Recently, I’ve begun training to be a Teaching Artist for a program called “Shakespeare Sleuths” through Extant Arts’ Educational Outreach Program. If you have any connections in NYC Schools or know any teachers who would be interested, please dont hesitate to get in touch with me! See below for more details!
is proud to present
Shakespeare Sleuths
Hands-On Verse and Rhetoric Workshops for the Classroom
Everything you need to know about Shakespeare can be found in the language – if you know how to look for it. From verse to prose to punctuation, Shakespeare’s plays are “riddled” with clues to understanding characters and their stories. Shakespeare Sleuths, our in-class workshops, engages student detectives in the active process of following the textual clues with a theatrical eye, equipping them with the skills to “solve” the text and understand the play on their own. By engaging with the text physically, vocally, and intellectually, students feel the impact of Shakespeare’s craft and find an enjoyment of the text that encourages reading both in and out of the classroom.
Skills covered in the workshops include:
• Decoding verse structure (prose, iambic pentameter, and the effects of irregular verse);
• Distinguishing between sentences, thoughts, and ideas;
• Analyzing “verbal conceits” (rhyme, puns, assonance/alliteration, simile/metaphor, and antithesis);
• Recognizing simple/complex language and modes of address;
• Understanding basic history of the world of Shakespeare’s theatre.
Extant believes in working to fit the needs of a particular school. Our Teaching Artists work with classroom teachers to enhance the curriculum already in place. Our workshops are adaptable for students in grades 5 – 12, and generally run as 1–3 separate workshops. We’ll also work to accommodate any budget.
If you have further questions about Shakespeare Sleuths or any of Extant Arts Company’s other educational outreach programs, please email our Director of Education, Kathleen Dorman, at extant.ed@gmail.com. Thank you for your time; we know how valuable it is!
Extant Arts Company’s Mission: Believing that stories are the organizing principle of human experience, Extant Arts Company endeavors to identify and present those that are enduring, immediate and vital. Extant reinterprets the classics through live performance, and fosters the classics of the future through adaptation, new play development, and educational outreach.
Extant Arts Company’s Educational Goals:
• To facilitate a shared journey between our teaching artists and students
• To foster imagination and creativity in students
• To empower our students through active learning and spontaneity
• To instill an active relationship with stories and dramatic storytelling
• To provide new opportunities for engagement and self-expression.
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Kathleen Dorman
Director of Education
Extant Arts Company
extant.ed@gmail.com