Ghost of King Hamlet?
This week we’ll start our reading of Hamlet For Kids with lots of friends in our house and probably a lot of sword play. The tricky thing about organizing this has been to narrow down the activities I want to do.
Should we build a Globe Theater? Make a timeline of plays and compare it to the timeline of Shakespeare’s life? Should we make illuminated manuscript letters? Or just try to write with quill pens? How important is it to learn to write in iambic pentameter? And then there are the roles to cast. Oh, I hope we don’t have an I-wanna-be-Hamlet-fight. (I promise we’ll take turns!)
Through all the wading through ideas, the best and most simple idea remains:
Read the play aloud. Let the kids learn to read with expression and add action and a few props. In other words, you are right, Mr. William Shakespeare,
“The Play’s the Thing.” (Hamlet 2.2)
I can’t wait until the grave scene.