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Hamlet: Shakespeare Book Club

In this 5-week book club, students will read and discuss Shakespeare's play, The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
Janelle Fila
Average rating:
4.6
Number of reviews:
(903)
Star Educator
Class

What's included

5 pre-recorded lessons
5 weeks
of teacher support
1 year access
to the content
Homework
2-4 hours per week. Students will read one act a week on their own time in. Each act contains 2-7 scenes. Each week, students will have access to 3-7 new videos and a corresponding worksheet with vocabulary definitions, discussion questions and places for fill-in-the blank answers. Each week, I assign a short writing assignment focused around that week's discussion questions and ask the students to share their responses in the classroom. There is a weekly Kahoot and supplemental optional activities to test their comprehension from the weekly chapters.
Assessment
The more questions, comments, and posts that students share in the classroom, the more I can understand their knowledge and comprehension of the topics we are discussing. Please let me know if a grade is required.
Grading
Please let me know if you require a grade for this class.

Class Experience

US Grade 9 - 12
Hamlet is Shakespeare's tragedy about revenge, power, and ultimately death. Hamlet is required reading for a lot of high school students. It is the perfect story for group discussion and analysis because Shakespeare's language and word choices can be hard to appreciate and understand when reading alone.  

Students will read one act a week on their own time. Each act contains 2-7 scenes. (Longer scenes will be broken into 2-3 smaller, more manageable chunks of reading.) A separate video will discuss each scene the student reads. I will also post a summary of each scene and a worksheet with vocabulary definitions to important words and phrases within the scene. I use the worksheets to address/remind the students of some of the important topics from each scene. The worksheets may also have space for short discussion questions and fill-in-the blank answers. 

Weekly Schedule Breakdown:
Students will receive access to one new video that discusses a different assigned scene. This class does not meet live. The prerecorded sessions will emphasize characters, their motivations, theme, social issues, story plausibility, and inferences about what might come next. Students will receive a scene summary paragraph and a corresponding worksheet with vocabulary definitions, discussion questions and places for fill-in-the blank answers for each day. For weeks that have less than six scenes to read, students will have access to a Hamlet-related optional activity to keep them immersed in the scene.      

Students are assigned a one-two page writing assignment focused around that week's act.  I also post a link an online Kahoot! trivia game for the students to further immerse themselves in this week's reading before we move onto a new act the following week. 

Weekly, students will have access to: 
3-7 videos, scene summaries, vocabulary and supplemental worksheets 
1 one-two page weekly writing assignment to gauge the reader's understanding of their previous reading 
1 Kahoot trivia game
as needed: supplemental activities
Learning Goals
Week One: Act 1 (Scenes 1-5)
Week Two: Act 2 (Scenes 1-2) Scene 2 is longer and will be broken down into 3 separate readings
Week Three: Act 3 (Scenes 1-4)
Week Four: Act 4 (Scenes 1-7)
Week Five: Act 5 (Scenes 1-2) Scene 5 is also long and will be broken down into 2 separate readings
learning goal

Syllabus

5 Lessons
over 5 Weeks
Lesson 1:
Act 1
 Scenes 1-5 
Lesson 2:
Act 2
 Scenes 1-2 
Lesson 3:
Act 3
 Scenes 1-4 
Lesson 4:
Act 4
 Scenes 1-7 

Other Details

Parental Guidance
From commonsensemedia.org: While there is no profanity -- apart from "damn" and "God" -- the dialogue is often hard to follow for those unfamiliar with Shakespearean plays. There are few positive messages from the movie, with characters motivated by revenge and power. A key theme of the movie is death, and while very little is depicted graphically, characters talk about it consistently, and several are killed both on and off screen. A character dies by suicide -- drowning -- but this is shown in abstract form. There are sword fighting scenes and some characters die after being poisoned. But it all feels dramatic rather than violent or scary. There is some depiction of drunkenness. Hamlet has a relationship with his mother, Gertrude, that's steeped in subtext. The Acts either contain many scenes or long scenes, which can be challenging for some readers.
Supply List
The students will need their own copy of Hamlet to read on their own. It can be borrowed from the library or even listened to as an audio book. The students will not need a physical copy of the story in class, although they may find it helpful to have when completing the writing assignments. I use a well-annotated edition that explains difficult words and constructions in class, but students may want an annotated edition for their own reading as well.
External Resources
In addition to the Outschool classroom, this class uses:
  • Kahoot
Joined June, 2019
4.6
903reviews
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Profile
Teacher expertise and credentials
Master's Degree in Music or Theatre or Arts from Spalding University
I have a Master's degree in Writing for Children and Young Adults. I was a substitute teacher for three years before teaching full-time on Outschool for multiple years. I currently teach English Composition at a local nursing college. I have been blessed to discuss Shakespeare in the classroom multiple times, including my own high school reading experience! My high school English teacher was obsessed with Shakespeare and taught me the importance of understanding these often tragic plays. I learned a lot from her enthusiasm and hope to pass that passion on to my own students. I have read this play multiple times, but I learn something new every time I am exposed to this story. It is an excellent book to discuss because there is so much language and subtext to analyze. I am excited to read it alongside your student to see what emotions and feelings Shakespeare's writings stir up for them.

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Self-Paced Course
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$14

weekly or $70 for all content
5 pre-recorded lessons
5 weeks of teacher support
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1 year of access to the content

Completed by 11 learners
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Ages: 14-18

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