MAR
3

Make Shakespeare Fun for Your Students

By Wade Bradford 

Wade Bradford currently teaches English at Moorpark College and is the official “Guide to Plays and Drama” at About.com.  In addition to writing picture books and novels, Wade has written over 30 plays, including Downton Zombie and Stagecraft:  The Video Game, both available from Pioneer Drama. 

When I teach a literature class at my local community college, I ask my students this question early on in the semester:  “Who read Shakespeare in high school?”  Just about every hand shoots up.  I follow up with, “Who enjoys studying Shakespeare?”  Just about every hand goes down.  Some of the students actually groan at the mention of the Immortal Bard.

This suggests that millions of kids meet Shakespeare every year, but they never want to meet him again.  In fact, there’s a whole industry based upon our frustration with the world’s greatest playwright.  Just look at Sparknotes.  They’ve created a whole website aimed at overcoming Shakespearophobia.  (Okay, that’s not a real thing — but it sounds official, doesn’t it?)  And of course, there’s always Shakespeare for Dummies.  (Pioneer even carries this book!)

So, without sending students running and screaming towards a cliff (or Cliffnotes), what can teachers do to make Shakespeare delightful instead of dreadful?  Here are my top six tips for making Shakespeare fun.

Get Them Early

Just like Greek myths and American folk tales, the storylines of Shakespeare should become familiar material to children while they are still in grade school.  There are many wonderful children’s book adaptations that present abridged versions of classics such as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Macbeth and King Lear.

You might be wondering, aren’t some of Shakespeare’s tragedies a bit too violent for third graders?  (Maybe not — just take a look at their video games.)  Fortunately, the children’s versions don’t provide gory details, but they do evoke the sense of suspense (created by those meddlesome witches) as well as compassion (created by the poor old king lost out in the storm).  The more that elementary school teachers familiarize children with the conflicts, themes and plots of Shakespeare’s work, the more the students will understand and appreciate the work when it’s time to study the plays at the high school level.

World’s Best Insults

If you are dealing with teenagers, many of them will no doubt love to learn about all the bawdry, naughty bits as well as the old-fashioned profanity of Shakespeare’s day.  What teen doesn’t want to learn new ways to insult their friends?  Lots of books and website feature lists of Shakespeare style jibes.  Many of the words might seem like a foreign language at first, but once you help them decode the stuff, it’ll be hard to get them to stop.  (Now that I think about it...  maybe this isn’t such a good idea!  Just make sure they don’t say these insults around the principal!)

Total Immersion

The insults will whet their appetite for finding out the definitions of some of Shakespeare’s more ribald words.  That’s a good start because the obscure vocabulary is THE main reason why many students can’t stand Shakespeare.  They’ll say it’s like learning a foreign language.  They’re almost right — so why not teach Elizabethan prose and poetry like a foreign language class?

My best foreign language teachers would teach a class without speaking a word of English.  Try doing the same.  Learn as many of the words and phrases (all the thees and thous and such).  During class, do your best to speak only in the Elizabethan style.  (Picture yourself as a cast member at a Renaissance Festival.)  Do this as much as possible, throughout the day.  The students might not understand you at first, but with a lot of gesturing and a lot more trial and error, they’ll be able to converse with you and fellow students.

Art Day!

Bring as many art supplies as you can:  construction paper, crayons, glue, markers, pastels, scissors, etc.  Your students might think that you are about to teach a kindergarten class — and that’s okay.  You want to get visual with today’s activity.  Working in groups, have the students select a sonnet or monologue.  Then, instruct them to visually interpret the poetry.  (Tell the less artistically inclined students that stick figures are always welcome!)  To give them ideas, you might want to show them some of William Blake’s artwork.  He fused many of his poems with his beautiful paintings and etchings.  If students focus carefully on how to bring Shakespeare’s words to life on the page, they’ll work both their artistic abilities as well their critical thinking skills.

Create Alternate Endings and Deleted Scenes

Is your class bummed out by the death of Romeo and Juliet?  Do your students wonder what happens to Hamlet when he sails off with Rosencrantz and Guildenstern?  Have them come up with their own versions by letting their imagination run free.

Gather them together into small groups and have them collaborate on a short scene that either invents a brand new ending or adds a brand new scene that takes place during or after the play.  Let them be as serious or as comical as they like.  Remember, if they can parody something, that means they’ve learned enough about the material in order to make fun of it!

Lights, Camera, Action

If your students are really daring, they can take their newly created scripts and bring them to life.  Have them perform the scenes in front of the class, or better yet, organize a film crew and bring the scenes to life on video.

Once the students get a chance to perform their original material, challenge them further by having them rehearse and perform ACTUAL Shakespeare.  Start with small scenes and monologues to be less intimidating.  You can use YouTube to inspire them by showing clips from Shakespeare films.  I recommend the St. Crispin’s Day speech from Henry V.  That should motivate your students to take on anything!

Got Any More Bright Ideas?

Have you used Shakespeare in the classroom or in youth theater workshops?  What strategies worked for you?  Leave a comment and share your inspiring stories with the rest of us on our Facebook page!