Lesson Overview:

Students work in pairs to create a "life box" of a character in the play, The Shakespeare Stealer, based on the book of the same name. They collect five props, a costume piece, or clues about the character and write a poem about the character. Other students must interpret the clues and determine which character is represented by the life box.

Length of Lesson:

Two 45-minute class periods

Instructional Objectives:

Students will:

• will create a character life box for a character in The Shakespeare Stealer.
• research information about their character or his/her job.
• write a rhyme royal to describe the character depicted in their life box.
• present their character life boxes to the class.

Supplies:

• A sample life box for Queen Elizabeth
• The sample "rhyme royal," written on large chart paper
• The Shakespeare Stealer, a book by Gary Blackwood

Instructional Plan:

Warm Up

Prior to the class, prepare a sample character "life box" for the character of Queen Elizabeth. The life box should contain items that are uniquely representative of the character. The items may be displayed in a shoebox, a small suitcase, or another portable box. You may wish to include items such as a red wig and a handkerchief with an embroidered "E." Allow students to examine the props.

Read aloud The Shakespeare Stealer. Ask students if they can predict which character in The Shakespeare Stealer could have packed this box. Have them record their predictions.

For more clues, read a “rhyme royal” about the character life box. You may compose an original poem or use the following example:

My mask is easy to wear.
A face of rouge on all white,
A wig of flaming hair,
A crown worn a bit tight,
Regal in any light.
On my handkerchief an embroidered "E,"
To show my favor, I’ll give it to thee.

Ask students if they now know which character is represented by the life box. Have them explain their reasoning.

Introductory Activity

Tell students: The objects people pack in purses, backpacks, gym bags, brief cases, or suitcases tell a lot about what they do or where they are going. You could call these things “character life boxes,” because they reveal something about a person’s life.

Examples could be:

• Backpack: history, math, and spelling books — may indicate a student’s homework load for the night;
• Gym bag: tennis racket, a tube of yellow tennis balls, a towel, and wrist and head bands — may indicate a game of tennis is to be played;
• Brief case: a legal brief and a court calendar — may indicate a lawyer;
• Suitcase: swim trunks, snorkel gear, and flippers — may indicate this person is heading for a vacation near the water.

In a play, props to help reveal information about a character. If you think of Hamlet, the skull of Yorik is a vital prop. Tell the students that in some theatrical performances, actors play more than one role. Often, the actors use props and costuming to help the audience distinguish between the characters.

If your class has seen the play The Shakespeare Stealer, ask students how the actors who played multiple roles distinguished each part for the audience. (Answers could include a change of costume, makeup, voice, or prop.) If your class has read the book, ask students to brainstorm props and costuming that would help to distinguish each character if the story was performed on stage.

Developmental/Guided Practice

1. In Shakespeare’s writings, the Bard gave clues to the actors about how to say the words through rhymes and rhythms in the text. Many lines are in iambic pentameter, a rhythm not unlike a heartbeat. He also used couplets to close out a scene.
2. A rhyme royal is another form of rhyme Shakespeare used. The pattern is ABABBCC. In other words, the lines A rhymed, the lines B rhymed, and the lines C rhymed.
3. Post the Queen Elizabeth poem used earlier in the lesson. Have students look at the rhyme royal carefully to identify the pattern.
4. Identify several characters in The Shakespeare Stealer. Give students an opportunity to create a rhyme royal of their own using one of these characters.

Independent Practice

Tell students that the play The Shakespeare Stealer and the book on which it is based are historical fiction. This means the playwright took real characters and mixed them in with fictional characters. Ask students to consider which characters seem as if they might be real people. Why? How could one discover whether a character is based on a real person? List as many of the characters as they can recall on the board.

Pair up students and give each a handout of Character Descriptions. Have the students choose a character to research. (Note: The fictional characters can be researched by job type or station in life. For example, the character Julian is a girl disguised as a boy to work in the theatre. Women were not allowed to perform in the Elizabethan theatres.)

Each pair should decide which five props or costume pieces they can find or create to put in a character life box. They may use a shoe box or a pillow case to put the pieces in. If they must draw or find a picture of the prop, that would be acceptable, especially in the case of the weapons chosen to represent Falconer/Bass and Armin. (Emphasize that no real weapons, swords, fencing rapiers, or knives may be brought in for this project.)

The pair should then create a rhyme royal about the character and his/her life box. The name of the character is not to be included in the rhyme. The class will try to guess each character.

Closure

Have each pair present the finished life box to class. Presenters should show the five selected props, drawings, or costume pieces of their character. They should also read their rhyme royal.

Have the class guess the identity of the character presented.

Each pair should hand in the life box, and all written material, for assessment.

Assessment:

Assess the students based on their success in completing the following tasks:

• creating or finding five props/costumes/drawings to help identify the character assigned to them.
• composing a rhyme royal with the ABABBCC rhyme pattern.
• composing a rhyme royal that gave clues about the character.
• presenting the life box and rhyme royal to the class.

Sources:

Print:

• Aliki. William Shakespeare and the Globe. Harper Collins Publishers; 1999.
• Blackford, Gary L. The Shakespeare Stealer. Puffin Books, 1998.
• Doyle, John and Ray Lischner.Shakespeare for Dummies. IDG Books Worldwide, 1999.
• Peterson, Lenka and Dan O’Connor. Kids Take the Stage, Back Stage Books, 1997.
• Pollinger, Gina and Emma Chichester Clark. Something Rich and Strange A Treasury of Shakespeare’s Verse. Kingfisher, 1995.
• Theatre Games for Young Performers. Meriwether Publishing. Ltd., 1985.

Web:

• Folger Shakespeare Library
  http://www.folger.edu
• Shakespeare: The Complete Works
  http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/works.html

Authors:

• Mary Beth Bauernschub, Teacher
  Kingsford Elementary School
  Mitchellville, MD