Aly Caudle

Meg Goldner Rabinowitz

English Methods
November 10th, 2015
Teaching Antigone
Because Sophocless Antigone is a play, I would take a different approach to
teaching it at Eastern University Academy Charter School. Rather than dissecting its
meaning through formal discussion, I would treat the lessons as if we were planning a
school play, which my students would help to direct. I would begin this by giving
students a brief background of tragic Greek plays, so that they would have an
understanding of the context. This would include a slide show of ancient Greek fashion, a
number of other ancient Greek plays that they may be familiar with, and video clips from
a few of these plays.
I would chunk the text by line. With each chunk of the text, students would
demonstrate their comprehension of the events by drawing story boards. This would both
act as a way to plan the play, and as a way to demonstrate plot. The students would use
these story boards later on in the play.
I would also provide an opportunity for students to study Greek architecture and
aesthetics. Students would be given time to do this on the computer in class, through
articles and images, or at home, depending on their personal preferences. With their better
understanding of Greek architecture, they would build a set for the play, including a paper
backdrop and props, based on what is needed in the story boards they have drawn. This
would act as a set for our play and would inform their understanding of setting.

Because Antigone is too long to perform in one class period, students would be
grouped to play different acts of the play per day. When the entire class completely reads
the play, the play will begin, one act per day, with a different group performing each day.
Students would audition for the part that they want to play in Antigone. In order
to get the part they most desire, they would need to demonstrate a true understanding of
the characterization of the character they are auditioning to play through their manner of
speaking, etc. Students would vote on which of their classmates exemplify the
characterization of each characters best. This would beg both those auditioning and those
judging to understand the characterization of the characters in Antigone fully.
Students would evaluate their peers performance of the play each day, and turn
their evaluations in to be graded. This would ensure that each student is fully paying
attention to the play and actively comprehending its entirety. An exam would be given at
the completion of the play, which would assess students comprehension of the setting,
characterization, and plot.