What I can’t wait to bring back to the classroom

Today marks over halfway between the start and end of this process, so I am savoring every moment I have left in London. This has been a wonderful experience so far and I’m truly loving every workshop. My absolutely favorite moment was getting yelled at by a British man for dramatically rehearsing with my group in the street, but that’ll be another post. I figured now would be a good time to record my top favorite strategies because I’ll be getting even more wonderful ideas and I want to remember them all! Please keep in mind that every strategy can be modified to what works for your students.

1. Status cards: everyone holds a card to their forehead. They may not look at their own card, but everyone make look at theirs. Students are treated according to their card. An Ace is the lowest status, while a 10 is the highest status. As they walk about the room, students have to determine their number based on the way they’re being treated. Then, they line up according to what they think they are. They debrief with discussion questions that relate to themselves, but the goal is to bring this experience to the text with questions such as, “Are there any characters in A Midsummer Night’s Dream who went from an Ace to a 10? Any characters who went from a 10 to an Ace?” This strategy doesn’t seem like it’s related to the text, but the psychological experience has acted as home base for discussion throughout the whole workshop. It brings the idea of status to life in a different way for students and makes for great discussion on characters and themes.

2. Story whoosh: this activity was so fun! Students circle up. You read a narrative form of the play/act. When you mention a character’s name, the student to your right gets in the middle to act out what you’re saying. When you mentioned another character’s name, the next student joins in to act out the scene with them. They don’t say anything, but simply act it out. At certain points, the teacher freezes the frame to lead a discussion on what is happening and any predictions the students may have. Then, they say “Whoosh!” and all the students leave the circle. You continue the story with new characters/students. I love this activity because it allowed everyone to participate in a non-threatening way. It gives students the essence of story without asking them to struggle through the language.

3. Iambic pentameter dances: I know, right? Iambic pentameter DANCE? Dances are supposed to be fun! Iambic pentameter is probably the opposite of fun! Actually, this strategy was super helpful for me to hear the rhythm. After providing students with a definition and example of iambic pentameter, have students come up with a dance to the beat. Since iambic pentameter goes “de DUM de DUM de DUM de DUM de DUM,” on the stressed syllable, students can stomp, clap, snap, or any combination of movements they’d like. The trick is they come up with the movement (as a class, with a group, individually, etc.) to help them remember the beat. Then, practice a few verses of iambic pentameter with them to your dance (“How happy some o’er others some can be”). Through this exercise, you can examine particularly interesting moments of meter within Macbeth. Have students chart the number of syllables per line in the famous “Is this a dagger I see before me, the handle toward my hand?” soliloquy. Have students mark the syllables like a heart beat, with iambic pentameter being the baseline. Once they see how sporadic the meter is, this will spark interesting discussion about Macbeth’s state of mind. You can pose questions about why he speaks in iambic pentameter in particular lines and why he chooses feminine endings on other lines. (This also works well with “O, that this too too solid flesh would melt...” from Hamlet.)

4. Vowels/consonants: This game is simple but effective. You may wish to start very small in partners, with Student A and Student B. Have Student A attempt to shake Student B’s hand with NO TOUCHING and only the word “yes.” Student B only says “no.” Stop and discuss techniques such as body language and movement around each other. Then, Student A attempts to befriend Student B using only vowel sounds. Then, they try to befriend him/her using only consonant sounds. As a class, discuss which one is more effective, then examine parts of your play where characters are speaking affectionately (using vowels) or angrily (using consonants). The example they used was Caliban from The Tempest when he says, “All the infections that the sun sucks up.” Yikes!

I could write about so much more, but these are the activities that have resonated with me. I plan to bring these back to my classroom in the fall and hope they click with the students as well as they have with me. I also learned there’s a book that has many of these strategies called Creative Shakespeare: The Globe Education Guide to Practical Shakespeare.

If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that Shakespeare is for all. Every student, regardless of their reading level, is capable of learning the stories and themes. There are no rules about how to teach his works, and if a student finds themselves relating to or even empathizing with a character, then that’s something to celebrate.

Till next time 💕