Final Point 3

Audience: High school students, 9-10th grade
Selected text: Macbeth

Ideas for our group's edition:

• Make it an interactive experience, maybe in an ebook/ online format. This would be perfect for in-class review on a projector screen.
• Possible in-text video links:
• Performances of famous monologues
• Contextual information
• (Provides variety, keeps interest of students)
• Include a section at the beginning: "Why Read Shakespeare?" Make it relevant-- this will drive content. Help students understand WHY reading Shakespeare is important or applicable to modern day. 
• At the beginning of each scene, insert a scene summary (kind of like in Book of Mormon) so students know what to look for and have a little bit of context.
• Insert "Did you know?" boxes that pop up and teach about historical background. (Ex: did you know that in Shakespeare's time, only male actors were used? or Did you know that Shakespeare invented 2,000 words? This is good because it will be many of the students' first exposure to Shakespeare)
• Maybe highlight certain famous quotes-- call attention to quotes they'll be familiar with and relate it to modern day; explain why it's famous.
• At the back of the book, include a chronological timeline of plot/ events
• Possibly include a page about the basics of iambic pentameter
• Put a comprehensive character list at the beginning of book-- find some way to distinguish them. 
• Incorporate a strong visual aspect-- pictures of the globe, of what costumes and sets would have looked like, maybe even infographics! Infographics would probably teach about historical elements much better than just a bunch of text. Break it down, make it clear, simple and EASY for students to understand. 
• Link words to their footnotes-- instead of making a student look to the side or all the way down to the page and try to find the modern translation for a word, all they have to do is click on the word and the translation will pop up in a bubble.
• Include discussion questions at the end of book that coordinate with introductory material's focus (see next set of bullet points). 
• Possibly include an accompanying audio book that the student can listen to while reading to get a better sense of tone and conversation.
• Include a list of creative "Applying Shakespeare" projects for teachers to assign. (Ex: Re-imagine a scene of your choosing in a different time period. Adjust the language, assign roles and include costumes and props. Perform for the class.) 
• Obviously, include the regular ebook features: bookmarking, note-making capabilities. 
• Keep all supplementary writing clear-- avoid very formal, verbose language that could intimidate the student

Potential different focuses:

• Lessons about human nature to be learned from characters in Shakespeare
• Plot
• Interpretations of text by different actors/ directors
• Themes (gender, politics, etc.)