After teaching my unit on Shakespeare, I let my freshmen choose from 17 different projects based on the multiple intelligences. Sample projects include:

• Present a mock trial to the class about who is to blame for the death of Romeo and Juliet. ‘Try’ the major suspects and select a jury to determine their innocence and guilt. (Logical, linguistic and interpersonal learning styles)
• Re-write the ending in script form, changing the resolution of the play. Choose an excerpt from your script to perform for the class. (Bodily/kinesthetic, linguistic and interpersonal learning styles)
• With several classmates, prepare and record a video preview or ‘trailer’ for a movie version of Romeo and Juliet. Perform several exciting moments from the play in quick succession to create the effect of scenes from a film. (Leadership and kinesthetic/linguistic learning styles)

When creating a movie trailer for Romeo and Juliet, the video that came with the Shakespeare in American Communities teaching unit is a great model focusing on highlights of the Bard’s works. Some groups modernized Romeo and Juliet as they saw many of Shakespeare’s works have been in the video you provide; others chose the traditional route. One group entered their project in a technology contest and advanced to a state competition.

Letitia Hughes
Barren County High School
Glasgow, Kentucky

I received the Shakespeare kit (Shakespeare in American Communities) last spring. This year I incorporated the video into my Shakespeare class with gifted 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students at Northwestern University's Center for Talent Development. I used it as the initial introduction to the class. We discussed the excerpts and the meaning of the excerpts. We then practice some of the language. The rest of the 8 week class focused on Romeo & Juliet. I think the kit gave the students a glance at a level of performance here-to-fore not available. I followed these excerpts up with an assignment that the students watch at least one film version of Romeo & Juliet and the movie West Side Story. Those, too, led to interesting observations and parallels that led to our class performance.

Donna Stone
Streator Twp High School
Streator, Illinois