That is the goal for this excercise.
First, choose your topic(s). Make them general, such as 'Hamlet' or 'The Life of Shakespeare.' You may want to preview the site for topics we cover that are directly related to yours.
A day or so before you begin, plan a path through Shakey's Place. Look for topics and sites that would benefit your students. Look for our games or study guides. Look for quizzes that meet your needs. Make a flowchart depicting exactly what you want your students to see. As much as we may want, we can't cover everything, so follow our links off to other places of interest.
Start at the Shakey's Place start page. Our index page was designed to welcome as soon as it is loaded, without scrolling down. It will be apparent what the site is made for and what it will cover. Make a statement about how this site is like a field-trip; they will be going to a 3D environment. MAKE IT FUN!
Take the students through the website and through your flowchart. Point out interesting facts and descriptions that outlines an idea or topic you are trying to convey. Make other websites prove that your topic IS popular and in the world. This will impress.
Allow your students to explore our site. Give them a scavenger hunt assignment, such as word finds or a question on a play you have. Something along the lines of: "What does Act III, sc i, lines 12-18 in Hamlet remind you of?" Then, let them go through our site. Lines finds are valuable, because students then READ the play to find the lines. You could also assign a tudy question or an online quiz to your students. Tell them to try to get 9/12 questions right on our online quiz. Emphasize that their names will be out on our "Hall of Fame".
Allow your students to have fun. Features such as our madlibs and "Who's Auditioning?" will excite your students. Have them pick their favorite character that THEY would portray and let them 'Audition.' Use the madlibs and have them identify what words were replaced and WHY they are so important to getting the real meaning.
There are so many educational uses for our site; we heartily ask you to take advantage of them. We remind you, however, that our site is not THE ONLY site on Shakespeare and Learning. Take you students out onto the Internet and show them the world. We hope you use our site as the launching pad for a great learning experience.
We would also like to take this opportunity to encourage the use of ThinkQuest. It is a FANTASTIC way to meet new people and learn new things. We could not have had a larger learning experience... honestly. We know more about Shakespeare now than we could have possibly dreamed. We heartily encourage you to take advantage of the ThinkQuest server space and create a project. The creation alone is worth the trouble. Visit The ThinkQuest Site today and learn how you can become involved. Become a coach, and inspire a few students to learn.
Questions? Email us
Comments? Sign our Guestbook
Suggestions? Post it on our Bulletin Board
Shakey's Place: The 3D Globe Theatre Internet Experience