From the Author
When I started out as a young and very novice educator, I had to teach Shakespeare several times a year. Not only was I unsure of how to introduce these rivettingly beautiful Elizabethan plays to modern, sometimes TV-soaked students, but I was often made painfully aware of how little I knew about Shakespeare's language and theater. Over the years, I studied Shakespeare so that I could become more informed and hopefully more eloquent about his works. From some great professors and theater teachers, I have learned that teaching Shakespeare with special attention to the plays as dramatic texts makes enormous sense in the literature classroom. These texts were, in fact, written to be performed; so much becomes clearer for students when they understand that they are not reading novels but plays. And when students read the plays with different interpretive hats on - not only as students of literature but as actors and directors and costume designers, it involves t! hem in Shakespeare's work in a profoundly wonderful way.
In Irresistible Shakespeare, I present my best assignments; they have worked well with many different students of all ages. These lessons not only introduce students to fundmental components of Shakespeare's tool box such as meter and metaphor but also acquaint them with various dramatic conventions. I have also included six reproducible "playlets;" these are annotated speeches and/or short sections of plays. Playlets are perfect for introducing Shakespeare or doing an in-class performance or supporting the study of another play with a related lesson. All assignments are preceded by teacher pages that include relevant information and activities.
I thank you very much for your interest in my book.
About the Author
Carol Rawlings Miller teaches fifth graders at St. Ann¹s School in Brooklyn, New York.
