A Taste of Shakespeare
By Andrea McGann Keech

When I announced our upcoming study of Shakespeare, my eighth graders began a chorus of protest: "Shakespeare? You've got to be kidding!" But as I looked out over the sea of unhappy faces in my classroom, I felt reasonably confident that, by the end of our mini-unit on the Bard, my students would be leaving eighth grade with a very positive introduction to Shakespeare under their belts, ready to tackle the Shakespeare plays that awaited them in their high school curriculum. Here's why.

The Bard on the boards. We're fortunate to have a local professional theater company that's kind enough to include our eighth graders in its outreach program. Every May, actors from the Riverside Theatre of Iowa City, IA come to our school and others in the area to perform a scene from a Shakespeare play. In recent years, we've been treated to scenes from Twelfth Night, The Comedy of Errors, A Midsummer Night's Dream and more.

Not only does the theater company give the students a chance to see live theater, they also give each student a guide to keep, filled with plot summaries, director's notes, cast photos and biographies and background notes to make the scene they're watching more meaningful. Students also get free tickets to a special evening dress rehearsal of the play, so they can see the entire production.

Starting with a story. But before all of that can happen, a good deal of classroom preparation must take place. I like to start with a picture book version of one of Shakespeare's plays. The simple act of sharing a story takes away any anxiety students may have about tackling a potentially-intimidating subject. Picture books offer a great way to get familiar with the plot twists and characters, and the illustrations help students visualize the action. My favorites are those done recently by Bruce Coville: Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth and A Midsummer Night's Dream (all from Dial Books). I choose one and read it to the class.

After that, I give out copies of a terrific, visually-appealing booklet called Kids Discover Shakespeare, one of the excellent offerings in the Kids Discover publication series (available from Kids Discover at 212-677-4457). The booklet's color illustrations give us a glimpse into the world of the Elizabethans. We learn about Queen Elizabeth, William Shakespeare, the Globe theater and find out basic facts about the comedies, histories and tragedies.

By this time, the students' attitudes toward Shakespeare are noticeably different. Some of them even ask if we're going to put on a play.

At the end of the Shakespeare mini-unit, the rest of the school's eighth graders gathered to watch Andrea's class perform a 10-minute version of Macbeth.

Acting it out. We do manage to do our own Shakespeare play – or, at least, a shorter version. Learning Links (www.learninglinks.com) and The Write Source catalogs (www.thewritesource.com), as well as Read magazine (available at www.weeklyreader.com) offer great script selections for this age group. Don't forget the famous Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. (www.shakespeare-etc.org). Through them, I ordered a poster titled "Shakespeare in the New Millennium." It features the Bard dressed as a modern playwright, in jeans. Who says Will isn't relevant today?

I give each student the opportunity to take part in the class play readings, even those who are initially reticent about trying an unfamiliar role. I've discovered that the shyest of students can shine when given the right words to speak in an encouraging environment.

For extra credit, students could attend the local high school's performance of Much Ado About Nothing and write a review similar to those found in the newspaper. Not only was it exciting for the kids to see this live show, there was the added excitement of seeing some of last year's eighth graders taking an active part in the production – as crew members and onstage. Two of last year's students even had lead roles!

A dramatic dessert. We conclude our study with a literal taste of Shakespeare. As a culmination of the unit, the entire eighth grade (400 students) holds class outdoors in the courtyard where we make small Shakespearean tarts. Faculty members go grocery shopping early in the week and buy paper muffin cups, vanilla wafer cookies, cans of assorted pie fillings, tubs of whipped toppings and plastic spoons. We set out the ingredients on a big picnic table and let students place a cookie in the muffin cup, add pie filling and finish with whipped topping. That's all there is to it!

Then my class performs the hilarious "Ballad of Big Mac®," a 10-minute version of Macbeth I found in Top Ten Shakespeare Stories, a lively softcover supplement from Scholastic (1999). This year, the three witches used a plastic cauldron left over from Halloween, and they casually tossed in a rubber bat, a toy snake, a plush baboon and other gruesome ingredients as they recited their incantations.

To make the day even more memorable, actress Jody Hovland, artistic director and founder of Riverside Theatre, joined us in the courtyard for tarts and later showed us how she would be interpreting the part of a witch for a summer production of Macbeth.

It was an exciting day, a successful unit and a wonderful way to open unwilling young minds to the delights found in Shakespeare's writing. And the tarts weren't bad, either!

Shakespeare for Kids: His Life and Times
by Colleen Aagesen and Margie Blumberg (Chicago Review Press, 1999)

William Shakespeare & the Globe
by Aliki (HarperCollins, 2000)

Macbeth for Kids
by Lois Burdett (Firefly Books, 2000))

Stories from Shakespeare
by Geraldine McCaughrean (Simon & Schuster, 1994)