I’m the list of top songs that have charted the best;
From a bottle of malt, the amount you ingest;
I’m the third point in tennis; the winks in a rest;
And a hint is below if you haven’t yet guessed.

What am I?

I am proud to announce that I have recently published a chapter in this book on teaching literature through technology. You can ignore the description; it seems to have been inadvertently switched with that of this book. Neither page describes my chapter, but you can read the abstract on the publisher’s page, or I could just tell you what it’s about.

Unlike this blog, the book chapter is actually about teaching Shakespeare! No riddles. No anagrams. No politics. (Well, maybe a little bit of politics.)

Here is the basic idea. I begin by citing experts who are skeptical of the ability of elementary school students to do Shakespeare. Specifically, I discuss the Dramatic Age Stages chart created by Richard Courtney.

Courtney describes “The Role Stage” as lasting from ages twelve to eighteen, at which point students are capable of a number of new skills that I would consider essential for understanding Shakespeare in a meaningful way. These skills include the ability to think abstractly, to understand causality, to interpret symbols, to articulate moral decisions, and to understand how a character relates to the rest of the play. So based on this chart, I would have to conclude that a student younger than twelve would not be ready to appreciate Shakespeare in these ways.

But Courtney bases his chart on the framework of developmental phases of Swiss psychologist Jean Piaget. These phases describe what a lone child can demonstrate under testing conditions. A more accurate and nuanced way of looking at development is provided in the work of Soviet psychologist Lev Vygotsky, who described a “Zone of Proximal Development” (ZPD), which is a range between what a child can demonstrate in isolation, and what the same child can do under more social conditions.

So I wondered if fifth-grade students (aged 10) would have some of the skills associated with “The Role Stage” somewhere in their ZPD. If so, a collaborative class project should provide enough scaffolding to develop those skills and allow ten-year-old students to understand and appreciate Shakespeare on that level.

So I developed and implemented a unit to teach Macbeth to a fifth-grade class in the South Bronx, using process-based dramatic activities, a stage production of the play performed for their school, and a web-based study guide to apply what they had learned. The idea was to use collaborative projects to get the kids to work together to make collective sense of the play. I then examined their written work for evidence that they had displayed the skills associated with “The Role Stage” in Courtney’s chart, and I was able to find a great deal of it.

I also create a three-dimensional rubric to assess the students’ work over the course of the unit. I say a three-dimensional rubric because I use the same eight categories in all three rubrics, but they develop over time to reflect the increased sophistication that I expect the students to demonstrate. I then compare the students’ performance-based rubric scores to their reading test scores to demonstrate that standardized testing paints only a very limited picture of what a student can achieve. (I did say that it had a little bit of politics.)

Anyway, that’s what my chapter was about. I just saved you $180! And I’m hoping to return to a regular blogging schedule soon, so more content is hopefully on the way.

I’m a gathering useful for sewing a quilt;
I’m an insect with friends that a honeycomb built;
I appear on The Daily Show played to the hilt;
And a contest where spellers are spelling full tilt.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Elizabeth. See comments for answer.

From Twelfth Night:

I have heard of some kind of men that put quarrels purposely on others, to taste their valour.

Shift around the letters, and it becomes:

The hateful ire run for the proposed Manhattan mosque is, sadly, a lie to provoke hurt voters.

I’m a series of wins that’s uncommonly rare;
I’m a light-colored strand dyed in dark-colored hair;
I’m a line in the sky caused by lightning-bolt flare;
And to run out in public while totally bare.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by TeacherWoods. See comments for answer.

I’m a character known by a well-defined trait;
What you say that you watch when you’re watching your weight;
I’m an action-primed doll; how Olympians skate;
Or a shape that they trace, like the numeral eight.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Bronx Richie. See comments for answer

I’m a magical feat caused by legerdemain;
I am dirty when found in a vicious campaign;
I’m the cards in a round that you try to obtain;
And the threat that some Halloween greetings contain.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Justin. See comments for answer.

I’m a language or history many can claim;
I am knowledge or sense when you all have the same;
I’m a non-scientific vernacular name;
And the lack of a title, or similar shame.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by Anonymous. See comments for answer.

I’m the pixels per inch that a screen can display;
A December-made promise that’s broken by May;
I’m a point for debate; the last act of a play;
And what organizations can vote to convey.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by DeLisa. See comments for answer.

I’m an action symbolic for fashion or peace;
I’m an off-hand remark, or prepared press release;
A description a witness might give to police;
And a bank-issued letter of balance increase.

Who am I?

UPDATE: Riddle solved by DeLisa. See comments for answer.