What a great final day of Shakespeare we had! On days like this one is when I am sure that children really need to be challenged to work together in groups. That is what makes Learning Camps and Co-ops such great opportunities!!
First, I spoke about the “Shakespeare Conspiracy” that there were many different theories of the authorship of Shakespeare. I had the children randomly pick one of the possible candidates for Shakespeare’s works. We have 15 children and 5 possibilities so that meant 3 children per group.
The options were:
Sir Francis Bacon
Edward de Vere
Christopher Marlowe
William Stanley
Shakespeare as he is commonly known
I had paraphrased the article here from Wikipedia (The Alternative Candidates section) and the children between them had to come up with the major points.
They then had to appoint a spokesperson from their group (I think this was the most challenging part of the exercise!) and present their point of view.
They then had to appoint a spokesperson from their group (I think this was the most challenging part of the exercise!) and present their point of view.
The children then used these ballots and voted on which person they felt was “the real Shakespeare” . It was interesting - the tally was:
2 votes for Sir Francis Bacon, 4 votes for William Stanley and 9 votes for Shakepeare.
The children then began their dress rehearsal of Midsummer Night’s Dream getting ready for the big production later on in the afternoon.
I was amazed watching these children how well they did with Shakespeare and how they got into their characters so well.
Some brought costumes and some really enjoyed the drama!
They really earned all the applause from parents at the end of the performance!! We are all so thankful to our director of our plays - what a blessing to have such a talented mom!!
Some brought costumes and some really enjoyed the drama!
They really earned all the applause from parents at the end of the performance!! We are all so thankful to our director of our plays - what a blessing to have such a talented mom!!
If you would like to put on a Shakespeare camp in your area and need some help, just let me know!!
Blessings,
Natalie
