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Virtual Learning Environments have been around in schools for a while now and provide a number of features including: Sharing resources in a secure area - both for students and teachers Protected online discussions / blogs Email Hand-in functions for students to submit work to teachers Class / faculty areas These learning platforms cost a...

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Suzanne/ different themes to explore on AMND

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Suzanne/ different themes to explore on AMND

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Shakespeare on Twitter

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Rice University Department of Visual and Dramatic Arts

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Adam Sills Edited by Alan & Austin Wilms When

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Twitter Project: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream

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By: Alan Wilms, Austin Wilms, Jordan Boyd, Sam Rickman, Adam Sills Edited by Alan & Austin Wilms

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As I stated in one of my earlier blogs, when I began teaching I thought I was teaching texts and ideas. I know that I am still doing that but teaching thinking has become far more important. Doing it with Shakespeare is a challenge-the language and the fact that a student can find every topic...

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Ideas found off TES

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Suzanne/Shakespeare in schools - A good thing? 

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Suzanne/Shakespeare in schools - A good thing? 

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He claimed a series of recent changes, including an overhaul of the curriculum, GCSEs and A-levels, had been planned to win votes rather than serve pupils' best interests.

In further comments, he said that the Government's academies programme - which gives head teachers the freedom to run their own affairs independent of Whitehall - was deceptive because state schools could never have true independence.

"Essentially, the political tactic has been to say, 'look, there's no difference between what you get in an independent and state school because these schools are free; politically, philosophically and they aren't charging a fee'.

"This desire, which comes from the previous administration but has continued with the Coalition, to deceive Joe Public by the use of clever vocabulary has stopped proper inquiry into the different kinds of education in the Government model and the real independent sector."

From September 2014, pupils in England will be expected to read a range of literature, including two Shakespeare plays. The move follows criticism of the existing curriculum amid claims pupils can leave school without studying anything more than bite-sized extracts.

But Dr Hands, who lectured in English before moving into teaching, said schools would be stuck "force feeding" the same small range of plays that are deemed as suitable to younger pupils, including The Merchant of Venice, Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet

"To me, it's a backward step and a harmful step to say we're going to have two Shakespeare plays up to GCSE because this will turn loads of kids off Shakespeare," he said.

"If you are going to play a violin concerto then you are going to first of all go through a great deal of preparation to make sure you can do scales and arpeggios and that kind of thing. At the end, you will be able to perform well.

"Likewise, in understanding Shakespeare, getting a better sense of the language, how stories get retold and the techniques by which he operates - ie. the double plot, the triple plot - these are the scales and arpeggios on the way.

"I would have a Shakespeare play at GCSE but I would accept that it's going to be hard work for pupils. And for those, it may be better that they come at it even later."

Ministers have pledged to free up state schools in England to run their own affairs. Under the Coalition, more than half of secondary schools have been given academy status, allowing them to create their own curriculum, alter the shape of the academic year, change the school day and run admissions.

But Dr Hands claimed that central Government edicts - including GCSE floor targets - meant academies did not have true independence.

"The reality is not independent but interference, not liberty but prescription. Independence with state control doesn't work, they are self-evidently incompatible concepts," he said.

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Too much Shakespeare 'turns pupils off the Bard'

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He claimed a series of recent changes, including an overhaul of the curriculum, GCSEs and A-levels, had been planned to win votes rather than serve pupils' best interests. In further comments, he said that the Government's academies programme - which gives head teachers the freedom to run their own affairs independent of Whitehall - was deceptive because state schools could never have true independence.

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This is one of their workshops on Othello. Failing this one of the lessons could be based around us leading a workshop like this instead of inviting in a third party. Could even work towards creating their own poem/rap based on one of Shakespeare's plays. with an overall objective of 'understanding shakespeare in context' - What would his work look like in the 21st century? - idea of being written by him and performed by anyone…

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Hip Hop Shakespeare Company/National Theatre

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Hip Hop Shakespeare with BBC Blast final performance at The National Theatre, Thames Festival - sept 2008.

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Good for introducing the idea of Shakespeare not being 'weird' for his day. Also the idea of shakespeare's plays being written for vocal performance rather than mainly acting.

Could introduce this into our plan as a workshop into the high school part of the transition and then one lesson could be about a follow up to this?

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Loads of lesson ideas here.

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Suzanne/stuff - adding the characters props with a twist ( see notes below)

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Suzanne/stuff - adding the characters props with a twist ( see notes below)

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Suzanne/character - add the hobby for the final creation

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Suzanne/character - add the hobby for the final creation

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Suzanne/character  - mix in the job or occupation

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Suzanne/character  - mix in the job or occupation

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Suzanne/How the character looks - The basic ingredient - body language 

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Suzanne/How the character looks - The basic ingredient - body language 

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Suzanne/ Feedback from Comic workshop at the imagine Festival

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Suzanne/ Feedback from Comic workshop at the imagine Festival

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The Etherington Brothers delivered an hour long workshop about how telling a story through using the comic book format can allow the writer to be really creative. Bear in mind that the target audience was children I still got loads of tips. Following are photos from the presentation that they gave. They introduced the contents which I didnt get a pic of but here is a summary of what was covered.

1. Genre

2. World - e.g add the name of your first pet to either field or ville. e.g mine was 'socksville'

3 Character - and cooking up an interesting character - e.g when illustrating think about the body language the character would use. Use the features that the character would have e.g Bugs bunnys ears

4. Stuff - adding an element that enhances the character, a prop, e.g a skydiver would need a parachute for his prop. In a comic story - change it e.g after jumping character goes to pull his chute and pulls out a toilet brush instead !!

5.Obstacles - introducing something that can change the path the character is on - a door

6. Choices - Include challenges for the character - don't make the goal easy . E.g the character comes to a door. it is locked and he knows someone is on the other side. He cant get in, he spots two toothpicks. does he... use the toothpicks to climb the wall of the fortress or stay put banging on the door for all eternity.

7. Triumph and Treasure - don't just have a treasure chest of gold - have the treasure as something that is special to the character.

8 - examples of what can be included in a comic story.

Hope this makes sense - I thought there were some really good elements that could allow the children to collaborate together with making a story. The transition project could be make a comic about a character going to the new school and the adventures they have.... Or we could go into the manga shakespeare. It might be worth having a word with Kate and see what she thinks.

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I'm in my local library and they have manga Shakespeare. They also have manga style books with them in traditional Japanese style where they read right to left. Good to explore of how diff cultures have their books.

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Need to appeal to girls as well maybe do Shakespeare as a graphic novel. The is a range called no fear Shakespeare - could do Romeo and Juliet. He is a lesson plan from TES that uses comic books for year 7. It says for low ability but this is transition.

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Suzanne/link from booktrust about graphic novels in ks3

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Suzanne/link from booktrust about graphic novels in ks3

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Could use beowoulf. There is a graphic novel by Gareth hinds. He has resources for ideas. Classic poem - oldest superhero ancient story could tick a lot of boxes.

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Can be good for reluctant readers - intro to using graphic novels. Can we think of a graphic novel that can be used as progression in the transition project?

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In the half term (18th Feb) I am going to the Imagine Childrens festival on the southbank.( see the link) recently Northamptonshire libraries have launched the Phoenix comic book in their libraries.

http://www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whatson/calendar?filter%5bstart-date%5d=2014-02-06

https://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/