Just Shakespeare
Dive into the great dramas of the English language
Month-long Shakespeare Study
ABOUT THE SEMINAR
This three-hour Shakespeare class is for middle schoolers (although precocious 5th graders are welcome too.)
Our micro-farm of an acre of orchard and gardens is our classroom and stage. Students rehearse under the boughs of our banyan tree for book club and pull up a chair with a bunny or near the miniature cows to work on their character analysis.
THE PLAYS
LITERARY ANALYSIS
Students read, analyze and rehearse scenes from Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies as well as Greek tragedies. We read one play per four week class.
Possible plays include but are not limited to:
Romeo and Juliet
Much Ado About Nothing
Macbeth
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
Hamlet
Antigone (ancient Greek tragedy by Sophocles)
Cyrano de Bergerac (19th century French romance by Edmond Rostand)
Students learn to annotate as they look for themes, characterization, and literary devices. Students practice close reading, paying attention to the author’s use of literary devices as well as allusions.
RELEVANT & ACCESSIBLE
We use No Fear Shakespeare editions with the original text in Early Modern English on the left-hand page and a novelized version on the right-hand page so the plot is accessible to all readers without having to jump down to the bottom of a page to read footnotes.
Modern, poetic translations of Greek tragedies make these ancient but relevant plays come alive.
As we read and discuss we look for timeless themes that still resonate with teens in our modern world.
FUN and DEEP
Direct instruction and group work make the words come alive. When studying Romeo and Juliet we learn how to craft a typical Shakespearean insults and then literally hurl them at each other then practice stage sword fighting.
READERS’ THEATER PERFORMANCES OF SELECT SCENES
We stage student directed -reader’s theater performances of just a few select scenes for a student-only audience. Parts are not memorized but students are quite familiar with their lines.
Parents are not invited so that this is a comfortable, intimate performance for shy students who may have never spoken a line on a stage before. There are parts large and small, for all including those who love the stage and others who are hesitant
Prerequisites, Homework, and Pricing
-
5th through 8th grade
-
READING
Students should be reading fluently at a 6th grade level.
I use cursive in my as I write on the document camera so students should be able to read a combination of cursive and printing.
MATURITY AND SELF-REGULATION
Students should have the maturity and self-regulation to safely participate in an outdoor learning and to discuss the mature themes found in Shakespeare.
-
$225 four weeks, 3 hours per week
-
Private funds: cash or check payable to Lisa Clark-Burnell.
Charter School Enrichment orders are accepted.
Vendor: I am a vendor with Pacific Coast Academy, Mission Vista Academy, Cabrillo Point Academy and Dimensions Collaborative School, Freedom Academy of Literacy First Charter School, and SoCal Scholars Academy.
-
Relevant Education and Experience
I have a BA in English and Political from UC Santa Barabara. While an undergraduate, I served as writing tutor for graduate and undergraduate students assisting them with writing assignments in all disciplines. Upon graduating with highest honors and being recognized as one of the top three women in the humanities at UCSB, I then earned a CLAD multiple subject teaching credential with supplementary authorization in Social Studies and Language Arts from San Jose State University. In 1996 I began teaching mostly middle schoolers (but some high school students during the summers when I taught algebra at The Menlo School) language arts, history, and math first in Cupertino and Sunnyvale in the Bay area and then in Carmel Valley at San Dieguito Union High School District. I was the 6th grade GATE teacher as well as partnered closely with our SPED resource teacher for my 8th grade core classes. I was invited to participate in the San Jose Writing Project and while at these middles schools concentrated on designing language arts and history curriculum.
In 2005 I took a hiatus from teaching middle school to stay home with my children. During that period, I co-founded and directed Salem Harvest, a non-profit that connects farmers and backyard growers with volunteer pickers to harvest fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste in an effort to end hunger. I also began building on my childhood experiences growing up on a micro-farm, honing my organic gardening expertise and animal husbandry skills and diving deep into permaculture. In 2012 I returned to teaching but this time as a homeschooling parent.
In 2019, at the request of my own kids and other parents, I started teaching classes in my areas of expertise for other homeschool students.
For more information about Farm School and its orgins, see the About page.
-
Homework is simple: read the play.
Students may read either the original Shakespeare text or a novelized version of it (included in the same script) or any combination of the two.