Shakespeare & Poetry Unit

Shakespeare & Poetry Unit
Shakespeare:
Over the past 2-3 weeks we, as a class, have been exploring the world and mind of William Shakespeare. To start off our Shakespeare Unit we watched the documentary film “The Hobart Shakespeareans.” This film documented the journey of a 5th grade class at Hobart Boulevard Elementary School located in the heart of Los Angeles. This special 5th grade class was instructed by their teacher, Rafe Esquith, who has taught at Hobart Elementary since 1981. Rafe is a fanatic of William Shakespeare’s work and implements many of Shakespeare’s plays into his classroom lesson plans. Shakespeare is not the only material that Rafe’s classroom covers throughout the year, but there is a definite emphasis. This documentary shows a classroom of ordinary students doing extraordinary things, from learning teamwork, vocabulary, grammar, presentation, etc…

After viewing the documentary I felt a bit surprised to how complex the material being covered in the classroom. The students were reading novels that are usually read in later high school years, such as Of Mice and Men, Grapes of Wrath, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and others. It is unbelievable that these 5th grade students were able to read, comprehend, and discuss these adult fiction novels. Rafe values the point of every child having a chance to do something great. Each child should be given equal opportunities, but this sadly is not entirely possible. So his teaching methods allocate many special privileges to his students including field trips to other states and putting on performances in the classroom. With the opportunities he gives his students he expects them to become inspired and produce serious work effort and goals in their school work.

So after our class viewed this documentary film, we were given an assignment to reenact a scene from Shakespeare’s play, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Each of the class groups were given different scenes from the play and were assigned to perform them to the class by live presentation or by video. These performances were to be a modern adaptation of the play, having any type of language, setting, or revisions. This was awesome assignment, mainly because it gave the class the opportunity to see and critique each others performances. Some interesting websites that I found helpfully in better understanding Shakespeare and altering it to a modern day revision were http://www.rsc.org.uk/exploringshakespeare/, good YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rpyc7120o1o

Poetry:
To start our poetry unit, the class read 2 books. Wishes, Lies, and Dreams by Kenneth Koth and the short novel, Love That Dog, by Sharon Creech. In Koth’s novel, it explains different variations to writing poems. Some poem ideas that I got out of it were poem types such as I wish, noise, color, seasons, lies, and I seem to be/ but I really am. Love that Dog gave the class an easy introduction to poetry and how creative it can be. Each person, in each group was assigned to post a poem that they enjoyed, and then write a prompt for the group to respond to. So each group member would write a poem using the groups prompts for instruction. Here are the group’s poems and prompts:

Danielle
At The Zoo ~William Makepeace Thackeray
First I saw the white bear, then I saw the black;
Then I saw the camel with a hump upon his back;
Then I saw the grey wolf, with mutton in his maw;
Then I saw the wombat waddle in the straw;
Then I saw the elephant a-waving of his trunk;
Then I saw the monkeys-mercy, how unpleasantly they-smelt!

Write a poem based on your favorite animal without giving that animal away.

Sarah
The Cow ~Robert Louis Stevenson
The friendly cow, all red and white,
I love with all my heart:
She gives me cream with all her might,
To eat with apple tart.

She wanders lowing here and there,
And yet she cannot stray,
All in the pleasant open air,
The pleasant light of day;

And blown by all the winds that pass
And wet with all the showers,
She walks along the meadow grass
And eats the meadow flowers.

Write a poem similar to The Cow, by Robert Louis Stevenson. Make sure that your poem is about an animal and uses the same rhyming pattern that Stevenson used. (A, B, A, B) Your poem should be a total of twelve lines.

Laura
Caterpillar ~Christina Rossetti
Brown and Furry
Caterpillar in a hurry,
Take your walk
To the shady leaf, or stalk,
Or what not,
Which may be the chosen spot.
No toad spy you,
Hovering bird of prey pass by you;
Spin and die,
To live again a butterfly.

Write a descriptive poem using an adjective in every line to describe your favorite animal. (Lower elementary grade levels)

or

Write a poem about something else in life that goes through changes. (ie: you, your family, your home, your thoughts, your goals etc.) (Upper elementary grade levels)

Matt (mine)
Isn’t My Name Magical ~ James Berry
Nobody can see my name on me
my name is inside
And all over me, unseen
like other people also keep it.
Isn’t my name magic?

My name is mine only.
It tells I am individual.
The one special person it shakes
when I’m wanted.

If I’m with hundreds of people
And my name gets called,
My sound switches me on to answer
Like it was my human electricity.
Isn’t that magical?

My name echoes across the playground,
It comes, it demands my attention.
I have to find out who calls,
Who wants me for what.
My name gets blurted out in class,
It is a terror, at a bad time,
Because somebody is cross.

My name gets called in a whisper
I am happy, because
My name may have touched me
With a loving voice.
Isn’t it all magic?

Create a poem that involves your own name. It can involve the letters of your name, the meaning, things or objects that can somehow relate to your name. This self poem should be close to 6 lines. Thinking abstractly, use your imagination.

Poetry is a terrific way for students to use their creativity and imagination to express whatever they would like to. Such as their feelings, likes/dislikes, thoughts, or abstract ideas such as animals, nature, seasons, or automobiles. Anything is possible when writing poetry. A poem do not have to rhyme, or follow order, or even make complete sense. Poetry is a written way of expression, using writing instead of verbal words. The author James Berry has written poetry for years and is critically acclaimed writer.

poems

A Boy's Best Friend

My hippo is missing, he's vanished,
I haven't seen him since noon,
How could I misplace something so "biggish"
What if he flew away on a balloon.

Ill need to put up some missing flyers,
they'll read "My Hippopotamus is Gone"
"He's a good hider, he looks like a pile of old car tires"
"He's got two front teeth, and goes by the name John"

Ive got a few baseball cards as a reward,
I will be so lost without him,
oh geez, I never checked the backyard,
Why is John in the pool, I didn't know he could swim?