(Refer to Teacher's Page for more detailed lesson description)
"Time travels in divers paces with divers persons. I’ll tell you who Time ambles withal, who Time trots withal, who Time gallops withal, and who he stands still withal." As You Like It: Rosalind, Act III, Scene ii
The following definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary, available on all MCPS computers. These services are also available for home use. See your school library media specialist for access information.
Divers - Different or not alike in character or
quality; not of the same kind. Obs. in this form since c1700, and
now expressed by DIVERSE a. 1. Obs.
Ambles -
To move by lifting the two
feet on one side together, alternately with the two feet on the other; hence, to
move at a smooth or easy pace.
Withal - 1. Along with the rest; in addition; besides;
moreover; likewise; as well.
| The Introduction |
| The Task |
| The Process |
| The Resources |
| The Evaluation |
| The Conclusion |
| The Teachers' Page |
Everyone has heard of William Shakespeare, but what was it like to live in the days of yore? Take a trip in a time machine with three teammates and return to the world of William Shakespeare in order to learn about the time he lived and understand how he wrote his great works, where he got his ideas and how his plays were performed.
When you meet Mr. Shakespeare he is experiencing writer’s block -- you know, that’s when you get an assignment to write something for your English teacher and you sit down to write only you can’t think of anything. Well, in Shakespeare’s day a playwright had to write new plays all the time in order to keep audiences coming to his theater. In fact he wrote two great plays between 1599-1600 – As You Like It and Julius Caesar. When the four of you arrive in 1599, Shakespeare is in the midst of writing As You Like It, and he just can’t get the setting or the characters right. He has asked you to help him with information about life for different people of the times. He asks, “Who should I write about? How do they dress? Where do they live? What does it smell like? What does it taste like? Woe is me! I just can’t describe it anymore.”
He then suggests that you take a
walk with him to his Globe Theatre (where most of his plays were performed
beginning in 1599). At the theater he is going to give you each costumes and
assign you a role to play so that you are able to fit in with the times in order
to retrieve the most authentic information.
Shakespeare has given you a synopsis of As You Like It. Click here to read it. Take out your journal and list at least four main characters along with a short description of each. With this little bit of background you can begin fulfilling your mission. So, don your costume and observe life at the end of the 16th century as one of the following historical people.
Actor (remember in those days men played the parts of women)
Nobleman or Noblewoman
Common Man or Woman
Student
Your task is to find out about the daily life of the person you are impersonating. Report your findings to Shakespeare in the following ways:
Journal/Notes/Graphic Organizer - Write journal entries in the form of notes that include information about the life of your assumed identity. Answer the questions assigned to your role in a journal or by taking notes on a graphic organizer. See The Process for more information.
Bibliography - Include a bibliography.
Meet with teammates - Meet with your three teammates to learn about the role they played in 1599.
Evaluate - Use the
Evaluate - Evaluate yourself using a Self-Evaluation Table.
Meet with your three teammates to choose roles. After you have each been assigned a role, complete the five tasks explained in The Task.
Journal/Graphic
Organizer - Use websites
and books as described in
Resources
to gather the information for your Journal/Graphic
Organizer about your historical person
as explained in
The
Task.
Bibliography - Create a bibliography and attach it to your journal. Consult with the teacher or school library media specialist for the correct bibliographic format.
Meet with teammates - Meet with your teammates to share your Journals and Graphic Organizers. Present your findings to your teammates as other group members are taking notes on the Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizer.
Evaluate - Evaluate each teammate's journal using a Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizer and share these organizers. After sharing the Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizers revisit and revise your journals.
Evaluate - Complete a Self-Evaluation Table and hand in your journals and supporting materials to your teacher for an individual and group evaluation.
Hand-In - Combine all group notes, Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizers, Self-Evaluation Tables along with a group checklist and hand them into your teacher for group and individual grades
Websites:
Online Subscription Services Sites - Available on all MCPS computers. These services are also available for home use. See your school library media specialist for access information.
Ask your media specialist for additional information about online subscription services subscribed to by your school.
General Sites
| Actor | Nobleman/Noblewoman | Common Man/Woman | Student |
After your research on the web and in books, answer the following questions in your Journal or on your Graphic Organizer.
Who are your fellow actors and what were some of their famous roles?
What are the different kinds of actors based on economic circumstances?
What do the actors' costumes look like? What fabric used? What times are the plays performed?
How many people make up an audience in the Globe Theatre? Can you find how much the tickets cost?
What are the dimensions of the Globe Theatre (make sure you are finding information about the original Globe not the new one)?
Which word or phrases used in Elizabethan times interests you the most? Use the Vocabulary Sites.
What did you enjoy the most or the least about your role?
If you are the Nobleman or Noblewoman . . .
After your research on the web and in books, answer the following questions in your
Journal or on your
Graphic Organizer:
What are the sounds and sights of London?
How do you dress? What is a ruff? Why do people have split sleeves? What materials are used to make your clothes?
What is your country home look like? How do you manage it?
How do you fill your time?
What are the titles, Forms of Address and Ranks and Files of the English Court?
Which word or phrases used in Elizabethan times interests you the most? Use the Vocabulary Sites.
What did you enjoy the most or the least about your role?
If you are the Common Man or Woman . . .
After your research on the web and in books, answer the following questions in your Journal or on your Graphic Organizer:
What are typical jobs or occupations?
How do you dress?
What medicines and medical care is available?
What do you eat?
What do you do for entertainment? How can you get in trouble? What are the punishments?
Which word or phrases used in Elizabethan times interests you the most? Use the Vocabulary Sites.
What did you enjoy the most or the least about your role?
After your research on the web and in books, answer the following questions in your journal or on your Graphic Organizer:
What is your schoolhouse like?
Where do the students sit?
Where does the school master sit?
What is a petty school? What is a grammar school?
What do you study? What is the curriculum?
Which word or phrases used in Elizabethan times interests you the most? Use the Vocabulary Sites.
What did you enjoy the most or the least about your role?
| Shakespeare's Schooling | ||
| A Classical Education | World Book: Surf The Ages/Modern Times/The Bazaar Daily (1500s) |
Print Materials:
Use the Patrons' Catalog on a computer in your school to find print materials. Also, see an Annotated List of Suggested Resources.
Meet with your group members for group evaluation using the Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizer.
Present the answers to your role's questions to the others in your group.
During the presentation of a group member, take notes using the Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizer
After the presentations, exchange your Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizers and review the comments.
Based on the comments of your group members, revisit and revise your notes.
Answer one final question, "Now that you have heard information about each role, which role would you like to assume? Support with details from your notes on the Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizers or from your own notes if you have chosen the role you researched."
Fill out a Self-Evaluation Table.
Combine all of your group's notes, journals or Graphic Organizers, Four-Role Experience Graphic Organizers, Self-Evaluation Tables and bibliographies along with a group checklist and hand them into your teacher for group and individual grades.
William Shakespeare was famous in his own time and continues to be recognized as one of the world’s greatest writers 400 years later. You will be reading one of his plays, As You Like It with your newly acquired background knowledge about the time he lived including what people did for work and play. You are ready to enjoy William Shakespeare, the man and his work.
Refer to Teacher's Page for more detailed lesson description