[ISLMA-Share] Dramas and Plays

Email list for the Illinois School Library Media Association islma at list.railslibraries.info
Mon Sep 19 09:11:19 CDT 2016


My first question would be--what's the purpose of the class? Is it just an
introduction to what plays are?  Are you going to look at structure?  Are
they going to act them out? Are you going to look at how playwrights
develop themes through staging and dialog? Do the plays have to be plays
written for adults, or would plays written for kids be better?  Are you
looking for great drama or kid drama?  Do musicals count? The themes and
actions of most plays written for adults would seem to make it difficult
for 6th graders to get them.

 *A Doll's House *is pretty serious, with questions of marriage and
fidelity and a woman's place in a male dominated society.  It's also pretty
dry.  I know there's a movie with Jane Fonda from the 70s that I saw.  Not
very exciting, especially for 6th graders.

Another question, why the simplified Shakespeare?  How is it simplified?
The language?  The plot? If you simplify Shakespeare, is it still
Shakespeare or is it more of a Cliffs' Notes version of Shakespeare?  *AMND*
is a pretty risque play--sex, fidelity, marital manipulation, parental
harshness.  If you skip over that, is it still the same play? And they say
the word ass a lot.  Of course, the kids would probably like that.  If you
want to do Shakespeare, I would think that one of the history plays, more
the Henrys than the Richards, might be more appropriate for 6th graders.
There's the great Kenneth Branagh movie of *Henry V* that might accompany a
reading.

I know there is a play of *Alice in Wonderland* that might be workable.
And there are many plays and adaptations written specifically for young
audiences that might be of use--*Charlotte's Web*, T*he Comic Book Artist*,
among them.



On Mon, Sep 19, 2016 at 8:18 AM, Email list for the Illinois School Library
Media Association <islma at list.railslibraries.info> wrote:

> Hello all!
> I'm in need of suggestions for dramas/plays that are appropriate to read
> with 6th grade students and where I can find cheap copies. I already have a
> simplified version of *A Midsummer Night's Dream* published by Nextext,
> and am also thinking about using *A Doll's House* and *Arsenic and Old
> Lace*. This is our school's first time teaching dramas to 6th grade and I
> need enough material to cover a full semester. Please help!
>
> Andrea N. Switzer
> District Librarian
> Donovan CUSD #3
> 271-415-8266
>
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