As the new school year marches in, we pick up our Shakespeare plays again. However, Shakespeare can be intimidating – what are all these strange words and phrases?
Perhaps reading Shakespeare with another family or our co-op would be better, you think, and so you gather with others to try to decode the meaning in your new play. But now come a new set of problems.
Are you going to read separately, or together? Will you listening to a recording of it or read it yourselves? Are you having discussions or simply narrations?
My family has read quite a few Shakespeare plays in groups, and here is a sort of outline that might help you sort out everything to have a streamlined experience.
Planning It Out
If this is your first Shakespeare play, it will likely take you longer than 12 weeks (depending on the play). Keep the lessons short – ten to twenty minutes should be sufficient. Keep five of those minutes for narration, and the rest for reading the play.
Consult with the other families how you should read the play. Will you listen to a dramatized version of it (I am partial to the Arkangel versions) or have each child read a character’s part?
If you are just starting out with Shakespeare, I would suggest reading the play together. If you are teaching older students who are familiar with Shakespeare, you approach this more like a bookclub, where everyone reads on their own and then discusses the play together.
Before the first lesson, make sure everyone has their own copies of the play or can follow along from a free version online.
Also, choose a retelling of the play you are doing: we like to use The Shakespeare Stories by Andrew Matthews and Tony Ross (we picked up these from Costco, funnily enough) or Charles and Mary Lamb’s Tales From Shakespeare.
Either read this aloud at the first lesson or have everyone read this before your first lesson. It will be much easier if you are familiar with the plot and characters, so you have a better idea of what is going on.
Setting up your space
There isn’t a lot to do to prepare your space for Shakespeare, but this blog post shares a few things that are helpful to keep around!
The Shakespeare Lessons
Begin each lesson with a recap of the previous one – this may be done by you or by the students. Then, transition into reading or listening to your play. You can keep track of the characters with printable puppets, or if students read out the different parts, they can hold the corresponding puppet to remind them of who is speaking.
After you read your play, have the students narrate the play by each saying one or two sentences – in large groups, this allows each student to contribute. They could also narrate by acting out an improvised version of the play – this often leads to some entertaining moments!
Celebrating the End of Your Shakespeare Play
You’ve made it! Your Shakespeare play is finished! A wonderful way to finish off your Shakespeare play is to have the students act out their favourite scene(s).
You can also congratulate them with a simple celebration tea – perhaps some scones and jam, or a fruit tart, would be nice.
