activities are purposefully upbeat, relatively easy, and, often, as silly as possible. Making these warm-ups and introductory activities energetic gradually fosters familiarity with the language and hopefully sends the message that, “Hey, this is kind of fun. Maybe I won’t be eviscerated doing this.” When students come to class and begin asking hopefully, “Are we doing Shakespeare today?” then you know you’ve accomplished the mission.
Time for Shakespeare
We also face the thorny issue of time. Already pressed for time as a result of this standardized testing day, that professional development day, or, in the North, the inevitably ill-timed snow day, our classroom time disappears faster than happy hour on Friday. And, for sure, using performance strategies to teach Shakespeare takes time. This is why: I assign almost no homework for this unit. Other than activities at the end of the unit to prepare for scene work, I do it all in class. In my humble opinion, assigning Shakespeare reading for homework constitutes a recipe for disaster. My entire approach is predicated on the philosophy that Shakespeare should be seen and experienced, not merely read. However, this approach takes time, and curricular demands often necessitate covering more content.
Thus, I solve this problem by assigning less complicated text…a choice book perhaps, or, in the case of a 9th-grade classroom, The Pearl. In addition, lately, I have been experimenting with faux online class structures. As online education becomes more and more popular, (many of our juniors and seniors take online college classes in high school), I want students to be familiar with the process. Moreover, as a Google Classroom school, it is easy for me to post materials, assignments, and discussion questions online. I check in with students in class each day about this unit to answer any questions, but, for the most part, students complete this work on their own and we can focus on Shakespeare in class.
In addition, I save time by cutting the play. Bryn Allison in her article “How to Teach Shakespeare so Your Students Won’t Hate It” suggests both omitting entire scenes and performing parts of others. I find this highly effective. Rather than forcing students to muddle through long passages of archaic references, I streamline scenes to be more time efficient. I often post or print cut google doc versions for class. (If you think you’d like versions of these scenes, leave a comment below and I’ll add posting them to my project list!)
Lesson Planning
Many learning situations, especially activities like music and sports, follow a progression. First comes the warm-up, then skill building followed by the application of the skills in drills, and finally, the performance or game. I like to follow a similar daily progression. I choose a warm-up appropriate to the needs of the students and the content of the day. For example, if students need to develop more reading fluency, I’ll choose a text activity. If their speech sounds like a garbled mess I’ll choose a voice activity like “Silly Sounds.” If the scene for the day provides opportunities for complex blocking, then we’ll do a space activity. I often consider the warm-up to be a skill builder as well, so we often progress right to the scene(s) of the day. As mentioned earlier, most of my phase one activities focus on building familiarity. In fact, I often tell students, “Don’t understand any of it; I’ll explain it later!” so they don’t get bogged down. Once students begin to read more fluently and have overcome some of their anxiety about the text, I facilitate more skill-building activities like “Dropping In,” “Find the Breaks,” or “Embedded Stage Directions.” (Look for upcoming posts on all these activities!)
After warm-ups/skill building, we run the scene. For phase one and the beginning of phase 2, we do it all together. I either ask for volunteers for the parts or “highly encourage” students to take on various roles. Usually I also “set the scene” by explaining generally what happens in the upcoming scene and how the characters feel about what’s going on.
Students then read through the parts on their feet, acting as much as possible, and I play the role of director suggesting ways to deliver the line. For example, I may ask them, “How do you think the character feels about what you just said?” When they answer I say, “Okay, say it like you mean it.” Or, I may suggest, “Okay, you really want her attention right? And she’s not so sure she wants it, so…each time to say a line take a step closer. And you, every time you say a line, take a step away.” I’ll even sometimes have a student deliver a line two or three ways and ask them which one they like best.
For longer scenes, I will find natural breakpoints and recast with different students to get more people involved. About midway through phase two, I’ll break the scene into parts, and assign a group of students to cast, read, and briefly rehearse their section, then bring the whole class together in a scene jigsaw where each group performs their part of the scene. Not only does this approach get everyone involved but it also prepares them for scene rehearsal.
Shakespeare Assessment
I plan on putting together an entirely separate post on assessment; however, I will touch on it here. Essentially, I tell students to decide what character or scene they would like to perform, or with whom would they prefer to work. I give them a performance rubric (the rubric addresses the Reading Literature and Speaking and Listening Standards) and a week and a half and…go! I ask them to create basic costumes, obtain necessary props, memorize lines, and rehearse the scene. I try to schedule time in the theater so we have a bigger space in which to work.
During the phase, I also give small assignments that help them prepare. I facilitate a memorization tricks workshop. I ask them to “translate” their individual lines into their own language and submit it. I also have them submit “Intention Notes,” and I give them memorization quizzes for blocks of lines. Many students still feel nervous at this point, so I tell them that if they complete all these assignments to the best of their ability, I guarantee success no matter what the outcome of the performance.
Conclusion
Like most fears, the reluctance to study Shakespeare stems from the unknown. Confidence, on the other hand, comes from accomplishing challenging but manageable tasks. People don’t often get up from the couch and run a marathon. By sequencing lessons and activities in ways that foster confidence and skill building, teachers can help create Shakespeare enthusiasts from their students.
Please feel free to post questions and comments below!
Teaching Shakespeare through Performance 