Can English teachers give me a name of a Good Play For JC?

Flashgordon197

Im teaching a mixed ability class next year in third year. A minority will be doing Honours English. Can anyone think of a play that they could study in detail that would cover both Honours and Ordinary?

faughs

I think your best bet is the field to be honest. It is quite simple and it caters for both higher and ordinary. Romeo and Juliet is also quite accessible for a Shakespeare play and it also gets your class use to the Shakespearean language in the build up to Leaving Cert.

sitstill

I agree with the above post having used both in the past.

If you think they will cope at all, go with Shakespeare as it will stand to them. Another good one is The Merchant of Venice.

Remember for JC they only need to know the plot, the themes and a bit about characters and relationships.

Flashgordon197

faughs wrote: »

I think your best bet is the field to be honest. It is quite simple and it caters for both higher and ordinary. Romeo and Juliet is also quite accessible for a Shakespeare play and it also gets your class use to the Shakespearean language in the build up to Leaving Cert.

I know they are classics but everyone seems to do those plays and a friend who is a corrector Says-its hell on earth correcting hundreds of students who do the same plays.

sitstill

OK well they are the tried and tested ones. If you have others you'd prefer, you can do those as well.

faughs

You see flash they are the classics but they are so accessible that it leaves the workload for you as a teacher at the minimum so that you can spend a lot more time on creative writing which is a major problem area for pupils at the minute. There are so many resources available for these plays. By all means use your own ideas if you feel you are going to have ample time for prep because it may be a refreshing change to the corrector but no matter what a corrector is doing it comes to a point that any play will start annoying them at some stage.

rainbowtrout

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

I know they are classics but everyone seems to do those plays and a friend who is a corrector Says-its hell on earth correcting hundreds of students who do the same plays.

But that's their job as corrector. I'd be more concerned about finding a suitable play for my class than the feelings of an anonymous corrector next June.

It's hell on earth correcting any subject and reading the same thing over and over again. I'm not an English teacher but I would hazard a guess that if your friend is correcting 400 English papers and 390 of them do Romeo and Juliet, while he might be bored, he'll probably curse the few that are different as they will have a different answer to the rest and he'll have to go back and consult his marking scheme.

I'd echo what other posters say. The others are classic and popular for a reason.

implausible

I did Romeo and Juliet with some trepidation with a mixed ability class 2 years ago. Less than a third did honours. I seriously underestimated how much they'd 'get' it. I had them hooked when I got them to tell me why Romeo was so p*ssed off at the beginning of the play. Once the lads copped on that he wasn't "getting any" from Rosalind, they got really interested in the rest of it;) The girls were busy being appalled at the idea of getting married so young. Shakespeare has been popular so long for a reason!

The biggest mistake you can make is going through every line and image and spending 3 months on something that is only worth 30/360.

Flashgordon197

My point about everyone doing the same plays is very valid. Firstly, in terms of corrections it is easier to get marks because the exam corrector will be sick of reading about Romeo and Juilet. Secondly, (these are not in order of importance), a lot of these Shakespearean plays are not terribly relevant to today's kids even allowing for the teenage love angle of Romeo and J. Thirdly as a teacher I personally get sick of doin the same plays year after year after year. Its like a band who just play their greatest hits because they dont put out new material . Thirdly, I would prefer doing a play that I have to think and be creative with because with Willy's plays there is so much written about them that you have to do feck all original work to teach them and thus it becomes teaching by numbers-for me.

If it was an honours group I would be doing R AND J to prepare for LC but not in a very mixed group who in the main wont do honours.Not because of difficulty mainly because of boredom.

getz

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

I know they are classics but everyone seems to do those plays and a friend who is a corrector Says-its hell on earth correcting hundreds of students who do the same plays.

wuthering heights,emily bronte,challenging but great fun to do,the students will love it. it also has the irish connection.

implausible

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

My point about everyone doing the same plays is very valid. Firstly, in terms of corrections it is easier to get marks because the exam corrector will be sick of reading about Romeo and Juilet. Secondly, (these are not in order of importance), a lot of these Shakespearean plays are not terribly relevant to today's kids even allowing for the teenage love angle of Romeo and J. Thirdly as a teacher I personally get sick of doin the same plays year after year after year. Its like a band who just play their greatest hits because they dont put out new material . Thirdly, I would prefer doing a play that I have to think and be creative with because with Willy's plays there is so much written about them that you have to do feck all original work to teach them and thus it becomes teaching by numbers-for me.

If it was an honours group I would be doing R AND J to prepare for LC but not in a very mixed group who in the main wont do honours.Not because of difficulty mainly because of boredom.

Have you corrected? In my experience, while it may be refreshing to see something different, you still have to stick to the marking scheme, so a sh#te answer is not a better answer because it's about a unusual play.

I'd also have to disagree on the relevance of Shakespeare - racism/anti-semitism in the Merchant is very relevant (especially when I hear Junior students calling each other 'jews' as an insult) as are the power struggles and treachery in Julius Caesar and suicide in R&J.

It's great that you want to challenge yourself by teaching something different, but don't do it in the mistaken belief that the students will get more marks. And remember that the play is only worth 8%.

The usual suspects are John B. Keane, Shakespeare and Willy Russell. I've just had a look on some GCSE sites and they seem to be mostly Shakespeare, Ibsen, Tennessee Williams and Arthur Miller (which I would consider all pretty 'heavy' going for a JC class.) Martin McDonagh and J.M. Synge would hardly be suitable subject material, would they? Why not try some American education sites?

Terri26

I correct the papers yearly. You have no idea how boring and frustrating it is correcting the same essay over and over. The marking scheme is weak enough. remember if you have a mixed ability class their answers will be compared to higher students answering the exact same question.
lots of choice out there. Don't do what over 85% of the country do. We did the Crucible this year they really liked that!

Terri26

Sorry for lack of capitals etc first time posting from my phone!

Flashgordon197

Terri26 wrote: »

Sorry for lack of capitals etc first time posting from my phone!

I wouldn't sweat the capital letters. Not all teachers are pedantic on an internet site.;)

implausible

Terri26 wrote: »

I correct the papers yearly. You have no idea how boring and frustrating it is correcting the same essay over and over. The marking scheme is weak enough.

The same essay over and over? Yes, boring and frustrating to correct, unlike individual original answers on a common text. It's the repetition of answers that is frustrating, not repeated use of the same text.

Teachers who make their students learn off pages of quotes and 3 page essays on R&J are taking the joy out of the subject, never mind wasting their students' time.

At least it's being changed. It'll be interesting to see if the Dept will begin to prescribe texts for the new course or leave it as 'open' as it is.

Crazyteacher

Is there going to be a new English course?

implausible

Crazyteacher wrote: »

Is there going to be a new English course?

They were looking for submissions a while back, and this is what's on the NCCA website. However, now that I have eventually got around to looking at it, there doesn't seem to be any startling change. Ah well:(

born2bwild

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

I know they are classics but everyone seems to do those plays and a friend who is a corrector Says-its hell on earth correcting hundreds of students who do the same plays.

I've been a state examiner at that level for years. Choose either R&J, MoV or The Field.

As for whether it's 'hell on earth' to correct answers on the same play over and over...I would disagree utterly. The big thing as an examiner is rhythm. Anything that breaks that rhythm - an unusual play or novel, for example, will p1ss you off.

Poor handwriting. That is what you should be worrying about if you're concerned about annoying the examiner.

But I cannot emphasise enough how wrong the 'hell on earth advice' you got is.

Flashgordon197

born2bwild wrote: »

I've been a state examiner at that level for years. Choose either R&J, MoV or The Field.

As for whether it's 'hell on earth' to correct answers on the same play over and over...I would disagree utterly. The big thing as an examiner is rhythm. Anything that breaks that rhythm - an unusual play or novel, for example, will p1ss you off.

Poor handwriting. That is what you should be worrying about if you're concerned about annoying the examiner.

But I cannot emphasise enough how wrong the 'hell on earth advice' you got is.

But what you say here is effectively you want everyone to do the same play because it breaks YOUR routine ! I know thats not really what you are getting at. That essentially you should ignore the boredom of a corrector. I suppose the focus should not be on the examiner anyway. I got a copy of the Play TEECHERS by John GODBER. I Would be interested in knowing what others think of it. A play within a play but otherwise Im still interested in other plays beyond the usual suspects!!

born2bwild

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

But what you say here is effectively you want everyone to do the same play because it breaks YOUR routine ! I know thats not really what you are getting at. That essentially you should ignore the boredom of a corrector. I suppose the focus should not be on the examiner anyway. I got a copy of the Play TEECHERS by John GODBER. I Would be interested in knowing what others think of it. A play within a play but otherwise Im still interested in other plays beyond the usual suspects!!

I was responding to the claim that it's 'Hell on earth' to have to correct answers on the same text over and over again.
It isn't.
It is hell to have to correct misspelled, ungrammatical, and badly punctuated answers; students telling the story instead of answering the question; poor handwriting.
By all means, take your students through any play, novel or poetry that you please, but there's nothing wrong with sticking to the tried and tested...the point is to prepare the students to answer properly in the exam.

As for MY routine? Believe me, after a ten hour day of correcting papers the last thing you want to give me to correct is something that is, in addition to being poorly written, about some text that I've never heard of, or that may not even exist.

Flashgordon197

I think I might now try ' All my sons' Arthur Miller Any views on that?

RH149

How about 'West Side Story'- I've done that with a mixed ability Second Yr class.....Same story and themes as R&J so really prepares the Higher Level for R&J in Third Year, but doesn't have the language difficulties so is suitable for the Ord level students. You can combine it with the study of the film which gives them the option of answering on the film in the JC exam. Even though I went on to do Shakespeare in 3rd Yr a lot of the Ord level chose to answer on WSS in their mock exams and did quite well.

Flashgordon197

Thanks for that but having just read 'All my sons' I think I will stick with it for the moment. There are study notes with it. I think the Field is more for a rural audience that understand the value of land. West side story certainly has an urban modern dimension and I thought of it before I spent a couple of hours reading AMS I would plucked for it!

Rosita

Flashgordon197 wrote: »

Thanks for that but having just read 'All my sons' I think I will stick with it for the moment. There are study notes with it. I think the Field is more for a rural audience that understand the value of land. West side story certainly has an urban modern dimension and I thought of it before I spent a couple of hours reading AMS I would plucked for it!

I'd have thought that The Field is essentially about power and that the land is merely part of the plot (the motivation for the use of power could be anything)? That's a fairly universal theme. And do not underestimate the interest urban students would have in The Field, in my experience of it last year anyway.

mikemac

Philadelphia Here I Come

Rural Ireland, stern controlling father, limited opportunities, unemployment, trying to meet girls, loud mouth Yanks, emigration

Why it sounds my village

We did it for LC but no way would I say it's too advanced for JC
I liked it

wantano

Romeo and Juliet - you can edit your lessons very easily to suit all levels.
I find it terrible not to teach Shakespearean to JC

wantano

mikemac wrote: »

Philadelphia Here I Come

Rural Ireland, stern controlling father, limited opportunities, unemployment, trying to meet girls, loud mouth Yanks, emigration

Why it sounds my village

We did it for LC but no way would I say it's too advanced for JC
I liked it

It's not advised to teach LC texts to JC classes

Macushlablue

I've done Romeo and Juliet with a variety of different classes, including JCSP classes. The weaker kids really enjoy it, especially the whole issue of teenage relationships and parent-child arguments. They did some fantastic work for me staging the trial of Friar Laurence: they each played a different part from the play, and had to explain why they thought he was guilty or innocent of contributing to the deaths of Romeo and Juliet. Any students that weren't able to contribute in that way got to be the jury and decide on a verdict. Great stuff!