Horace Mann - Summer 2016 - 15

Team Up in First U.S. K-12 Partnership replacement reaction. I could have written that lesson down on paper, or we could act it out in class. The same thing was possible when we talked about atoms and electrons in the outer shell. It's easier to remember lessons that are connected to doing something physical. Participating in the workshop helped me renew my own teaching." photo by Jasmin Ortiz "Start it Young" The third tenet of the RSC's Stand Up for Shakespeare manifesto asks educators to introduce Shakespeare to children as young as 5-years-old. RSC and Ohio State research points to advances thus gained, not only in fostering an interest in Shakespeare but in early literacy attainment. Shakespeare and the RSC techniques entered HM's Lower Division in 2015-2016, in several grades. For HM's younger students RSC teaching team members Nora Meredith and McKenzie Craig introduced their kindergarteners to "The Tempest" using a script Meredith developed in consultation with the RSC's Rachel Gartside. The script consolidates the play into five acts, but includes every character, and many lines from the play. HM RSC educator Jean Eifert and colleagues brought this "Tempest" adaptation to the first grade as well. "The children absolutely love it," said Craig. "They are so attuned to the emotions of the play. They wish they could do 'The Tempest' every day." One late April afternoon saw a group of kindergarteners in "Miss Meredith's" class crashing their hands together to create the sound of lightning, and whooshing like the wind of the storm that gives "The Tempest" its title. Calling out Shakespeare's famous: "We split! We split!" like the sailors aboard their (imaginary) crumbling ship, the kindergarteners begged, along with "The Tempest's" protagonist Miranda, for her father Prospero to halt the storm he'd conjured. With anticipation high for their next Shakespeare class, the children asked one another to play "Tempest" dur- (photos by Barry L. Mason, Ruth Seligman, Jasmin Ortiz) so bad at science' feels the same as the student who says 'I don't understand Shakespeare.' They're totally outside their comfort zone. "The exercises we did were not Shakespeare specific. They were about stepping outside your comfort zone. I learned a lot that could be transferred to other disciplines. "I know how uncomfortable science is for some students, so I thought of ways I could use RSC exercises in my own classes. The RSC teachers stressed learning to work in groups, and learning how to help others in a group. Chemistry requires working together. I knew I could use an exercise like the one where we counted off-first onetwo-three, then clap-two-three-to work on cooperation. Another RSC exercise had us switching partners. You discover that some of us are better at some things than others, and that everybody has strengths and weaknesses. That's important when doing lab work that requires working together," Dr. Delanty said. "I used a moving around exercise for my chemistry class last fall when we were doing ionic bonds and double The HM-RSC teaching corps participates in, learns and teaches RSC rehearsal room techniques with students, colleagues, HM parents, and teachers from area schools. L to R: MD English teacher Cat Cooper, UD English teacher Harry Bauld and MD English teacher Morgan Yarosh, MD English and History teacher Isaac Brooks, K-teacher Nora Meredith, LD teacher Kristin Schmid and MD English teacher Jamie Brink and UD English teacher Rebecca Bahr. Horace Mann Magazine Summer 2016 15

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