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Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet for Kids: 3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes
Who will you be? Romeo? Juliet? The nurse!? Romeo & Juliet like you have never experienced it quick, fun, and easy to understand. Designed for 6-18+ actors, kids, families, or anyone who wants to enjoy and perform Shakespeare's classic play. Romeo & Juliet for Kids is a play versatile enough for sibling fun, classes, drama groups, homeschool groups, or backyard performances. It's appropriate and fun for all ages! Plays range from 15 to 25 minutes. Which character your kids be?! What you will This mini-melodramatic masterpiece is sure to spark a love of Shakespeare. Shakespeare is difficult enough in class or watching onstage, let alone trying to teach the stories to children, but as the author's mantra states in the book, "there is no better way to learn than to have fun! "Kids who have read this have also eventually purchased the entire Shakespeare works, and have completed 'hero' reports on Shakespeare at school. Guaranteed to have you coming back for more!
104 pages, Paperback
First published April 29, 2009
36 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Brendan P. Kelso
76 books56 followersBrendan P. Kelso, known to the kids as Professor Peculiar because of his unique and humorous personality, came to writing modified Shakespeare scripts when he was taking time off from work to be at home with his son. "It just grew from there" Within months, he was being asked to offer classes in various locations and acting organizations along the coast of California. Employed as an engineer, Brendan never thought about writing. But he has always stated, "There is no better way to learn than to have fun!" Brendan makes his home on the central coast of California and loves to spend time with his wife and son.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 21, 2017
I'm taking my twelve-year-old to the ballet to see Romeo and Juliet, and I was looking for ways to elicit some excitement from him. I thought this re-imagined version would serve my purpose well, but my son didn't have any patience with it at all. Basically, he complained that it sounds too much like a modern comedy. He said he liked the movie better! *gasp* Personally, I'm not a big fun of retellings, reimaginings, etc either. Heck, I loathe abridgments too :) But I do believe this was cleverly done, and that many young readers and thespians will delight in it.
May 11, 2018
Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet for Kids: 3 Short Melodramatic Plays for 3 Group Sizes (Playing with Plays) (Volume 2) by Brendan P. Kelso is not only perfect for engaging reluctant readers, but is also an excellent choice for those struggling to get a grasp on the difficult-to-understand language used in the original text of Shakespeare's plays. Keeping with the original storyline, this book includes three moderized versions of the play, written in a language that is best understood by kids today. Included in each of the book's plays are pieces of the original text, quotes taken directly from Shakespeare's own Romeo & Juliet. The mix of original text (highlighted in gray) and moderized language (not highlighted) makes this an excellent choice for teachers everywhere! Whether you are looking to supplement your R&J unit with a shortened Reader's Theater-like piece to help with engagement or thinking about putting on a short performance of the main events of the play, students will gain confidence in their ability to comprehend difficult, required texts, and parents will be thrilled with their child's increased interest in reading! Choosing the version that best fits the size of your group is easy, since the plays range from as little as 6 actors up to 18+ actors. This makes planning time quick and simple; for example, version three is best used in a whole class setting, while version one is more fitting for an after-school club or tutoring. Either way, no one will be left out of the fun that awaits!
I have taught high school English and Spanish for the past 19 years in an urban-setting district. After trying a variety of teaching methods and new strategies, my 9th grade English students still continued to struggle when reading Romeo and Juliet. Little did I know, Kelso's short plays were the answer to my years of trial and error. No more tears, no more frustration, and no more refusing to participate in class discussions. I now have a full gradebook, I see smiles, and I hear excitement in their voices. Attendance has improved, kids are helping one another, and they are talking about books they want to read!! We even got some fake Shakespeare tattoos that we plan on showing off on our school's field day! We are having so much fun tackling this once-difficult text, while learning about Shakespeare, his language, and the time period. We are learning and growing together as a class each and every day. The best part of it all, though, is watching my low-level, low-performing students transform into confident readers, learners, and individuals in our ever-changing world. This well-deserved, newfound success fills me with joy and makes me proud to say I'm their teacher! Thank you, Mr. Kelso, for helping my students see that they, too, can achieve great things, no matter the level of difficulty!
I recommend this book (and entire series) to teachers of 5th to 9th grade, as well as to those who teach ESL. My decision to use this book to supplement our Romeo and Juliet unit was made successful by the fact that my freshmen perform below grade level. At grade level and/or high-achieving HS students may not have the same results. Students in 6th and 7th grade will benefit the most from use of this book, in my opinion. However, teachers of all grade levels will find the Playing with Plays website very helpful, as it is filled with engaging ideas, fun activities, and engaging lessons. Thank you for reading my review. I hope it was helpful. :-) Happy reading!
I have taught high school English and Spanish for the past 19 years in an urban-setting district. After trying a variety of teaching methods and new strategies, my 9th grade English students still continued to struggle when reading Romeo and Juliet. Little did I know, Kelso's short plays were the answer to my years of trial and error. No more tears, no more frustration, and no more refusing to participate in class discussions. I now have a full gradebook, I see smiles, and I hear excitement in their voices. Attendance has improved, kids are helping one another, and they are talking about books they want to read!! We even got some fake Shakespeare tattoos that we plan on showing off on our school's field day! We are having so much fun tackling this once-difficult text, while learning about Shakespeare, his language, and the time period. We are learning and growing together as a class each and every day. The best part of it all, though, is watching my low-level, low-performing students transform into confident readers, learners, and individuals in our ever-changing world. This well-deserved, newfound success fills me with joy and makes me proud to say I'm their teacher! Thank you, Mr. Kelso, for helping my students see that they, too, can achieve great things, no matter the level of difficulty!
I recommend this book (and entire series) to teachers of 5th to 9th grade, as well as to those who teach ESL. My decision to use this book to supplement our Romeo and Juliet unit was made successful by the fact that my freshmen perform below grade level. At grade level and/or high-achieving HS students may not have the same results. Students in 6th and 7th grade will benefit the most from use of this book, in my opinion. However, teachers of all grade levels will find the Playing with Plays website very helpful, as it is filled with engaging ideas, fun activities, and engaging lessons. Thank you for reading my review. I hope it was helpful. :-) Happy reading!
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March 24, 2020FUNNY
October 4, 2013
There is a whole bunch of free “Shakespeare for Kids” out there. Why should you buy this one?
Last summer my colleague and I decided that we would spend some of class hours doing Shakespeare for our secondary school students to develop their pronunciation and to have fun beyond class hours doing written grammar exercise. We both did a lot of online search to find the best script (and hopefully, free) for our class, starting with keywords such as “Shakespeare for kids” “Romeo and Juliet for kids”. After I found out about this book on Amazon.com and the website playingwithplays.com, I stopped searching for a free script and bought Brendan’s Romeo and Juliet’s script happily while my colleague spent more hours looking for a free one (I didn’t tell him I bought the script). Then we compared with what he got with this script, we both agreed that this one would be selected due to its sense of humor and language appropriateness for ESL language learners. Besides, this version contains detailed instructions for body expressions as well as movement which I found extremely useful because I am not a drama teacher; I'm an ESL teacher so drama is definitely not my water although I’ve directed several plays in the classroom. And our students got hooked! We hadn’t imagined that Shakespeare could be that fun and achievable (thanks to Brendan’s creative adaptation) while uttering some Shakespeare’s original lines (the underlined lines in the script, also a great effort from Brendan for keeping its authenticity to some extent)
Final say, a strong recommendation for those who are looking for the best deal of “Romeo and Juliet for kids”.
Last summer my colleague and I decided that we would spend some of class hours doing Shakespeare for our secondary school students to develop their pronunciation and to have fun beyond class hours doing written grammar exercise. We both did a lot of online search to find the best script (and hopefully, free) for our class, starting with keywords such as “Shakespeare for kids” “Romeo and Juliet for kids”. After I found out about this book on Amazon.com and the website playingwithplays.com, I stopped searching for a free script and bought Brendan’s Romeo and Juliet’s script happily while my colleague spent more hours looking for a free one (I didn’t tell him I bought the script). Then we compared with what he got with this script, we both agreed that this one would be selected due to its sense of humor and language appropriateness for ESL language learners. Besides, this version contains detailed instructions for body expressions as well as movement which I found extremely useful because I am not a drama teacher; I'm an ESL teacher so drama is definitely not my water although I’ve directed several plays in the classroom. And our students got hooked! We hadn’t imagined that Shakespeare could be that fun and achievable (thanks to Brendan’s creative adaptation) while uttering some Shakespeare’s original lines (the underlined lines in the script, also a great effort from Brendan for keeping its authenticity to some extent)
Final say, a strong recommendation for those who are looking for the best deal of “Romeo and Juliet for kids”.
March 28, 2012
The story of Romeo and Juliet is one that is known by people everywhere. Brendan P.Kelso has added a fun side to the story which means that kids can get engaged more easily. I enjoyed the abrubt sentances which added another level of humour to the book.
October 24, 2011
I read this book for my English class at school, It was enjoyable and has a humerous side to it.
You could tell that this was a remake of the orignal for children.
You could tell that this was a remake of the orignal for children.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews