By Mike Hutchens, UC Schools Communications Director
Union City, Tenn.–The Union City High School English department recently held a Shakespeare Celebration Day, celebrating the life and works of William Shakespeare in a fun and engaging way.
Senior English teacher Joanna Wisener crafted a schedule for the entire department that included four 10-minute rotations for each class of students for the four English teachers in the department.
Each teacher was responsible for teaching a different aspect of William Shakespeare’s life or works. All four taught over 20 different classes of students throughout the course of the school day, with every student at UCHS getting in on the Shakespeare celebration.
Mrs. Wisener taught about sonnets through a partner activity, while Eddie Suiter showed students just how many of today’s words and phrases originated from Shakespeare himself while dealing with insults.
In Chelsea Farmer’s room, students were taught about the meals and dietary lifestyle of the Elizabethan culture. Katie Parr focused on trivia of the Shakespeare Era.
“Every year the English department likes to have a special school-wide activity,” Mrs. Wisener said, “We chose to celebrate Shakespeare this time since there are so many aspects of his life and work that don’t always get addressed when we teach his plays.
“The rotation made a good change of pace at the completion of EOC testing, and it was fun seeing all the students in one day.”
Suiter insisted the time spent was rewarding.
“It was exhausting, doing 10-minute lessons throughout the day, but worth it,” Suiter claimed. “I thought most of the students enjoyed and learned at the same time.
“For me, it was fun showing the kids some of the humorous aspects of Shakespeare’s works, dealing with his witty insults. And for a day, at least, I was glad to listen to the students insult one another … in Shakespearean fashion, of course.”
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