tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post6676012411163984874..comments2023-04-09T03:40:05.147-04:00Comments on Shakespeare Place: How Old Is Too Young for Shakespeare?JMhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08099932219392937069noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-84920927622803510552010-04-22T10:10:32.598-04:002010-04-22T10:10:32.598-04:00yeppers positivity is the key. i love shakespeare ...yeppers positivity is the key. i love shakespeare and don't want to be the cause of anyone hating him.<br /><br />i tell my 1st and 2nd year acting students 16-20 yrs that the work they do is for themselves not for a grade only.<br /><br />keep on keeping on bro.<br /><br />out<br />willYLShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08786535772423815716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-45310268098692591292010-04-01T11:06:38.936-04:002010-04-01T11:06:38.936-04:00Hi William,
No matter the time between thoughts--i...Hi William,<br />No matter the time between thoughts--it's the thoughts that count. Sorry to have not responded sooner, but I've been conditioned to not expect very many comments...as you can see.<br /><br />The reason I don't require memorizing in these cases, is because so little time in such instances is given to actual "rehearsal". It's amazing how little the powers that be know about the process and exigencies of putting on a "presentation" about or around what the students have learned, yet they always seem to want one at the end--no matter the length of time or lack of designated time to actually give the students a chance to associate words with actions and places. This isn't their fault; although I ask continually for more "extra" time, the financial burden of having the space open seems to preclude the possibility, even though I'm willing to donate my time to the effort. They have to pay a school rep to be there during extra curricular activities. But whenever one mentions "drama" the "let's put on a play!" chanting begins :) <br />Upcoming in May, I have only 12 days to teach 1-6 grades something about theatre and drama, organize and rehearse scenes with them, and "present" something at the end--and all of this ONLY during regularly scheduled class times. The one thing I don't want is for the students, many of them new to ANY dramatic process or demands, to have to worry about one more thing in so little time. Being an actor, I know the pressure "getting it right" can bear on my performance if I haven't had the time to assimilate the material. The reason I'm there in the person of Shakespeare "rehearsing" with his actors, is to circumvent the guilt or feeling of failure any "mistakes" might bring. In my view, their initial experience should be as positive as possible. <br />There's a discussion on ShakespeareGeek's site about memorization that goes into some detail:<br />http://blog.shakespearegeek.com/2010/03/does-memorizing-do-more-harm-than-good.html<br /> <br />Thanks so much for stopping by, and for your kind words of encouragement. They're much appreciated. (and for the spurr towards better surveillance your dropping by has provided for me) :) JMJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08099932219392937069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-36039755011030475362010-03-07T06:00:33.159-05:002010-03-07T06:00:33.159-05:00SO interesting not to mention memorising but to ke...SO interesting not to mention memorising but to keep it active through repetition, hearing it speaking it and depending on co-operation of their classmates. Does the idea of memorising then terrify so much? or is the idea to allow them to memorise by absorption and then when the memorising is a 'fait accompli' point out that it is memorised?<br /><br />whoops i see this thread is 6 months old. but that's the beauty of the web. Keep up the good work!<br /><br />yours<br />William S.william suttonhttp://blog.iloveshakespeare.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-44795207046111798222009-10-13T08:33:13.700-04:002009-10-13T08:33:13.700-04:00Hear, hear, Duane!
Although it's only semantic...Hear, hear, Duane!<br />Although it's only semantics--and you know that it's so unlike me to quibble... :):):):)<br /><br />What's the difference between "Baa Baa" and "Shall I compare thee"?--a lot--of worthwhile content, imagery, and rhythmic investigation. But you know this already.<br /><br />One of the things I continue to work toward will hopefully make it possible more often for the answer to your question about the school play to be the one you'd like to hear. <br /><br />But I guess, ironically speaking, the baby steps have to come first--from the adults. I've got a couple of abbreviated things in the works. But it's most of the time slow going. Especially with the way things are at present; employing me to teach Shakespeare to grade school kids isn't too high on the educational list of priority spending. <br />But we can keep up the good fight. :) Thanks for pointing up the issue on shakespearegeek. JMJMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08099932219392937069noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3606640027665464229.post-48255306335985311562009-10-12T21:20:03.381-04:002009-10-12T21:20:03.381-04:00Anybody who knows me, knows my answer to this one....Anybody who knows me, knows my answer to this one. My kids have heard Shakespeare since birth. Kids memorize, kids repeat. So what's the difference, in a little kid brain, between Baa Baa Black Sheep and, say, Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? The answer is "Not much" and I've got the audio of my 2yr old doing Sonnet 18 to prove it :).<br /><br />I would love for one of my kids to come home and say that the school play will be Shakespeare. I'd fall over myself. Until then I have to content myself with reading them the stories, making paper dolls, pointing out Shakespeare references as I see them, and so on. <br /><br />My kids may never grow up to be actors, and that's ok. That's not the goal. My goal has always been for them to grow up with zero fear of Shakespeare. All that basic stuff? Plot, character, memorization? They can start that before elementary school. Once that's out of the way they can start to get at the deeper stuff.Duane Morinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16569611828708601563noreply@blogger.com