If you are looking for some new ideas on teaching Shakespeare in your classes, be sure to join us at the Utah Shakespeare Festival’s “Teaching Shakespeare: Ditch the Desk and Speak the Speech” this July. This course is aimed at providing active and engaging classroom approaches to language arts and theatre teachers and others who teach Shakespeare's text. The class will help you get out from behind the desk and explore active-learning strategies to hook student engagement with Shakespeare's text.

Participants will be able to demonstrate their understanding of teaching Shakespeare in the classroom by participating in various exercises and activities surrounding Shakespeare’s text and exploring the curriculum created by the instructor.

* This course will consist of direct instruction, interaction with Festival company, learning activities and assessments that can be replicated by participants in Language Arts classes, Theatre classes, or other authentic educational settings. * The instructor will provide lesson plans and handouts and assessments as resources for participants. * All course materials and instruction will be geared toward teachers who can take them directly back to the classroom and make them applicable for their teaching situation and students.

The best part? The course includes a ticket to four (4!) Utah Shakespeare Festival plays. See the attached course outline for an idea of the schedule.

If “Teaching Shakespeare” isn’t what you’re looking for, but you want to come to USF for professional learning, check out the other education program option at the festival this summer.

For general information, you can visit the USF Educationhttps://www.bard.org/about/education/camps-and-classes/?fbclid=IwAR0-TR--YMC2Tc-TNxc8FlydbBMD4CPFwZt7mZ7QopcLtehifEv2BvbcAYY webpage, reach out to educationprograms@bard.orgmailto:educationprograms@bard.org, or for “Teaching Shakespeare” questions you can contact the instructor, Shawnda Moss, directly at: bsmossfam@gmail.commailto:bsmossfam@gmail.com.

Naomi Watkins, Ph.D. Secondary English Language Arts Specialist Utah State Board of Education (801) 538-7616