In 2008, Folger Shakespeare Library’s Education Division held another of its Teaching Shakespeare Institutes for secondary school teachers. Among the applications we received was one from Harvey Sadis, an elementary school teacher who lived in Seattle, Washington. Because the grant was focused secondary school teachers, we did not offer a seat to Harvey. Upon hearing the news that he did not get a spot in the Institute, Harvey wrote me a strongly worded email. My initial response to Harvey was that we had more than a sufficient number of secondary school teachers to fill the Institute, but had there been a scarcity of participants his application would have been strongly considered. He wrote back that I was missing the point.
“Elementary school teachers are teaching Shakespeare,” Harvey noted in another email. In fact, Folger Education’s Shakespeare Steps Out program, which we offer to schools in DC and surrounding communities, encourages teachers in grades 3-6 to teach the Bard’s work. Therefore, why weren’t we considering offering an institute for elementary school teachers? So began an email correspondence between the two of us over the next few months.
In the fall of 2008, Folger Education began to explore the possibility of developing a two-day conference for elementary school educators. With the help of our Development Office, we were able to secure funding to host a two-day conference in June 0f 2009. We invited Harvey, among other educators with experience working with elementary school teachers and our Elementary Education Program Coordinator, to participate in developing the conference. We made 30 spaces available for the conference at a modest fee of $25. And guess what happened? All of the spaces were filled, and filled by teachers from DC, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Texas! Teachers were eager for the chance to learn more about teaching Shakespeare through performance and ready to share what they had been doing, often alone, in their classrooms and schools.
Folger Education’s Elementary Shakespeare website is an outgrowth of that conference, of Harvey’s strongly worded email back in the spring of 2008. We invite you to read what Harvey has to say about teaching Shakespeare in the elementary school classroom, to use his lesson plan on Macbeth, and the lesson plans of several other teachers we’ve added to the page. Most of all, we invite you to send us your lesson plans for possible inclusion on the site. Send them to educate@folger.edu. In a future blog, I’ll link to a template to use when preparing lesson plans. And don’t forget to visit our Shakespeare for Kids page. It’s filled with activities your youngsters will enjoy! Stay tuned!
At first I was surprised about the notion of teaching elementary school children Shakespeare, mainly because I know that students on the University level still have difficulties with the text. Then I thought about it for a while and realized that teaching students at such a young age would be absolutely the most critical time to introduce them to Shakespeare. At that age, although the instructor may have difficulties with the class being receptive, if they incorporated the Folgers performance system; the classroom would not only be a fun learning environment, but would get the students to be little sponges soaking up all that is presented to them. Children are at a prime age in elementary school and by incorporating Shakespeare into the curriculum will only make it easier for them to learn later on through secondary school into college; because it’s obvious Shakespeare isn’t going anywhere.
At first, the idea of teaching Shakespeare at the elementary level I found to be surprising, especially since this teacher is using Macbeth. Then, I remembered that we actually watched an animated video of Macbeth in my 5th grade English class, so I guess it really is not so out there.
I think teaching Shakespeare at such a young age could be very challenging, but also could be very exciting for the students. Teaching an entire play might be a little much, but there are certainly scenes in some plays that the students could read “on their feet” through performance with great success. Act 1, Scene 2 of Midsummer Night’s Dream, or the initial witches scene in Macbeth, or perhaps even the fantasy of the Tempest (Ariel, Caliban, etc.), the students may greatly enjoy, as they are either comical (MND), invoke magic (Macbeth/Tempest), or tickle their imagination (Tempest).
An added benefit, of course, is the development of familiarity with some of Shakespeare’s complex language, so as to prepare students for when they encounter him again in high school, which will then, hopefully, be met with excitement, rather than the all-too-familiar dread.
I really appreciate the boldness of these elementary teachers to even attempt Shakespeare with elementary students, and am impressed by their success with it. We teachers have to be willing to take risks with our students, and never underestimate them. Otherwise, we might be unwittingly stunt their academic growth.
I think it is a great idea to incorporate Shakespeare into the elementary classroom. If students are exposed to Sharespeare at a young age they will be ready for his works when they get to high school and even college. Perhaps they will even have a greater appreciation for Shakespeare because they will be reading it from early on. Often times high school students are intimidated by Shakespeare and the language used. However, if students are gradually learning Shakespeare as they go through their school career, they will learn the language and style of Shakespeare as they learn all the other school concepts. There wouldn’t be that “shock factor” when they reach high school and Shakespeare’s work isn’t suddenly thrown at them. I am definitely interested in the approach that elementary school teachers take on incorporating Shakespeare into their lessons. I wish that I learned Shakespeare at a younger age and I may have had an easier time with it when I got to high school.
First, I would like to say that I commend Harvey for being so persistent in his endeavor to get elementary school teachers the recognition they deserve for being brave enough to use Shakespeare in the classroom.
I think it is amazing that his work is being introduced at these grade levels because Shakespeare really is for anyone. Teaching Shakespeare earlier will give students a chance to appreciate the classics and get them better prepared for working with “difficult” texts as they pursue their educations further in middle and high school, as well as college. I think that getting children to use their imaginations and bodies to learn about language in the classroom is important and allows them to build social and language skills while also allowing them to have fun. If we begin teaching them the importance and the power of words early by focusing on their literacy though language rich text like those of Shakespeare we are better preparing them to be active participants of society.
I think this is great. Thank you Harvey and Folger!
I think this is a great idea. If taught in an engaging way to elementary school students, I think they will really enjoy working with Shakespeare. One of the suggested lesson plans on this site discussed having students direct and act out scenes from Macbeth. At a young age, I think students are less concerned about what they look like in front of their peers. They may also be more creative and imaginary when it comes to acting. They will probably be more likely to get deeply involved in the words and acting.
I think elementary school students would also appreciate learning that much of the material they are already used to is based on Shakespeare’s work (i.e. The Lion King which is said to originate from Hamlet). That is another potential lesson trying to have students identify the work they are reading with a movie or another story they may know. They could then work on an assignment based on similarities and differences between the two etc.
If Shakespeare is taught earlier on in a child’s life, they will probably have a better appreciation for it by the time they enter high school. They probably will not dread reading Shakespeare like many students often say they do.
This is a fascinating topic to me. I used the Folger/performance methods as a HS English teacher, and they were a real catalyst for me to reconsider how and why I teach Shakespeare.
Fastforward…I’m helping my 5-year old son learn sight words and he and my daughter are having a blast (and learning the words) when they took the cards from me and started to rearrange them in funny combinations (kind of like sentences)..the term ‘but fish’ was batted around for a while. I was reminded of a Folger technique to teach sonnets but cutting up and rearranging the words/lines.
This got me thinking more about the reasons for teaching Shakespeare, and a lack of focus on developmental concerns. I think too often it’s justified in terms of a cultural benefit…e.g. every kid should have an experience with the Bard. However, I think there’s a greater developmental benefit there…e.g. the Bard can be used as a cognitive and linguistic tool (for all people…and indeed, that’s connected to how we enjoy him outside of schools…he helps expand our emotional and linguistic repertoire).
This is the same tension that I saw between language arts educators who focus more on linguistics and literacy…developmental stuff, and high school English teachers, who seem to focus on literature and analysis….the cultural stuff.
I think the developmental focus of elementary teachers has a lot to offer all educators whose concern is language and communication.
Bravo to the Folger for doing this work.