Scene II of our Shakespeare Learning Camp!

The focus on our second Shakespeare Learning Camp day was to enjoy learning about Elizabethan times, the Theatre and the men of the Theatre.

We talked about many things, but most of them revolved around the theatre in London during the time of Shakespeare. 

I used this book to talk about the Theatre itself. We talked about patrons (such as Lord Chamberlain and King James I), we spoke about why the theatres were built outside the city walls. We talked about why the merchants didn’t like the theatre as well as the city officials. 

I had one of the older boys with a low voice quote “Romeo, Romeo wherefore art thou Romeo” then I had one of the younger boys do the same. We then spoke about young men in the theatre and how women were not allowed to participate. We spoke about them being not able to play anymore when their voices broke, and what happened to them after that.

I gave the children a choice to work on two projects:

One, they could build The Globe Theatre from this model. 

Or they could use this sheet and this one to create a stage with Elizabethan actors on it. Most of the children chose this.

We then read through Macbeth from our Shakespeare Minibooks in Comics. 

After that the children ran through their lines getting ready for the big play next week. 

They then got to look for costumes, and started to get an idea of what they needed for their parts. This is so great seeing the children really enjoy Shakespeare like this! They were having lots of fun!!

Blessings, 

Natalie