The 6th grade production of a full-length Shakespeare play is a proud Hyla tradition. Our 6th grade class just finished “retellings” – an important phase of the curriculum where students effectively translate each line of the play to claim the story as their own and reach a deeper understanding of the text. With retellings complete, students now move on to another important part of interpreting the text: characterization. Characterization is both internal (like understanding the emotions and motivations of their characters) and external (how to express their characters physically). Students learn to ground all character details, like costume, movement, and tone, firmly in the text itself. Through this process students breathe life into the words with their own interpretation. This unique interpretation is where the magic happens. In Joyce’s words, “This play is over 400 year old and has been done countless times, but it has never been done this way by this group of students, and it never will be ever again. That’s the thrill of live theater.” In December we will see them bring it all together and perform the full, original play on stage. We can’t wait!