This semester, I decided to start my 9th graders off with Romeo and Juliet. I think it was a mistake waiting until the end last semester, because most of them seemed tired and just ready to be done by then. This semester it is going much more smoothly. The kids like it, and I am better at teaching it having done it once before.
To go along with their test, I found this "soundtrack project" idea on the Outta Ray's Head website. It was originally for use with Macbeth, but I adapted it for what I wanted. Basically, it asks the kids to choose songs for a soundtrack for Romeo and Juliet. I liked the idea for several reasons...
1. They like music and talk about it all the time in class.
2. They have to think about the themes of the play and relate them to the music.
3. They are able to see that the issues Shakespeare wrote about are still being written about and discussed today.
4. They get to use technology (lyrics database, etc.).
5. They have to rationalize why they chose the song and how it relates to a specific theme. Sometimes they have trouble backing up statements and decisions, so this will give them practice in that.
Along the same lines, I recently read The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. I absolutely loved the book, and I went pillaging online for interviews and commentaries. I found this really cool website that lets the authors create a playlist that accompanies a book they recently wrote. They call the section "Book Notes". Here is the one for Monsters of Templeton:
http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2008/03/book_notes_laur_2.html
To go along with their test, I found this "soundtrack project" idea on the Outta Ray's Head website. It was originally for use with Macbeth, but I adapted it for what I wanted. Basically, it asks the kids to choose songs for a soundtrack for Romeo and Juliet. I liked the idea for several reasons...
1. They like music and talk about it all the time in class.
2. They have to think about the themes of the play and relate them to the music.
3. They are able to see that the issues Shakespeare wrote about are still being written about and discussed today.
4. They get to use technology (lyrics database, etc.).
5. They have to rationalize why they chose the song and how it relates to a specific theme. Sometimes they have trouble backing up statements and decisions, so this will give them practice in that.
Along the same lines, I recently read The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff. I absolutely loved the book, and I went pillaging online for interviews and commentaries. I found this really cool website that lets the authors create a playlist that accompanies a book they recently wrote. They call the section "Book Notes". Here is the one for Monsters of Templeton:
http://www.largeheartedboy.com/blog/archive/2008/03/book_notes_laur_2.html
1 comments:
hales said...
I finally looked at the soundtrack thing now that I finished Monsters. I don't know a lot of those songs, but I am going to listen to them :)