#2ndaryELA Archive
#2ndaryELA is a group of middle and high school English Language Arts teachers looking to share ideas and best practices. We chat every Tuesday night at 8 pm EST using #2ndaryELA. We'd love for you to join us!
Tuesday March 22, 2016
8:00 PM EDT
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Welcome to tonight’s chat! Please introduce yourself. Tell what & where you teach. Share your blog link if you have one.
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Hi! Lisa from FL - on Spring Break from teaching middle school ELA & Inclusion
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Hello everyone! Rachael. 8th grade ELA in Northern VA.
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Don't forget: use on responses & replies 2 others, label yr responses w/A1, A2, & follow anyone chatting w/us 2night
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Don't forget: use on responses & replies 2 others, label yr responses w/A1, A2, & follow anyone chatting w/us 2night
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Intro: currently American Lit (11th grade), prev English 9 & 10. Always inclusion/ self-contained in Va.
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I'm Brynn Allison, chat co-host. 7 yrs teaching HS English & reading interventions in Philly. Blog: https://t.co/cyx1WlfdS8
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if you haven't already, be sure to join our FB group to continue the conversation all week long. https://t.co/yK6MKOUmJ1
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Hi I'm Sarah from MI. I teach 9th grade Eng and AP lit. I'll be fully in the chat as soon as daughter is in bed!
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happy to be back. I enjoyed the chat last week.
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Q1: Is teaching Shakespeare a part of your curriculum? Which play(s)?
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A1: Only for 3 yrs in HS :Shakespeare-free in AmLit although we do reference his works 4 elem&devices. Eng 9- R&J; Eng 10- MSND
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A1: Since I mostly teach AmLit, I only use Midsummer in AP. I’ve taught Caesar and R&J in the past.
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I'm Susan from the ATL teaching AP Lit and Brit Lit. My blog Teach with Class can be found here: https://t.co/NPHIWnNDHX
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A1 In 9th grade it's Romeo & Juliet and in 10th it's Julius Caesar
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Our chat last week on picture books was definitely a good one!
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A1 Not a part of our curriculum, but we decided to teach AMND this year with our honors Ss
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A1: for the first time, I will be teaching 8th graders Romeo & Juliet. Very nervous!!
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I have a soft spot for pictures books, as I am sure you could tell.
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Hi - Just happened on your chat - I'm Jori from Northern CA - Eng 10, 12, and AP Lit
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A1: Shakespeare is not directly a part. We teach "drama" and can choose if we want to. I normally do not.
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We use the SpringBoard textbooks from the College Board - A Midsummer Night's Dream
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A1: our 7th graders read AMND.
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A1: I teach Hamlet and Macbeth
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A1: R&J for 9th, Hamlet and Macbeth in AP
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I'm impressed at all of you middle school teachers teaching Shakespeare!
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I teach Macbeth in 10th, Hamlet in 12th and different play every year in AP Lit - dep what's at Oreg Shakes Fest
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Midsummer seems to be the most accessible plot wise for middle schoolers!
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A1: 8th grade honors normally do a play (I can't remember which one). I haven't braved up to introduce my students yet
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Q2: What literary terms, themes, or topics do you focus on?
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A2: Close reading excerpts, iambic pentameter, puns & word play, universal themes
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A2: typical- plot dev, char’n, terms for drama, etc. also theme transcend time- link to today
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A2 I like to focus on word choice, figurative language, and theme.
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A2 Depends on the play. Usually tragedy cycle, figurative language, puns, foils, couplets, dialogue, monologue, soliloquy, aside
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A2: soliloquy, aside, theme, dynamic and static character, foil, drama, tragedy...
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A2 - I let Ss find theme, but with Macbeth, they sometimes require a bit more guidance
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A2: poetry vs prose and why the bard uses both, tragic hero, aside, soliloquy, characterization - ughhh only 140 characters!
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A2 cont. Focus on themes/topics teens can relate to, i.e. young love in Romeo & Juliet, friend's betrayal in Julius Caesar
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A2: First, since we are Middle Schoolers, we focus mainly on understanding the plot. VideoSparkNotes is pretty helpful.
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A2 pt 2 - we begin with just understanding the text - Shakes set free great resource
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agreed! I spend a lot of time just clarifying what's happening
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Look at text through director's eyes - subtext crucial
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High school has to do this, too :)
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Q3: How do you make connections between modern day and the settings and issues of Shakespeare’s plays?
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A3: connections with relevant themes i.e. MS with article about parents & their children in love https://t.co/XVqrq89n2T
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A3 Use NF articles that connect to issues in play. For AMND - article about following parents rules & one about "frenemies"
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A3 Connect with current events like this recent real life Romeo & Juliet story in Afghanistan https://t.co/k8iCKsHz06
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A1: R&J: 9, Caesar & 12th Night: 10, Taming & Hamlet & Othello or Macbeth: 12
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A3: I bought YOLO Juliet (R&J in texting) and hope to incorporate pieces of it and maybe have Ss rewrite scenes in texting genre
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A3 Quick writes and disc about mod day parallels - act out scenarios
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A3: well, that's what's awesome about Shakespeare! The themes and ideas are all still relevant today. Just need to be modernized
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Joining late. Trying to put angsty three-nager to bed. Melissa from Charlotte,
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Hi guys! Amanda here jumping in late from Chicago 👍🏻
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A3: use NF articles for R&J -- one on brain development in teens and life decisions.
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let us know how it goes! I've seen those books before online.
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A3: After we understand the plot I ask if it reminds them of someone or a TV show -we talk about how it would be written 2day
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A1 Hi it's Jennifer 8th grade ELA in CA We start R & J in 9th grade
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A4: introduce the concept of "draft reading" - a first draft read is for plot, later, we dig into language
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A3: I had Ss parents write letters to them offering advice before college like Polonius did for his son https://t.co/eeN5KPeBx9
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Q4: How do you help students who struggle with the language used in Shakespeare’s original texts?
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A4: Word play, graphic novel version of Midsummer
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A3: I pair Hamlet with contemporary poem "Late Reading" by Moori Creech, 2014 Pulitzer Poetry finalist and local poet
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A4 Use side by side texts from No Fear Shakespeare. You can buy the books, but it's also free online https://t.co/l6GzpB7y7u
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A3: also movies - Hamlet & The Lion King - Ss are like "Ohhh shakespeare stole a Disney movie. "No!! It's the other way around :)
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A4 We read the play aloud together. Help Ss focus on what words they know first and build from there.
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A4: We work on "translating" the text into everyday (kid/slang) talk.
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Yes, DM me your email address, and I'll send you a copy
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A4 cont. I will also edit scenes so its still all original language, just not as long, have students read aloud, then act out
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We will read a scene together and then watch that same scene from Youtybe before moving on to the next scene
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I have students write advice letters to Juliet. The Dear Juliet club will write back!
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Q4 My reading lab kids read easy translation/adapt. a and spend LOTS of time talking/doing G.O. in addition to their Eng. class
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A4: Plays need to be read aloud; they were written to be performed. This helps with language more than anything else.
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A2: what others have said & w/ the comedies: levels of humor, 4 humours, why we use humor, puns, double entendres
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Yes! Don't be afraid to show the film version. These are plays. They are meant to be seen and heard!
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Read an act, watch the act. Translations available if needed. I always preview scenes in my own words before we read out loud
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Q5: What other plays do you teach? Any you would strongly recommend? Why?
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A5: Love Raisin in the Sun! My students enjoy Brighton Beach Memoirs at end of year (requires maturity) Also Glass Menagerie
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A5: A Raisin in the Sun: perseverance, dreams, be true to self
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A5: Crucible - Ss relate to TMZ/social media aspect of who said/did/why
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A3: especially w/ younger Ss, find a movie w/ similar themes or reimagining of play: Caesar & Mean Girls
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A4: I also have Ss write scenes with dialect from different parts of the county to understand lang - Southern, NYC, valley girl
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A5 I've only ever taught Shakespeare's play because that was what was in the curriculum and available to us.
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A5: We do Diary of Anne Frank as part of our Holocaust study. That's usually the only play I get in
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A5: The Crucible - love this so much! Death of a Salesman, Twelve Angry Men
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A5: Othello- LOVE to teach, KingLear, Crucible, used to do Streetcar but haven't in a while. Maybe it'll make a come back 1 day
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A3: my 9th made a self-help brochure to help R&J characters w/ depression, suicide, etc.
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A5: I loved teaching A Raisin in the Sun. One year, I taught Steel Magnolias to Women's Lit. Amazing
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A5: Kindertransport by Diane Samuels. Fiction but tells story of children who are transported to camps in WWII.
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A5: I've not had the opportunity to teach any other "real" plays... I'd say it's time so thanks for all the suggestions!
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do you make them wrote in blank verse using the dialects? That would be a challenge!
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they have to mimic the original scene so sometimes, yes . . . it can be challenging but fun
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Crucible is great for all levels- quick and easy but so much depth and purpose at the same time Ss get fired up!
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Thanks for chatting with us tonight. Next week's chat: differentiation. See you on 3/29 at 8pm EST
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I like Macbeth SO much better than Caesar, but then I only did Caesar once and ive been doing Mac for 10 years
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Ss seem to get interested after the "sweating like a stallion" conversation!
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Goodbye Daughter's voice lesson just ended and off to feed hungry 14 year old - thanks for the chat :)
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adultery, witchcraft, teens gone wild, mean girls - how many more hooks do you need? My Ss eat this play up!!
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A5: I have fun teaching The Importance of Being Earnest. The kids have fun too, and learn about satire in high comedy.
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A5: Crucible, 12 Angry Men, Raisin in the Sun, No Exit, The Bear, Marriage Proposal, Jury of Her Peers, Streetcar, Being Earnest
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Yes - how could I forget this?? so many plays, so little time!
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A5: I don't teach any others, but I'd LOVE to try Much Ado! We don't do enough comedy
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Boo that T! Crucible is a blast! I don't even get how you can make it boring
