Making Curriculum Pop

Making Hamlet Pop!

Making Hamlet Pop

My name is Megan Allen, and I am going to be a student teacher next semester. My placement is currently 12th grade high school students, and I am going to construct a Hamlet until plan.  I would like my students to be able to understand Shakespeare’s language, have a general knowledge about who Shakespeare is, be able to translate one of Hamlet’s soliloquies into common everyday language, and act out a scene or the play. I also want to find ways to connect this to students life outside of the classroom. I plan on constructing these above objectives more effectively as the unit progresses.

I have found a few resources currently.  One of them is the 1996 movie. I actually own three different  versions of Hamlet, but one this one is one of my favorites. I thought it would be good to show it during class if they are having trouble understanding a scene or if they need a visual aid during the unit.

 

Another website (hamelt information)  is one of my favorite websites on Hamlet. It is very effective for looking up almost anything that deals with Hamlet. I really enjoy the fact that it has lots of links to everything Hamlet online.

A website for descriptive notes on the lines.

The following link has a revised happier ending to Hamlet. I find this effective, because it shows what can be done with a plan, and it brings humor on the whole sad plan.

The last link I found effective was a song about hamlet. The lyrics  are here, but the link to hear the song is this o ne . This is my FAVORITE link. I think it is truly amazing. It’s so funny and somewhat accurate.

I found some good resources on the Ning.com as well as the websites I found above. Allusions great website, because it has allusions and retellings of Hamlet that I could use in discussion and have my students watch in class. At least the Simpsons one, because that one is really good and funny.  This website  has a modern variation of Hamlet that I could rent and show students.  Another resource I found on the Ning.com was one that has the words that Shakespeare created.

Any ideas or any rescoures you have would be highly appreciated. Thank You!

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Lisa Fink on February 22, 2010 at 10:59am
Permalink Reply by Chris Shamburg on February 22, 2010 at 11:19am
Megan,

I'd like to try to talk you out of the translations idea (at least as an intro). The reason people keep coming back to Shakespeare and Hamlet is the language (he stole the plot and characters himself, so nothing original there). There are some great techniques to get kids to move toward the language. I'd recommend the book Shakespeare Set Free...these are performance-based techniques that connect kids to the language is safe and engaging ways. I'd also recommend the Cambridge School Edition (for you). They come with teaching ideas for getting kids plugged into the language.


Here's a drafty suggestion of ideas.

1) start with Shakespeare insults for a day (here's one such list) http://www.pangloss.com/seidel/shake_rule.html

Instead of or next day take lines from Act 1 Hamlet e.g. "Tis Bitter Cold", "Stand and Unfold Yourself" Put them on index cards and have kids form two lines and then meet in the middle and say the lines to each other. They will really get the sense of act I and have fun with Shakspeare's language.

2) Have the kids enact small scenes...adding their own stage directions (make a handout). A great one is when Hamet first sees the ghost of his father. His Hamlet scared? excited? Is the ghost martial? docile? Various movie versions play it differntly. I believe I have a unit/lesson plan on this.

3) for long speeches have kids form groups say a line or phrase, physicalize it, and then freeze like a statute. They will go deep in the poetry. This is refered to as tableax poetry.

4) for solilouqies keep in mind that most of them are some internal debate. Have kids form two opposing lines and then alternatate the lines back and forth...the 'ossoliation" of his thoughts will be apparent. You can have them start off in a whisper and then end shouting or have one side whisper and the other yell, or one side respond indvidually and the other side read as a group, etc....

5) have kids remix a speech with a modern song. Give them some Shakespeare and a list of approved works. For example, "The Witching Hour" soliloquy and Michael Jacskon's Thriller. Have them make an original remix with 8 lines from each...they choose the lines.
Anyway, all of these techniques emphaisze the word, the beauty of the words in fun and engaging ways. I've got some handouts for these ideas...send me a message if you want copies.

Hope this is helpful...main advice, get the book Shakespeare Set Free: Hamlet.
Permalink Reply by Cassie Conrad on February 27, 2010 at 12:52am
For the record, Megan and I decided to work on this unit together, so I started doing some research of my own, and these are the ideas I/we have come up with so far. I'm not positive which activities we will be using for sure except for the final assessment, but I figured it would be good to make the list as large as possible for anyone else who might be needing help with Hamlet activities.

I've included some of the resources listed already, along with supplements and other ideas:

--WebQuest lesson for the first day of the unit: introduction and sociohistorical context
*will need to compile a list of approved/restricted sites (i.e. no Wikipedia, because teachers are supposed to be against that...)
--pre-made WebQuest (has different objectives than the lesson plan above though.... and I like those ones better)
--Informational website

--Anticipation guide
* possible uses (some or all):
first day as a pre-reading activity
value-line (students get up and move around)
small group discussion: students have to come to a consensus (convincing each other)
--large group discussion: class has to come to a consensus (convincing each other)
journals throughout the unit based on specific statements
discussions on themes
revisit at the end of the unit to see if their opinions have changed

--Final assessment: putting Hamlet on trial for the murder of Polonius
--1 judge
--2 prosecutors
--2 defenders
--2 people per character: one for guilty, one for not guilty
--the rest are in the jury
* can have one per character if the class is small
* If a student does not show up to class for the trial, they can be required to write an essay defending their stance as to whether or not Hamlet is guilty of murder, providing textual evidence, etc.

--one version of a Soliloquy activity (using Shakespeare's structure but using your own thoughts and ideas)
* I had been thinking that they could just write their own soliloquy about a problem they may be having, but this activity does force them to become familiar with Shakespeare's style
--another possible use of a soliloquy activity

--an activity emphasizing the multiple interpretations of a text

--Imagery activity

--Focusing on a minor character within a scene
* I like this for the idea of paying attention to smaller details, but I don't necessarily like the activity in entirety.
* Students could analyze a minor character based on their limited lines/actions in the text, and determine how those few pieces are important to the play

--An interesting idea to incorporate art/creativity
* could be quick and easy (I have done several drawing activities in my brit lit class which lasted about 5-10 minutes)

--Lyrics to a song parody of Hamlet
--The actual song
* use this as an opening intro to Hamlet: previews the text in an interesting way
* discuss what students think will happen based on the vague impressions given in the song

--As part of an activity dealing with Shakespeare's language, students can make up insults
--If the students would like to see the insults in action.... I just thought it was funny
--More on Shakespearean language.... could be useful? I don't know...

--Sample unit plan of Hamlet
* I wouldn't want to structure it the same way, I think our initial plan is fine, but we could use some of the activities maybe, and the time period fits in with ours
* the workshop days could be replaced with preparation for the trial

--A map of character relationships (could be a useful handout)

--I know we're not planning on doing a test, but all/part this could be revised/used as a discussion worksheet

--Even though we're not doing essays (unless the student fails to participate in the trial), these could be shortened to journal assignments, class discussions, or #12 would be a useful pre-trial activity for the students

--Possible activity if we were to focus more on themes. I didn't read it thoroughly though...

--Sonnet Activity 1
--Sonnet Activity 2
* I know we had thought of the possibility of looking at sonnets. These are some possible activities but I'm not sure how I feel about them...

--Character analysis
* This would be good for preparing for the trial, because each student would have to justify why they think their character acts as they do

--Canned Hamlet
* A 55-minute comedy version of Hamlet performed by Sound and Fury (they also have a version of Romeo and Juliet). Really funny, and it hits on all the main events, but some of the content may be questionable...

--Allusions and Retellings
*the list of already posted alternate versions of Hamlet

This is what happens when I can't sleep... I get productive...

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