Shakespeare and Poetry Unit

I think a good way to introduce children to Shakespeare would be through the book "A Midsummer Nights Dream: For Kids". Although this book is an easier read than the real shakespeare, it keeps some of his style, while making it much more understandable to children. After discussing this book with the class and discussing Shakespeare, the unit could end with class performances. Much like we did, elementary students could get in groups and each have an assigned part to act out in front of the class.

Tips for teaching Shakespeare to children (www.pbs.org/shakespeare/educators/elementary.html)
1. Be fearless! Your kids are--Elementary kids are not yet worried about what they don't know. Interest them in Shakespeare now, before they become convinced reading him is "hard".
2. Start with the stories-- Shakespeare's adaptations for kids have been around almost as long as Shakespeare's plays. Read these stories aloud to your students or provide them with copies for individual reading.
3.Shakespeare inspires-- Read Shakespeare's stories to children and watch their imaginations take off. Provide them with plenty of art supplies and see where their imaginations take them.
4. Play with the language-- Shakespeare wrote plays, not novels, and his language is full of short passages that are fun to act out or play with. Many of Shakespeares plays contained songs-start with those.
5. Start small-- You don't need to study an entire play with your students. Begin with a particularly exciting scene-one with lots of action.
6. Be prepared-- The more comfortable you are with the material, the more comfortable the students will be. But don't worry if you are not a Shakespeare scholar. You and your students can discover the works together.
7. Connect it to your students' lives-- For example, ask the students "How would you feel if you woke up as a donkey?"
8. Keep it moving-- At the elementary level, it's important to keep the learning active. Make sure students are up on their feet speaking Shakespeare's words and acting out his scenes.
9. Create a safe environment for performance-- When your kids are ready for performances, go over audience etiquette.
10. Stress the qualities of a good actor-- Tell the students they need to be seen and heard when on stage.

After reading "Wishes, Lies, and Dreams", by Kenneth Koch I got some good ideas for introducing poetry to elementary students. For example, Koch says that you should tell childrent not to rhyme when starting to write poetry. When children are trying to rhyme it often stands in the way of their creativity. He also discusses some ways to help get children started on writing poetry. He used "I wish..." poems to help the children get started, as well as "I dream..." and "I used to be... but now...". I think all of these are good starters for kids to write their own poems.

As a child I was introduced to poetry through Dr. Suess and Shel Silverstein so I would also like to bring both of these authors into my classroom. I red books by them at school as well as at home and they are the authors who really sparked my interest in poetry.

An article I came across titled "Teaching Poetry to Children" by Debbie DeSpirt discussed a couple ways to spark children's interest in poetry. The first way to do this she said is by using riddle poems. These poems have an answer so the children really have to think about each line to figure it out. The next thing she talks about is the use of humor poems. She mentions that children like them because they are short but engaging and filled with imagery. She also talks about how important it is to be a model for the students when reading poetry. She says it is important to demonstrate good posture, movement and gesture. Also, to place emphasis on the right words when reading aloud. The children see you doing it and pick up on these things. I think all of these items are definitely useful to keep in mind for when I am a teacher, and will probably be really helpful.