Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Sheep-Biter -- Teaching Shakespeare (Day 7)

This afternoon my students got the opportunity to insult me. Shakespearean style. Renaissance style.  Old, old, old grammar school style. There's this worksheet that I picked up from a colleague, and it is the focal point of entertainment during this unit every year. Column A lists about 30 Shakespearean adjectives, Column B does the same, and Column C contains nouns like:

foot-licker

lump of marl

sheep-biter

maggot-pie

canker blossom

The list is eye-poppingly phenomenal.

Here is the Activity:

I pair students, ones I know will work well together. They come up with 10 insults, combining terms from Columns A, B, and C, and write those ten on a piece of paper.  (The word "thou" precedes each insult).

Then I give a Post-It to each group and they write their favorite insult on it. I collect the Post-Its in my Shakespearean Insults Coffee Mug.

Students who want to deface my reputation, raise their hands, stand up, and fling insults at me, one at a time. In return, I pull an insult from the Mug and throw one back at them.

In your face, Minions!

6 comments:

  1. Can I join your class? That sounds like a heap of fun.
    maureen. www.thepizzagang.com
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  2. I bet those canker blossoms have a blast in your class! Fun!
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  3. Fun, fun, fun!

    You do know the name thing on my blog was for your kiddo, right?

    word verification: pooss
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  4. @ Anita - I figured it out. How many followers could be having a baby boy in a few months?

    I do kind of like the name Holden... it's different.

    Or we could just go with Pooss.
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  5. Oh, and thanks for the name game. Fun!
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  6. Pooss would be good, in case you ever own a foreign cheese factory...things may have a way of balancing themselves out.
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