I've been trying to think of something more original but nothing is coming to me. It feels so canned to say I'd use film versions of Shakespeare to augment the literature, but I do think it is a very wise way to incorporate media in an English classroom. Shakespeare's plays were meant to be seen and heard; reading them is just not the same.
Sample activity: Students read a passage of a Shakespeare play (it doesn't really matter which one) either in class or on their own. Then, students would work in small groups and create a short performance of a section in that scene. Thirdly, we would watch a film version of the same scene. Students would take notes commenting on how their views of the story changed after each successive activity and comparing the dramatic scenes staged in class with the cinematic interpretation. We would then have a class discussion about this.
2 comments:
Lisa- Although you might think this is not original, it is very helpful for high school students, I think. Another thing you could do is to have students watch a modern adaptation to one of Shakespeare's plays and talk about differences and similarities, like "West Side Story" and "Romeo and Juliet," or even "10 Things I Hate About You" and "Taming of the Shrew"...I think that's the play it's based on. I could be wrong.
Anyway, I like your idea, and I plan on using it in my classes too.
I hadn't thought about "West Side Story" that Maggie mentioned above, when I adored it in High School. I thought it was so true and no one would ever connect to it like I did!
I agree with you, Shakespeare lends itself really well to this idea. I'm glad that so many great movies are used related to the Bard. They show that there is great material there, if people are able to connect to it.
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