Students at Laukhuf Elementary spent 2 weeks studying William Shakespeare and his most famous play Romeo and Juliet. With the help of 5 x 5 Funds for the Arts, Kindergarten had a hands on experience with actors from Kentucky Shakespeare by participating in Bard Buddies. During their Bard Buddies experience students wore costumes and performed scenes from Romeo and Juliet in their classroom under the direction of Kentucky Shakespeare actors. Funding also paid part of the fee for Boy meets Girl meets Shakespeare. In this production 4th and 5th grade students at Laukhuf observed actors from Kentucky Shakespeare perform scenes from 3 of Shakespeare’s plays including Romeo and Juliet. Funding was also used for two 3rd grade classes to each have a week workshop with a Kentucky Shakespeare actor. Their experience including making costumes, learning a dance, and performing parts of Romeo and Juliet for the school Town Hall Meeting.
To end the study of Shakespeare, students were to make a mask from the time period of Romeo and Juliet. Each student made a choice to be either a Montague or a Capulet. In the movie “Gnomeo and Juliet”, the Montague family was blue and the Capulet family was red. If you were a Montague you made a blue mask, and if you were a Capulet you made a red mask. Of course with this week being the week before the final four played in basketball, UK fans were Montagues, and U of L fans were Capulets. On Friday before the big game, students would ask…”Are you a Montague or a Capulet”? Which one are you?
Submitted by Toska Adams, Arts and Humanities Teacher at Laukhuf Elementary.
