Twelfth Night 5 - Act 4 Small Group Reading Aloud & Discussion
"Nothing that is so, is so."
Twelfth Night 5 - Act 4- Small Group Reading Aloud: Again, the students will be reading the play aloud (as we do in class) - and the Group Leader will be asking questions (and not reading lines aloud) when they get to the appropriate line). Remember - it is important that the students do this just like we do as a class at large - only smaller. Make sure they actually read the play aloud and that only the Group Leader has the questions (till it's over - then there should be copies of the questions for everyone). Students should take notes just like they do when we do a whole-class reading of the play. Except for the Group Leader - they will be too busy coordinating things and I advise them (in the Group Leader Handout - found below) to make a copy (sometime I will run to the xerox room) or take a picture of someone's notes from their group. Unlike with small group readings in Macbeth, these group sizes may be very different as they are based on their Macbeth Scene Groups. For very small groups (2-3) you should advise them to combine with other group(s) to try to have a minimum of 5 students in a group. If the group is over 8 - you may want them to split into two (but keep next to each other).
Otherwise, students will read the play aloud just as we do as a class. There is a Group Leader for each set of students - and they will keep everyone on track as well as asking essential questions when they get to them. Ideally, the teacher picks out the Group Leaders at least a day before to give them time to look over the instructions and the questions. There were times I did this kind of Small Group Reading with me being there - but usually not so early in the process. You want the students to have a feel for the class readings before doing these. The Group Leader instructions are at the end of the Questions for the Group Leader.
Lesson Overview - Nothing is So - Twelfth Night - Small Group Reading - Act 4
The Quiz
As always, there is a quiz. If you're not there - hold off and give them the quiz next time you see them.
Group Leaders
This lesson has two parts . The first part is a set of instructions for a Group Leader. It is essential to rotate the role of Group Leader. The Groups (for this play) should stay static (most of them should be based on the Macbeth Groups - who will be putting on their scenes in a few weeks). Essentially, the Group Leader plays the part that the teacher usually does. You give the instructions out ideally the day before (along with the questions) so the Group Leader can look them over as well as looking at the Instructions for Group Leaders (tell them not to spend more than 20 minutes at home on this - they don't have to answer the questions beforehand - just look them over).
Reminder, as time goes on - everyone will get a chance to be a Group Leader - which I think is an important thing. There is no better way to learn a subject than by teaching it - and it also gives students a chance to look at the "other side". What teachers do (and hopefully they will appreciate it a bit "differently").
Some of the instructions from the handout (found below) for Group Leaders
Right now (or the night before – if given)
1) Look over the questions – No, you don’t have to look up the answers – just read them through once (no more than 15 minutes on this). Note the pages you will be skipping (if any) – and you only need to get thru scene 4.
2) Next to the question boxes – about every 5 questions or so – put the actual time that you feel you need to be at in order to finish this in time (remember, you will be reading the play aloud). Make sure you know WHERE you’ll be stopping for the day. You can divide the pages that you will be actually reading (make sure you note the parts you will be skipping) and figure out where you should be based on that.
There are more instructions for what the Group Leader should do during the reading that day - including: 1) above all - make sure the play is read aloud (as we do in class). 2) No one should have the questions in front of them besides the Group Leader. THIS IS HUGE!
If the other students have the questions in front of them - this is transformed from a Group Reading of a Play into Group Work. You don't want that. 3) The Group Leader should ask (and not be a character in the play) but should try and let the group members answer (the hardest part of being a teacher).
The Questions
It's important that during the Reading Aloud - which should be just like in class - only the Group Leader has the questions. When the students get to the appropriate spot in the script, the Group Leader will have everyone pause - and ask the question which is then open to everyone in the Group (except the Group Leader - here's where the teacher part really comes in. The questions have the scene - the line # - and the Group Leaders have looked them over the night before. Here is an example (the complete questions can be found below). Students should continue until the bell rings. They should also takes notes in their own books as normal - except for the Group Leader as they will be far too busy to take notes, and they are encouraged to copy the notes from one of their Group Members when they finish. The Group Leaders also have enough copies of the Questions to give out AFTER they are done - if the Group Members have the questions while they are doing the reading - it is a terrible distraction and makes this process undoable. Remember - they will be reading the play aloud - just as you do in a full class.
The Back of the Handout (after they finish the Act & the questions)
The back of the handout contains an excerpt from A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare - these beautiful lines are linked to what Feste tells Malvolio (in that wonderful conversation where Malvolio is imprisoned). The students are asked to make the connection - with this play, with Chaucer's "The Miller's Tale" and the scene is set for their end-of-the-year reading of Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. And of course, the connection to the topsy-turvy holiday of Twelfth Night.
Group Leader Instructions and Questions for Act IV
See the actual handout and the above Lesson Overview for more directions on the use of these Handouts. You will need to print out enough Group Leader Instructions for how many Group Leaders you will have in the class - which for this play is determined by their Macbeth Scene Grups - and enough Questions for everyone - though you need to REMEMBER - make sure Group Leaders know they shouldn't give their members the questions until they are completely done.
Most Recent Test for the Reading - Act IV
I call these tests (rather than quizzes) because they require more time (and with notetaking - effort) than the usual reading assignment - so I want to reward that effort with more points. It's so important to quiz (see my page on Quizzing) - if the class doesn't read first - a great opportunity is lost - for the students to discover on their own - to question on their own - before it is talked about in the entire class. Remember if you're not going to be here the day the small group reading is done - best to wait to give these tests when you see your students.
The Folger Script for today's reading.
Please note that the Folger Online Edition of Twelfth Night will have the same corresponding page & line numbers that I reference. Also, the script is available to download from them as a PDF, Microsoft Doc, and with or without line numbers. My students had their own copies (which I strongly recommend) that they could take notes directly in - and which have so many valuable footnotes on the left side of the page. See my handout on Reading Shakespeare in my opening Macbeth Lesson.
Remote Teaching
Of course this can be done in Small Groups Remotely if you've set your class up appropriately and students know how to get into Groups remotely. It is also a great way for students who have missed the class to get together and make it up.
Here is the description from Amazon: The authoritative edition of Twelfth Night from The Folger Shakespeare Library, the trusted and widely used Shakespeare series for students and general readers, includes:-Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play, Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play, Scene-by-scene plot summaries, A key to the play’s famous lines and phrases, An introduction to reading Shakespeare’s language, An essay by a leading Shakespeare scholar providing a modern perspective on the play, Fresh images from the Folger Shakespeare Library’s vast holdings of rare books, An annotated guide to further reading, Essay by Catherine Belsey.
Twelfth Night 6 Act V - Movie & Watching Log: students watch the end of the Trevor Nunn version of Twelfth Night. We start right at the hilarious encounter between Malvolio and Olivia (Act 3, scene 4). That means this segment of the film covers almost half of the entire play! While the students are watching the film, they will answer a few short questions that I will collect at the end of the period (or at least I tell them I will...).
WHAT CAME BEFORE:
Thoughts on the Lesson
In addition to the questions asked in this lesson - there are the connections that the students are asked to make to A Midsummer Night's Dream. Those connections also include what we have read ("The Miller's Tale") and will read (Arcadia). I firmly believe one of the greatest joys in teaching or being a student in a Literature Class is the connections we make - which is why it is sometimes a very good thing to teach the same work for a number of years.