Grade 6 students created dialogues to adapt Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. They worked in groups to write dialogues for each scene based on a narrative summary provided by their teacher. The teacher then integrated the student-written dialogues into the adaptation. Examples of student-written dialogues were provided for several scenes.

1. PORTFOLIO ACTIVITY:
GRADE 6 STUDENTS CREATING
THE DIALOGUES OF
SHAKESPEARE´S MIDSUMMER
NIGHT DREAM ADAPTATION.
BY ANA ISABEL FERREIRÓS REY
CEIP PLURILINGÜE RÍA DE VIGO.
MARCH 2015.

2. CREATING THE MURALS.

3. PROCCESS OF CREATING THE
DIALOGUES
 Focusing on our new Project»Sharing Experiences Across the Ría», our
collaboration with our Partner School CEIP SAN ROQUE DE DARBO includes two
plays. Last week we attended to their performance of the Musical Grease. Soon
will be our adaptation of Shakespeare´s play Midsummer Night´s Dream.
 In relation to the play, I´d like to mention that our Grade 6 students have
collaborated on the adaptation of the play. The process consisted on the students
creation of the dialogues in groups after reading the narration I made of each
Act – to simplify, we´ll talk of scenes –
 Once we had the dialogues of each scene, I corrected them and integrated
the selection of the dialogues the students made into each Act.

4. C R E A T I N G S C E N E 1 . N A R R A T I O N
 Shakespeare´s Midsummer Night´s Dream.
 Scene 1:
 Narration:
 Duke Theseus and Hippolyta are going to get married in four days. They want great celebrations
for their wedding!
 Egeus enters with his daughter Hermia, Lysander and Demetrius. Egeus wants Hermia will marry
Demetrius. However, Hermia loves Lysander and Lysander loves Hermia. Helena loves Demetrius, but
Demetrius loves Hermia.
 When they enter, Hermia argues with her father and disagrees with him, since she doesn´t want
to marry Demetrius. She would rather die than marry him. Then, Egeus tells her the Law of Athen:
“Eithe marry him or be a nun”. Hermia rather be a nun, than marry Demetrius. She should think
about it!

5. C R E AT I N G T H E D I A L O G U E S

6. C R E A T I N G T H E D I A L O G U E S . 1 S T . S C E N E .

7. C R E A T I N G T H E D I A L O G U E S . 1 S T . S C E N E

8. N A R R A T I O N . S C E N E 4 .
 Scene 4: The Rehearsal of the Play. At the Woods.
 The six good men are rehearsing the play for the Duke´s celebration.
 Peter Quince, the carpenter, who produced the play, has chosen a stage for the rehearsal in the middle of the woods. He is
listing off the characters of the play.
 Nick Bottom, the weaver, asks him to tell them who is playing each character. Bottom would be Pyramus, which was the
lovers´ part and the most important.
 Bottom asks: “What´s this character like?” He also asks if he is a lover or a cruel leader and if he kills himself for love or not.
In truth, he´d rather be a cruel leader…
 Another character would be Thisbe, the lady that Pyramus loves. Flute would be Thisbe. He wonders if Thisbe is a brave man,
but Quince tells him that Thisbe is a lady. Flute complaints. He can´t be a lady, since he has a bear…
 Quince suggests that he has to cover his face with a mask and also speak very quietly; so that, he sounds like a lady.
 Bottom says he could play Thisbe too, since he can talk very quietly. However, Quince wants Bottom to be Pyramus and
Flute play Thisbe.
 Snug would play the lion. Snug wants to read the play as soon as possible in order to learn the dialogues. But Quince tells
him, that he only has to roar because lions only roar. His role is to frighten poor Thisbe away.
 Bottom interrupts again saying that he can be the lion as he can roar as a lion. Quince answers not and says no way, but
Bottom insists that he can even roar as gently as a bird. Quince answers that no way… He has to play Pyramus…
 Next, Bottom complains about his role in the play. He has discovered that Pyramus in the play has to kill himself, which
would distress the ladies in the audience. Everyone nodded wisely and looked at Bottom for a solution. They felt very
disappointed. Then, they continue their rehearsal of the play. However, Bottom gets angry and leaves the scene.

9. S C E N E 4 D I A L O G U E S

10. C R E AT I N G D I A L O G U E S S C E N E 4

11. C R E A T I N G T H E D I A L O G U E S . S C E N E 4 .

12. CREATING THE
DIALOGUES. SCENE 4

13. Scene 6:
Narrator: Oberon is waiting for the news. He wonders if his plan succeeded.
Oberon: I am anxious for the news. I wonder if Titiana is now in love with an ugly
creature. Right, there comes Puck! I´ll ask him. Hello, Puck. How did it go?
Puck: Hello, Sir! Brilliant, Sir! I feel so happy. I got it! Titiana is in love with a
monster. He is Bottom, one of the actors rehearsing the play for the Duke´s
celebrations. He is the actor playing the role of Pyramus.
Oberon: Is he Nick Bottom?
Puck: Yes, he is. I turned Bottom´s head into a donkey´s head.
Oberon: Ha, ha, ha… Titiana is madly in love with a donkey. That´s great! I feel so
pleased. I am very happy with the news. By the way, did you pour the love drops
upon the Athenian boy?
Puck: Yes, I did!
Oberon: I hope the spell has worked.
Puck: Oh, yes, it has!
Oberon: Hush…Hush… There comes the Athenian man…
Narrator: Puck is shocked.
Puck: Oh, dear! (He´s shocked.) This is the woman, but he is not the man. Oh,
dear! I´ve made a mistake. Demetrius is still in love with Hermia, who still loves
Lysander.

14. However, Lysander is now in love with Helena, who doesn´t trust him at all.
Oberon: Let´s hide behind this bush…
Narrator: Demetrius enters following Hermia and Hermia is escaping him
and looking for Lysander.
Demetrius: Wait Hermia! I love you!
Hermia: What on earth are you talking about? I love Lysander.
Demetrius: Please, Hermia, wait. I love you.
Hermia: I don´t love you. By the way, where is Lysander? Did you kill him?
Where is he?
Demetrius: How can you say that?
Hermia: Please, leave me alone.
Narrator: As they fail to reach an agreement, Hermia leaves and Demetrius
follows her. He does some rounds until he gets tired and has a rest. Oberon
and Puck move closer. Oberon complains that Puck has put the love juice
upon the wrong eyes.
Oberon: I can´t believe you made such a big mistake by pouring the love
juice upon the wrong eyes. Besides, you have split the two lovers instead of
bringing together Helena and Demetrius. Go as far as you can, find Helena
and bring her here. In the meantime, I will pour more love liquid into
Demetrius´s eyes. Hopefully, Demetrius will fall in love with Helena when
he wakes up and sees her.
Narration: Shakespeare barges into the scene.

15. Shakespeare: No, no, no no!!! It needs more emotion, more love, more humor,
more actors, more deaths!!!
Narration: Puck enters and tells Oberon that Helena is coming with the man he
has cursed. Oberon asks him to hide. So, both of them hide and watch.
Puck: Sir, Helena is coming! Quick, you should hide.
Oberon: Ok, let´s hide.
Oberon and Puck stand to one side. Afterwards, Helena enters feeling very
miserable, while being followed by Lysander. She sees Demetrius is waking up
and moves close to him. When he awakes and sees Helena, he falls madly in love
with her. She is surprised and can´t believe him.
Helena: Oh here you are Demetrius!
Demetrius: Helena, it feels like I´m seeing you for the first time again! You´re so
beautiful! I love you!
Narration: Shortly afterwards, Hermia comes back. She feels so cross and
confused. She can´t bear it. When she sees Helena, she calls her a thief of love
and believes she has no shame at all. Helena insults her and they almost begin
to fight, but Lysander and Demetrius separate them.
Hermia: You traitor, Helena! How dare you steal my love!!!
Helena: You´re just a puppet on a string! I´m no thief.
Demetrius and Lysander: Stop, stop, you´re behaving like children! Come on
let´s go in peace.
Narration: They leave sharing looks full of anger.

16. G R A D E 6 S T U D E N T S C R E A T I N G T H E
D I A L O G U E S

17. DIALOGUES SCENE 6

18. SCENE 6 DIALOGUES

19. DIALOGUES SCENE 6

20. DIALOGUES SCENE 6

21. C R E A T I N G D I A L O G U E S S C E N E 6

22.  Scene 6:
 Narrator: Oberon is waiting for the news. He wonders if his plan succeeded.
 Oberon: I am anxious for the news. I wonder if Titiana is now in love with an ugly creature. Right, there comes Puck! I´ll ask him. Hello, Puck. How did it go?
 Puck: Hello, Sir! Brilliant, Sir! I feel so happy. I got it! Titiana is in love with a monster. He is Bottom, one of the actors rehearsing the play for the Duke´s celebrations. He is the actor playing the role of Pyramus.
 Oberon: Is he Nick Bottom?
 Puck: Yes, he is. I turned Bottom´s head into a donkey´s head.
 Oberon: Ha, ha, ha… Titiana is madly in love with a donkey. That´s great! I feel so pleased. I am very happy with the news. By the way, did you pour the love drops upon the Athenian boy?
 Puck: Yes, I did!
 Oberon: I hope the spell has worked.
 Puck: Oh, yes, it has!
 Oberon: Hush…Hush… There comes the Athenian man…
 Narrator: Puck is shocked.
 Puck: Oh, dear! (He´s shocked.) This is the woman, but he is not the man. Oh, dear! I´ve made a mistake. Demetrius is still in love with Hermia, who still loves Lysander. However, Lysander is now in love with Helena, who doesn´t trust him at all.
 Oberon: Let´s hide behind this bush…
 Narrator: Demetrius enters following Hermia and Hermia is escaping him and looking for Lysander.
 Demetrius: Wait Hermia! I love you!
 Hermia: What on earth are you talking about? I love Lysander.
 Demetrius: Please, Hermia, wait. I love you.
 Hermia: I don´t love you. By the way, where is Lysander? Did you kill him? Where is he?
 Demetrius: How can you say that?
 Hermia: Please, leave me alone.
 Narrator: As they fail to reach an agreement, Hermia leaves and Demetrius follows her. He does some rounds until he gets tired and has a rest. Oberon and Puck move closer. Oberon complains that Puck has put the love juice upon the wrong eyes.
 Oberon: I can´t believe you made such a big mistake by pouring the love juice upon the wrong eyes. Besides, you have split the two lovers instead of bringing together Helena and Demetrius. Go as far as you can, find Helena and bring her here. In the
meantime, I will pour more love liquid into Demetrius´s eyes. Hopefully, Demetrius will fall in love with Helena when he wakes up and sees her.
 Narration: Shakespeare barges into the scene.
 Shakespeare: No, no, no no!!! It needs more emotion, more love, more humor, more actors, more deaths!!!
 Narration: Puck enters and tells Oberon that Helena is coming with the man he has cursed. Oberon asks him to hide. So, both of them hide and watch.
 Puck: Sir, Helena is coming! Quick, you should hide.
 Oberon: Ok, let´s hide.
 Oberon and Puck stand to one side. Afterwards, Helena enters feeling very miserable, while being followed by Lysander. She sees Demetrius is waking up and moves close to him. When he awakes and sees Helena, he falls madly in love with her. She is
surprised and can´t believe him.
 Helena: Oh here you are Demetrius!
 Demetrius: Helena, it feels like I´m seeing you for the first time again! You´re so beautiful! I love you!
 Narration: Shortly afterwards, Hermia comes back. She feels so cross and confused. She can´t bear it. When she sees Helena, she calls her a thief of love and believes she has no shame at all. Helena insults her and they almost begin to fight, but Lysander and
Demetrius separate them.
 Hermia: You traitor, Helena! How dare you steal my love!!!
 Helena: You´re just a puppet on a string! I´m no thief.
 Demetrius and Lysander: Stop, stop, you´re behaving like children! Come on let´s go in peace.
 Narration: They leave sharing looks full of anger.

23. C R E A T I N G T H E D I A L O G U E S

24. SELF EVALUATION

25. SELF - EVALUATION