How to Make Teaching Literature More Interesting

MISAMIS ORIENTAL GENERAL COMPREHENSIVE HIGH SCHOOL

One of the most difficult subjects to teach in high school is literature. While most students love listening to and reading stories, the mood inside the classroom becomes a little different when the topic involves Shakespeare and his sonnets and plays, and when the teacher starts talking about poetry. This is understandable because literature is not for everyone.

As a teacher, however, it is your responsibility to find ways to make the students interested in your subject, whether it is literature or not. This is where your creativity is tested.

In the past, you would probably create a lot of visual aids like colorful character cut-outs or draw scenes of the story on the board. Nowadays, though, you have a lot of options to choose from, thanks to technology and innovation.

Some of the most popular motivational tools for students studying literature are the television, movies, and music. There are a variety of things you can do using these three media, and they’re all fun and interesting. Here are some examples:

1. Get in touch or partner with the local cable TV company and find out if they have Shakespeare TV-movies scheduled for showing. Many of these shows are usually adapted to contemporary times so students can better relate with them. There are several TV-movie versions of Shakespeare’s most popular story, Romeo & Juliet. You can ask the class to watch at least three of these and then have them write a report about it. Or if you want a fun activity, ask them to role play their favorite scenes of the TV-movie.

You can also ask students to make their own version of the story’s ending.

Students will have fun while watching the show and they will have an easier time understanding the story compared to when you just ask them to read it.

2. The movies can also help your students learn to love literature. So it’s a good idea to bring the whole class to the movies when there’s a good adaptation of a literary favorite. One of the best examples is the musical movie version of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables. With a cast led by A-one Hollywood actors, it attracted a lot of viewers, even those who had no idea what the story was all about.

As a class activity, you can ask the students to write a scene featuring their favorite characters in the movie. Or they can create a storyboard of the scene (or scenes) that had the most impact on them.

When discussing the story with the class, ask them for their ideas about the story’s ending. This will encourage them to explore their creative juices while also understanding the characters and the story better.

3. Songs tell a lot of stories. They can be about anything and can convey a variety of emotions. Use these characteristics to help students love writing or creating stories.

One of the simplest activities you can do is play one song every week. Ask the class to listen closely to the lyrics of the song. If possible, play the song several times so the class can become familiar with it.

Ask each of the students to write a story or a poem based on how they interpret the song. But you also have to give them tidbits of information about the song as this will help them formulate ideas. For example, if you’re going to play Stevie Wonder and Babyface’s “How Come, How Long”, you should tell the class that the song was written as a tribute to victims of domestic violence. From thereon, your students will be able to form their own ideas and come up with a story according to what the song tells them.

This activity is an ultimate test of imagination and creativity, and of relating stories with real-life events.

Try these activities and you’ll have fun seeing your students enjoy every literature session with you!