16 Years of Outdoor Theater with Family & Friends
For EDUCATORs
Educators! Interested in having Shakespeare on the Sound in your classroom? We provide educational programming for students of all ages that is fun, interactive, and inspiring.
Our number one goal is to give students OWNERSHIP over Shakespeare’s language.
We are open to working with you in creating a workshop that is specifically tailored to your classroom or choose from one of our already established programs.
To have Shakespeare on the Sound in your school, contact Scott Bartelson at scott@shakespeareonthesound.og or call at 203-299-1300 in order to set up this great opportunity.
In addition, we offer workshops for Educators in bringing Shakespeare and theater into the classroom. Our teaching artists and scholars are readily available to help you with curriculum and lesson plan writing, making your classes as fun and interactive as possible.
Teacher’s Workshop
For Educators of All Grades
An organized workshop for teachers hoping to utilize more theater and Shakespeare in their classrooms. The approach of this workshop is to support teachers in forming an interactive classroom in which control is given to the students. A Teaching Artist will instruct teachers on simple educational theater pedagogy incorporating theater of the oppressed techniques, Forum Theater, Image Theater, and Teacher-in-Role. The Director of Education will assist in helping teachers effectively organize and structure Shakespearean and English lesson plans and pointing out the most rewarding and thought provoking moments and discussion which can arise out of the required text.
PROGRAMS
Learn a Line of Shakespeare
Grades K-2
In this hands-on tactile approach to Shakespeare, students learn a line from Romeo and Juliet and work on memorizing the line and creating a craft around that line.
“Words, words, words!”
K-12
Shakespeare’s plays and poetry often present students with a challenge - the stories are compelling, but the language is difficult. This workshop focuses on the art of storytelling and verse-making, but leading students through a collaborative creation of a story or poem using Shakespeare language in their own way.
Much Ado About Masks
Grades K-4
Explore Shakespeare’s language through art and movement. Using the masks from Much Ado About Nothing as inspiration, students will explore words using their five senses.
Shakespeare’s Argument and Persuasion
Grades 5-12
This workshop introduces students to the quintessential Shakespeare techniques of argument and persuasion. how does Friar Lawrence convince Romeo not to kill himself? How does Iago lead Othello to believe Desdemona has betrayed him? The teaching artist takes students through a small section of text that shows these techniques by close reading and performance.
A Little Shakespeare
Pre-K - Grade 2
Introducing students to Shakespeare’s varied characters and stories, “A Little Shakespeare” utilizes the unique sound of Shakespeare’s language and the physicalization of Shakespearean characters. The children are up on their feet, moving to the beats of ancient drums and making the noises of Shakespearean words to become his varied characters. Puppets are used to introduce the students to the varied plots of Shakespeare.
PARTNERSHIPS
Shakespeare on the Sound partners with numerous education and youth development organizations in Fairfield County bringing the arts, culture, and Shakespeare into the lives of many youth. Below is an example of the type of work that we can bring into your youth organization!
Residency
7 weeks, minimum age 10.
This program meets weekly for 45-60 minutes. Students will take scenes from a Shakespeare play and a Teaching Artist will devise activity and conversation connecting the text to contemporary social issues: bullying, rumor, slander, intimidation, teen dating, family problems. Through a combination of close analysis and breakdown of character, plot, scene, students will utilize these characters as a jumping board for improvisation. Students will work in groups to improvise scenes as well a write new scenes and monologues based on character dilemmas. Residency will be guided toward a performance process piece that integrates the play with their own improvised material, structured with help by the Teaching Artist.
Shakespeare on the Sound’s Educational Outreach goal is to build community through the arts, giving the works of Shakespeare a vibrant life beyond the summer festival with a variety of school, library, adult education and art programs as a means to reach a diverse cross-section of people of all ages and economic backgrounds.
