Technology
Modeled after “performance and digital video”

In groups of five, the students will make ultrashort productions of a Shakespeare play that will be filmed with video cameras.  The students will be able to choose a theme from the play we are covering.  For example, reading A Midsummer Night’s Dream the students will have a choice of: myopia in love, Fantasy vs. reality, City vs. country, unrequited love, hubris, madness, conflict, people changing, and others.
    Once they have chosen their theme, they are ready to begin.  They will choose lines, exchanges or scenes from the play that relate to their theme.  They will have no limits other than time; the final production must be less than five minutes.  The goal is for the students to create a miniature script for a highly abbreviated version of the play.  In order to make it easier to find lines, they may use search engines to search for a specific word within the play (e.g. “eyes” “act” “love”).  This can quickly provide them with enough lines from which to choose.
    They will transcribe these lines, reordering them if necessary.  They will act out their play while they all take part in directing the prompts and the camera angles.  They will add music and edit the film as needed.  The final product should be moderately cohesive.  It can be funny, tragic, scary, silly, or whatever they wish. 

Performance
Based on “The photo performance project”

The goal of this project is to create a short Graphic novel depicting various scenes of a given play.  The students (in groups) will take digital photographs of themselves performing scenes of shakespeare.  The photographs are meant to demonstrate the feelings of the characters as well as the event that is occuring to the extent that is possible in a picture. 
    The pictures will be put on the bottom part of a page while the dialogue it represents will be on the top part.  This can be done as a website if desired.  The students should wear simple costumes and use props to the extent that is possible.  Their scenes can be set anyplace they like.  The lighting should be dramatic, using simple clip lamps, flashlights, or standard lamps if needed.  There should be one extreme close-up and one extreme wide angle shot in which the character(s) is/are a small part of the picture.
    The students may use Photoshop or any photo modification program available to them.  The pictures have some sort of logical progression.  The final product should have 15-20 pictures.

Language
Based on “Taking chances in the classroom – Taking Shakespeare at his word”

Students will be given a short list of words and phrases that are particularly difficult to understand.  The students will make up definitions for the words and explanations of certain phrases and write this down.  Students will be encouraged to be creative and to be wrong.  The point is to feel comfortable guessing meaning and having fun with the language.  This can be more important that knowing the ‘real’ definition.  Any students who choose may read their definitions out loud to the rest of the class.

Primary Texts
Based on “O, Wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?": The Art of Wooing in "Romeo and Juliet"

Like the lesson mentioned on the website, I will use "The Mysteries of Love and Eloquence; or the Arts of Wooing and Complementing." Published in London in 1658, as a source for Elizabethan pick-up lines.  Using Romeo and Juliet, students will also made up their own pick-up lines in Shakespearean language that may be based on dialoge in the play.  Students will read the pick-up lines to eachother using two different kinds of intonation (subtext).  The people listening to the lines will rate the effectiveness of the lines and their delivery on a 1-10 scale.

Shakespeare on Film
Based on “putting out the light”

Students will be shown three or four versions of a given scene of a play – for example, the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet.  Students will then say what the film adaptations said about the characters and their circumstances.  For example, students may think that one version makes romeo seem desparate while another one sets an inappropriately optimistic mood.  Students will respond to specific questions about the adaptations but will choose three of five questions to answer for each movie.