Shakespeare for young learners - A webquest and some resources

William Shakespeare was born in 1564 in the Tudor England at the time of Queen Elisabeth I. He is one of the world's greatest writers. He wrote plays for the theatre but he composed sonnets, too.

At the beginning of his career he went to London  to be an actor, but he suddenly became famous for writing plays.

Nowadays Shakespeare plays are performed all over the world. 

Shakespeare died 400 years ago, on April 23rd 1616.

Surf the following mindmap I made with Cacoo  and Thinglink. Then answer the questions.

Click here to open and enlarge.

1. In 2016 England, and all the world, will commemorate 400 years since the death of the Bard. Can you list any of the events and activities planned on this occasion?
2. What is the "Complete Walk"?
3. Where and when was Shakespeare born? 
4. Who were Shakespeare' s parents? 
5. When did he get married? 
6. When did he move to London to begin his theatrical career?
7. Where did he die and  where was he buried?
8. Where does the name "Globe" come from?
9. Was the Church happy with theatre performances? What did the Church call the theatre?
10. What was the name of Shakespeare' s acting company?
11.  Describe briefly the structure of the Globe.
12. Where there any actresses in the Elisabethan theatre?

Some resources

Shakespeare invented a lot of words and expressions that are still used today all around the world! Here you can find some of the most famous Shakespeare' s quotes:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/william_shakespeare.html http://absoluteshakespeare.com/trivia/quotes/quotes.htm http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/shakespeare

Would you like to perform any Shakespeare' s play in your school? Below you can find some free scripts, adapted and revised, for students. Enjoy!
http://www.shakespearefreelibrary.com/scripts.html

The London International Mime Festival: an idea for a lesson about miming and non-verbal language

The London International Mime Festival  is taking place from Saturday 9 January to Saturday 6 February 2016. It  is an annual theatre event in London and it features live art, new circus, clown and physical theatre at various London venues. It was established in 1977 by Joseph Seelig and Nola Rae.

Click on my Blendspace lesson below to get more information.

An example of a Mime Performance at the Festival

Mime stimulates imagination, physical control and self confidence, moreover non-verbal language is doubtless a very important part of the communication (most of all for non-native speakers who use it while speaking a foreign language to be better understood!). For these reasons I prepared a lesson for esl students about miming and non-verbal language,  using some sources from the Web.

What does "mime" mean?

http://www.vocabulary.com/dictionary/mime

Let's attend a Mime Workshop!

http://drama-in-ecce.com/2012/05/11/mime-workshop-for-all-ages/

Some Esl Miming Games!
http://www.teach-this.com/esl-games/miming-games

Miming Games Worksheets
http://www.eslprintables.com/games_worksheets/miming_games/

Let's have fun with mime vocabulary and theatre audience etiquette with flashcards, quizzes, tests and games!

https://quizlet.com/14677902/mime-vocabularytheatre-audience-etiquette-flash-cards/

Can you guess what they are miming?

What is non-verbal communication?
https://www.andrews.edu/~tidwell/bsad560/NonVerbal.html

Cultural differences in non-verbal communication

As an Italian, I can say that non-verbal communication is very important in my language!

(slides from  my presentation "Differences between Italians and British")

Watch the following videos

Now describe some gestures or body movements that are typical of your own culture.

Hotel Transylvania

Hotel Transylvania is a 2012 American 3D computer animated fantasy comedy film.

It tells the story of count Dracula, the owner of the Hotel Transylvania where only monsters can go. 

On the occasion of the 118^th birthday of his daughter Mavis, Dracula invites some monsters for a party, but the hotel is unexpectedly visited by a “human” young boy, Jonathan. Dracula must protect Mavis from falling in love with him.

Hotel Transylvania 2 was released in 2015 and the story takes place seven years later. The hotel is now open to human guests, too. In the meanwhile, count Dracula had a grandson who is not a pure-blood vampire…

     Hotel Transylvania - Trailer

"The Zing" song

Hotel Transylvania soundtrack 

Let' s meet the main characters

I made this Piktochart poster for you

STUDENTS' TASK

Answer the following questions after watching the film

1. Did you enjoy the film? Why/why not?
2. Which is your favourite character? Why?
3. What is your favourite scene? Why?
4. Would you like to be Jonathan? Would you like to have an experience like his own?
5. What would you do if you were Mavis, would you always obey your overprotective father or would you try to win more freedom?

Answer the questions related to the clip

Using Google Versal to create an interactive (and flipped) lesson - An introduction to the UK

I have just tried Versal to prepare an interactive lesson about the UK.

With Versal you can create interactive online learning experiences (from full courses to short lessons or homework assignments) to share with your students. It could be great for a flipped lesson. You can add text, links, images and videos; you can create slide shows, quizzes, diagrams, maps and timelines. This is my example.

Migration in Europe and multiculturalism in Britain

Europe is struggling to cope with a growing migrants flow. More and more migrants and asylum seekers are coming to Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

First of all, we are going to try to understand what migration is and what it means today. Then, we are going to talk about multiculturalism and, of course, about multicultural society in Britain.

Read the following articles, watch the video and answer the questions.

READING

HISTORY OF MIGRATION

History of migration:




http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=bbv

Migration from the colonies to Western Europe since 1800:




http://ieg-ego.eu/en/threads/europe-on-the-road/economic-migration/pieter-c-emmer-leo-lucassen-migration-from-the-colonies-to-western-europe-since-1800

Migration to Britain:




http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/next_steps/int_05_europe_01.shtml

MIGRATION TODAY

Some articles explain what is happening in Europe today 

Migration in Europe today: 
The following article try to answer these questions:

Why is EU struggling with migrants and asylum seekers? 

What has caused migrant numbers to rise?

What is the EU doing about it? 

Are all the EU countries sharing the burden?

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-24583286

These 5 Facts Explain Europe’s Deadly Migrants Crisis:

http://time.com/3833333/ian-bremmer-europe-migrants-deaths/

Multicultural societies in an historic perspective:

http://ndla.no/en/node/89615

LISTENING

MULTICULTURALISM

Multicultural Britain

WRITING
Answer the following questions

Unfortunately, because of the migrants crisis, xenophobia and anti-immigrant attitudes have recently risen across the continent. 

• What do you think about that?
• Do you live in a multicultural place? 
• Is there migration from or immigration to your country? 
• What is your opinion about multiculturalism? What are the pros and cons of a multicultural society?
• Watch the video above about multicultural Britain and write a summary.

SPEAKING

Role-play

If we are travelling to a foreign country, we are all immigrants although we are going to stay there for short periods. In fact, as soon as we set foot in a foreign airport, we have to pass trough the Customs Office, show our documents and answer some questions.

Watch the following video.  Imagine you are in a British airport, you and your class mate are respectively a customs officer and and a traveller. Invent dialogues like the one in the video, ask and answer questions like: 

• What is your final destination?
• How long will you be staying in the UK?
• What is the purpose of your visit?
• Where will you be staying?
• Do you have anything to declare?

English communication - Airport Immigration and Customs