Reading Check In

Emma Liggett

What is the big idea?

            The texts I am going to use are Hamlet by Shakespeare and The Dead Father’s Club by Matt Haig, as well as showing two movie adaptions of Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

            Students have a set idea about the readings that are assigned to them in schools. Most students don’t want to read things that are assigned to them. They feel like the books are too dry, or they feel like they can’t connect to the stories and the characters.

Hamlet is a story that many people are familiar with. It has been assigned in many classrooms, and has been dissected by many scholars. The No Fear Shakespeare edition of the play makes it more easily accessible to students who might be afraid of the language that is used.

            Reading through the play, identify themes in the play. Try to identify how the language used makes the story more accessible, and identify if anything is lost in the translation. Try to see if anything is gained. Students will also be shown media, such as movies, which also portray Hamlet in a different way.

            I am excited to teach this to students because I want to show them that older texts aren’t as scary or unreadable as some of them may think. They still have familiar themes, and though the time period may be different, the characters are still relatable. I think students will enjoy this, because if they can see that they can connect to older texts, they might be more open to trying to read other older, less contemporary works. I want them to see that older texts aren’t as scary as some of them may think, and I want them to go out into the world and try to read other older books and look for connections in those works.

            They will have to make connections, and will have to look for similar motivations and themes from the translation of the text. I have to make sure they are keeping up with the reading, and I will know they are making the connections when I talk to them during class discussions, and have periodic check-in quizzes. Maybe they’ll have made connections that I hadn’t noticed.

            I will have to check in with the students from time to time through class discussion and make sure they are on track and reading the play. I will also have to probably reread the play, and make sure I am familiar enough with the text to be knowledgeable enough to answer any questions they might have.

Students will be able to identify themes in Hamlet, as well as other media being assigned. I want them to explore how literature has changed since the time of Shakespeare, as well as exploring how it has stayed the same. I believe it is important for students to learn similarities and differences in older and contemporary texts so they can see that older texts have themes that are similar to what they are familiar with, and contemporary texts take themes from older texts. Students will read closely and analytically, and will show competence when writing about the subject matter.

            As the teacher, I will guide students through readings and activities related to the texts. I will lead group discussions where the class talks about any similarities or differences that they have found. I will also have small, brief quizzes about the texts, just to make sure the students are keeping up with the reading.

            Students will read one texts during this unit: Hamlet. There will be several small quizzes during this unit, usually only five or six points, and they will be used to make sure students are keeping up with the assigned readings. Near the end of this unit, students will write an essay describing what they read and the connections they made to the texts.

            Big questions: why is this important? Why is it important to know that these themes have existed for hundreds of years? What was going on in Shakespeare’s time to make this meaningful, what is going on in modern times to make this meaningful? Does this knowledge make the similarities and differences even more meaningful knowing they were relevant in their times? How is this relevance maintained? What makes this important?