Teaching methods -- Hamlet

Tried something new today with Hamlet. We're winding down, having finished the cold reading of the play and now having finished watching Zefferelli's filmed version. Along the way, just to keep it interesting, I've been playing clips from YouTube that the kids have sent me (the Animaniacs version of Hamlet is their favorite so far, but I'm partial to the Gilligan's Island clip). If nothing else, they've come to understand just how pervasive Shakespeare's work is in our culture.

So what did I do new? I gave them a 3x5 card and told them to put their names on the card and then told them they had the opportunity to ask any question of any character in Hamlet. Just ask it --don't try to answer it (my goal was to get true questions...ones they really didn't have an answer for).

And true questions they gave me! From the truly perplexed came questions addressed to Ophelia (why didn't you just tell Hamlet your father was behind the arras?), and Gertrude (you knew Claudius was a murderer, why did you drink the drink when he told you not to?). From the curious came the questions to Claudius (was getting the throne worth killing your brother) and Hamlet himself (did you really love Ophelia or were you just using her?).

Of course, we have the light-hearted questions as well (to Hamlet: what's your middle name? to Rosencrantz: why do you hang around with Guildenstern all the time?). But each one shows their curiousity and ability to go deeper into the text with questions.

Tomorrow comes the fun part. Well, I think it's fun, anyway. I've typed up all the questions they asked on a separate sheet. Each student will be required to choose FIVE of the questions and give it their best shot at answering as if he/she is the character. This will (theoretically) force them to think about character motivations and desires. Once I've collected their answers, I'm planning a simple cut and paste of the answers back to each of the original questioners. It should be as if they asked the character the question...and the character answered back.

Okay, lol, that's the plan. I'll let you know if it works!

CD