Shakespearean Truth or Dare

To embrace Shakespeare's language, play with some of his typical situations, and, yes, be a little bit silly, student engage in some Shakespearean Truth or Dare.  During our unit reading Hamlet, students will have the opportunity to select a Truth or a Dare.  A Dare is a silly task to complete or perform.  A Truth requires students to answer a question about the play (that I usually make up on the spot depending on where we are in the reading of the play).





Here is a sample of a few of the "Dares":

Impersonate Polonious.  Give someone advice.

As Ophelia, dote in idolatry to a “Hamlet.”

Tell the class “Horatio” how much you value him/her.

It’s cold tonight at Elsinore Castle.  Show us how cold.

Give us your best ghost impression.

You are now Francisco.  Go stand guard at the door for the rest of the period.

Here is a sample of the types of questions I might use for "Truths":

Who seems to be Hamlet’s best friend so far?

Why do the guards think that the ghost leaves initially?

Who says “with an auspicious and a dropping eye, with mirth in funeral and with dirth in marriage”?

What is a First Folio?

And, here are a few photos of my students in action (performing Dares or answering Truths):

   

             

   

Elements of Film: Angles and More!

To help understand the different types of camera angles used in film, and more importantly, to understand WHY filmmakers select particular shots, students in our Studies in Lit & Film class ventured out to the halls of BHS to take pictures in the style of different film shots.


Check out their work here:  (can you name all of the types of shots?)

 
    
                                

Hamlet Act II Tableau Scenes

After our reading of Act II, students selected a moment they thought was important or significant to portray in tableau.  Next, they posted their photo to our Learning Management System, and other students were invited to choose a line from the play that they thought would suitably accompany the photo.

Here are some of their poses:

Can you select a moment from Act II that you think is fitting?


PS. I love this photo because it looks like MK is throwing down some serious sass.


Love KK's face in this one!


Is that a cape, KP?



Spies!

 


















Aw, poor, CMc!



JM: Shaking hands and kissing babies.

And finally-- a series of photos for that fateful moment in the garden:   
 

Hamlet's First Eleven Lines

As we begin reading and analyzing Hamlet, we are starting small.  Eleven lines only.  Students read the first eleven lines and focused on the question:

EQ: What does the opening of a text reveal about it?

Then, so everyone could get the feel for the language--and have a little fun, students paired up to perform the first eleven lines in the style of one of the following genres:

Horror

Western

Soap Opera

Musical

Spy

Rom Com

Fantasy

Silent

Animated/Puppetry

News Broadcast

Interpretive Dance

Poetry Slam

Rap

Here are some photos of their performances.  Can you guess which style they are presenting?