Making it relevant

Relevance is always the challenge in teaching classic literature. In the past I've found myself getting too caught up in teaching the content and forgetting about what's important to my audience. This year in my Romeo and Juliet unit for freshman English class, I decided to focus less on sharing all my "storehouse of knowledge" and instead hone in on the elements that would be pertinent--and therefore interesting--to my students. I took a step back and thought about what my goals for a Romeo and Juliet unit are. Basically, after studying the standards, I came up with two overarching goals. First, I want my students to appreciate and understand Shakespeaere's language, including his use of word play and puns. Second, I want them to "get" the story in a way that allows them to make connections to their own lives. For a starting point and to overview the plot, we watched West Side Story. Later, once we have finished with R&J, we'll use WSS to write a compare/contrast paper--a skill the students need to practice anyway. After WSS, I told the students how, like Tony and Maria, Romeo and Juliet met at a dance as well, but a masquerade ball. We decorated paper masks with paint and glitter and held our own masquerade ball.

In a book by The Folger's Shakespeare Institute, Shakespeare Set Free, I found a renaissance circle dance, and I downloaded some renaissance music on my phone to play through the sound system. After our masks were ready, we put them on and I taught the class the circle dance, complete with bows and curtsies to honor our partner. It didn't matter if boys danced with boys or girls with girls because in Shakespeare's day, there were no women in the theater, and all the actors would have been men and boys--even the ones playing women. (Juliet was played by a man!)

Since I have Freshmen--and a lot of boys--I didn't really expect them to participate or enjoy the dancing, but I was pleasantly surprised that they got into it! I think wearing the masks helped because they could feel they were "hiding" or playing a part, not really being themselves.

We read Act 1 together in class, a chore that was made considerably easier by using Michael Tolaydo's method as outlined in Shakespeare Set Free. Act 1, Scene 1 involves some individuals from each of the warring households insulting each other, so after reading it, we familiarized ourselves with Shakespeare's language by creating insults and hurling them at each other! Phrases such as "Thou wanton eye-offending manikin," which may translate into "You sleezy, ugly, little woman" (or worse!), were particularly popular. In trying to keep it relevant, I pointed out that Shakespeare's plays were often considered a bit on the "racy" side, but that because we don't understand the language, his puns and often dirty jokes go right over our heads. I sometimes wonder if the Powers-That-Be who require public schools to teach Shakespeare really understand his work. If they did, I'm not sure they would want high school Freshmen reading it!

While reading Act 1, I pointed out some of the crude humor, including obscene gestures and "locker-room" talk about sex. I explained that to those who understand the language, Shakespeare's works are quite risque. (At which a Freshman boy blurted out, "Well, teach us to understand it then!") After reading as much as they could stand (not much), we watched Act 1 of the BBC version on DVD. This gave me opportunity to point out such stage elements as the chorus and soliloquies, though truthfully, I found this version pretty boring and badly made. At least, though, we were able to hear the lines delivered.

Then I found the 1996 movie version starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Set in a modern coastal city called Verona Beach, this version is controversial, and some older English teachers don't like it because of the artistic license director Baz Luhrmann has taken--for example, instead of fueding families, the Lords Montague and Capulet appear to be warring mafia heads of "family" and instead of swords, everyone carries a gun. I like it, though, because it is fast-paced, action-packed and still uses the original language of Shakespeare. The same students who struggled desperately to understand the text and who yawned through the BBC version, now sat up, stayed awake and understood almost everything that happened! In fact, one student (a boy who barely passed first semester) said he went home after the first viewing day and rented it because he couldn't wait to see how it ended! Occasionally I stop the video and ask students to clarify what's going on--almost always they have followed the story perfectly. I was surprised at how many of my students didn't know how the story ended and were truly shocked and angry.

I used to think that teaching classic literature meant the students had to read every word in its original form. I still believe students need to be exposed to the original language, but sometimes small doses can be more powerful than the whole. Overall, as the goals I set before, I wanted them to understand and use Shakespeare's language and to know the story line. The 1996 movie version helped me to get my students to that place. Pointing out the puns and plot elements that appealed to their adolescent mentality helped too. In the end, they don't really care how much I know about Shakespeare and his works, and even if I stand up front all day spewing my knowledge, it doesn't soak in. Instead, a sprinkling of the language, a focus on the seedier side, and a modern take on the movie probably made a much bigger impact than a thorough reading of every word could ever have done!

March Madness

     When I say March Madness, I'm not talking about basketball, though here in Indiana, almost everyone is! I'm talking about the month of March in the classroom. It becomes a bit crazy. It's been a long winter and the students are tired of being cooped up inside. Truthfully, we teachers are tired, too. We made it through the first round of ISTEP+ and personally, I just wanted to collapse when it was over. We had been reviewing writing skills pretty hard; then it was time to get back to the literature and reading skills. After Christmas break, we finally hit our stride. Until the first of March, things were humming along nicely. Our agreed-upon discipline plan seemed to be working. Occasionally I asked someone to leave the room, but after that, everyone else would settle in to work. During ISTEP, the students showed sincere effort. For weeks, I had been talking about the importance of the test. I reminded them that the test is not the most important thing, but that it does matter and they needed to do their best. In the past, I've heard 7th graders say, "It's just a stupid test," and I wanted to combat that attitude early on. The 22 students who tested in my room all seemed to be serious and work hard. (Well, most. One student "finished" his essay in 10 minutes during a 55-minute testing session. According to state requirements, I could only remind him to double check his work and then require that he sit quietly. As I glanced at his test, I saw that he had only written about 4 lines in messy handwriting. The test booklet allowed 2 complete lined pages for the essay!) I had no behavior issues during the test, few instances of students appearing to "blow off" the test, and I felt good about their efforts. But when the test was over, the zoo was open for business, and we still had 4 weeks until spring break!
     I decided this was a good time to lighten up. We had been working very hard. The first week after the test, I scheduled 15 minutes of quiet reading time every day. During this time, as long as the class was behaving, I let them sit or lay on the floor or move to sit by a friend. For some reason, sitting under a table is a more comfortable place for some 7th graders to read than their desk! For the assignment, I schedule lots of in-class work time and allow students to work with a partner of their choice. When the room gets too loud, I remind them to use their "12-inch voices," meaning only a person within one foot of you can hear you. Students who don't stay on task are sent to their desk to work alone--the worst punishment in the world! Because of the training we've been practicing all year, most of these times are manageable and fairly productive, as long as I keep circulating. I don't assign very much homework these days--at least not without allowing enough work time that most students could finish the work in class if they get down to business. And on Fridays, if the students have been working that week, we spend the last few minutes having "talk and tech time." They get to bring in their smart phones, MP3 players and handheld game systems to use for the last 10 minutes of the class period. This reward is the most effective tool I've found!