Graphic Novels: Teaching Shakespeare in Prep English

By Sandra Lee

It’s definitely challenging teaching a Shakespeare text to a class with such diverse needs and demands. The graphic novel (with its fascinating illustrations) helps students visualize the scenes in the story; since there are so many characters and plot twists, the illustrations help them understand the plot and tone. However, don ’t be fooled by the vivid images; the graphic novel follows the original Shakespearean language, which makes the text that much more complex.

Despite the barriers of Shakespeare’s language and a Middle Ages setting, my co-teacher and I try to create a means for students to apply self-monitoring skills as we read the graphic novel. Nonetheless, we did feel overwhelmed with how much we had to build a schema for our students; some of them had never even heard of Shakespeare. After immense pre-reading and previewing the text, students began to come up with questions, predictions, and comments that reveal their thinking and learning. They have two colored post-its: one is to answer the questions we ask during each scene and the other is used for their own thoughts and observations.

My favorite comment is when a student stated, “Macbeth is so annoying.” Immediately, I became ready to explain once again the importance of reading the story, but then she continued by saying, “He keeps changing his mind. Like one minute he feels guilty, and the next minute he doesn’t.” This comment was a game-changer. The fact that a student was able to make a critical comment with his/her own evaluations about the character made us feel like there was value in this process.

We try to engage our students even if the language itself is unattainable to them. In the end, we are finding that students are still working on the literacy skills that are important and that they critically thinking about the text.

Here are some examples of their work:

 




For an additional blog post about teaching Shakespeare through standards-based learning, check out this post!

Blended Teaching and Learning Strategies in a 1:1 Classroom

Today the CollabLab welcomes guest bloggers Amanda Baran and Dawn Ferencz.  Amanda, a Special Education teacher at Elk Grove, can be reached @MrsABaran.  Dawn, an English teacher at Elk Grove, can be reached @Dawn_Ferencz.

Hello colleagues!  We are (fairly) new users to the iPad this year with our 1:1 pilot for junior students in Prep American Lit & Comp.  When asked to discuss how we utilize iPads in the classroom, we were happy to share.  

For us, a mix of technology and more traditional teaching and learning strategies in the classroom seem to work best, especially with struggling learners.  Below is an outline of a lesson we did earlier this year that utilized traditional, hands-on, and technological devices to support learning and provide our students with a “Day in the Life of a Puritan” experience (prior to our reading of The Crucible).

First, students reviewed the basics of Puritan living with a standard PowerPoint we created to highlight key elements.  Students too notes (using good ol' fashioned pen and paper) about the main ideas regarding Puritan life including naming, clothing, church ideals, free time, meals, homes, and punishments.

 

Next, we had several volunteers from each class dress up in clothing from the time period (long,dark outfits, hats for men, handkerchiefs for women, etc.), practice certain free time duties (knitting and tending to the animals and farm), partake in a common meal (bread, cheese, dried meat), and get arrested (thank to class guests Sean Berens & Rip) and receive a typical punishment (the stocks).

  

Once any student who wanted to had a turn partaking in the activities, students were assessed on what they learned.  They were able to use the notes they took from the PowerPoint, what they saw and did in class, and anything they remembered from our discussion to create a Pic Collage (iPad app) showcasing pictures and descriptions of what they learned about the Puritans.     

The combination of reinforcing the material with a PowerPoint, hands-on experiences, and technology allowed us to reach all students.  With varied learning styles, we tried to ensure that each student had the opportunity to understand, process, and show that they comprehended the day’s lesson.

We find that most days our lessons consist of one activity that utilizes the iPad and at least one or more that do not.  For example, we may read an act from The Crucible in class and then have the students respond to a discussion question online using their iPads.  Or we run a presentation via the Nearpod application that asks for responses from students while presenting information (answer a question, draw a picture, vote on a response, etc.) and then review what we have learned using a whole-class discussion face-to-face.  We were nervous about the wide array of applications and how we were going to turn ours into a virtual classroom, but the truth is that a combination of technology and traditional, non-technological methods of teaching work best for our classes.
  

For us, a little goes a long way; we like to strike a balance in class and always have a back-up plan depending on students’ needs that day