It's that time of year. Your students are done. They can smell summer and freedom and if you don't do something fun with them these last four weeks, you'll lose them entirely.
Here it is. Guaranteed to capture even the most reluctant reader. William Shakespeare's Star Wars.
This is the third set of Readers Theater Reading Role Sheets I'm offering teachers. You need to purchase class copies of the book for students to use as the script and have a version of the movie ready for students to watch (iTunes, DVD, Disney+, whatever works for you).
Quirk Books offers the Educator's Guide, as well, in which author Ian Doescher explains the many references to different Shakespeare plays, which you may choose to teach -- or not.
In-Class Lesson Procedures:
- Buy class copies of the book. This sounds like a no-brainer, but each student needs to have a book in their hands to follow along. You also need to have the movie to watch, either through iTunes or however you buy movies for your classroom.
- Start by printing the Two Line Start Cards and laminating them, one set for each pair.
- Cut them up and put them in baskets on pairs of desks.
- Allow students to pair up or assign partners.
- If your class has already done the Two Line Start Cards for my lesson using Ian Doescher's Verily a New Hope, they'll know what to do.
- If your class is digital, aka online via video, this is perfect for having students read outloud.
- Students watch Akala's TedX talk about the links between HipHop and the Bard. Have a copy of the Sonnet #18 ready for them to read and follow, as well as the lyrics to Akala's two other songs at the end. Then crank up the volume! The kids love them.
- Then students practice reading the Two Line Start Cards to each other.
- Students use a dry erase marker (or on screen pen) to write in the breaks between syllables and show the accent in the pairs. TW circulate or check student responses on screen, checking to make sure students are placing the syllable breaks and accents in the correct places and that students "get" the poetry form.
- When they're familiar with the form, students begin reading the book and watching the movie.
- TW keep track of which students read which parts using the Reading Role Sheets.
What a fun way to start summer vacation!
