From: Donna Anglin [donna@anglin.com]
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 18:40
To: AP-English
Subject: [ap-english] RE: Reading Hamlet

Ok  Time for me to wade into this.
Right now my kids are reading R&J.( ninth grade Pre AP) They read it aloud in class. We talk about it as we go...all aspects. If they are fighting over who gets to read a certain part, we read the scene twice. We watch parts of 2 or 3 movies as we go along. They memorize and
PERFORM 10 lines per act.   They keep motif charts and character poem
ideas. When we finish reading it, they will do group performances. Some in Shakespeare's own words,  and then in parody or paraphrase.  We will watch West Side Story and then they will write an outline of their own parallel version. They will compose character poems, read articles about the play, and write a lengthy essay. Does it take a lot of time? Absolutely! and I am deeply grateful for every minute. In their 4 years we will also do Othello, Macbeth, Caesar, and Hamlet in much  the same style. They will see videos of Lear and Much Ado...  and read another play on  their own. When do I teach all the things they need to know for AP exams?...every day while we are discussing  and writing about
Shakespeare. Remember how the Greeks taught from the Odyssey?   
They will read many other novels in high school, but Shakespeare is the backbone of the program.


-----Original Message-----
From: mary bevilacqua [mailto:msbev@bellsouth.net] 
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 4:20 PM
To: AP-English
Subject: [ap-english] RE: Reading Hamlet

I could not agree more.  My students cannot get enough of Shakespeare precisely because they read it "on their feet, his words in their mouths." Another thing I learned at the Folger: start collecting props- hats, dresses-you name it, and have them accessible in the classroom.  Kids love "dress up," even the valedictorians...
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Skip Nicholson" <skipnicholson@earthlink.net>
To: "AP-English" <ap-english@lyris.collegeboard.com>
Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2003 2:53 AM
Subject: [ap-english] RE: Reading Hamlet


> My experience has taught me to use the same approach as Michelle
Bright.
> If I assign an act of Hamlet as homework, my students head for Spark
or
> Cliff or some other plot summary and ignore the language completely. I 
> can't remember a kid who's come back to tell me that our discussion of 
> the light and dark imagery in Heart of Darkness has changed her life.
I
> do, though, hear often from graduates about Shakespeare. It usually
goes
> something like this (a real message): "We just saw a Hamlet in
Berkeley.
> It was exciting, except for our scene -- that was AWFUL! We were SO
much
> better! They really should have been at our team rehearsals in APE!" 
> (Sorry I failed in trying to teach them about exclamation points.)
>
> On their feet, his words in their mouths... that's what they remember. 
> Research exists to back up the invaluable role of classroom
performance
> in kids' learning to understand and to love Shakespeare. The Cambridge 
> School Shakespeare may be the best source for classroom activities. I 
> like the Folger Shakespeare Library's "Shakespeare Set Free" series, 
> too, but I'm partial there. A suggestion: have them reading a novel at 
> home while they do Hamlet in class.
>
> Cheers,
> Skip Nicholson
> South Pasadena (CA) High School
> skip@nicholson.net
>
>
>
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