William Shakespeare Part 2: London - Another Classroom Activity

Like the post on William Shakespeare, Part 1 - Stratford, this week's Time Tunnellers post will offer another interactive and fun classroom jumping quiz.

Use masking take to mark out a long line on the floor.

Invite as many volunteers to participate as you can fit on the line. They should stand on it.

Explain: A jumping quiz works in the following way.

There are ten statements which you (as the teacher) will read out.

The statements will either be true or false. Pupils should think about their answer (which may well be a guess), but not give anything away.

Then you say 'Ready, steady, JUMP!' On the command, pupils should jump forwards for 'true', and backwards for 'false'. You can then reveal the answer.

As there are ten statements, pupils can keep track of their own scores on their fingers. Apart from being fun and interactive, jumping quizzes are great for engagement: even those watching can participate by deciding on an answer and awarding themselves points if they were right.

In addition, cheating is all but impossible: you can't turn yourself around in mid-air, can you!

So without further ado, here are ten questions based on our video!

1. William Shakespeare moved to Liverpool to work in the theatre. (FALSE - London)

2. Some of the earliest references to Shakespeare's plays were in theatre owner Philip Henslowe's Diary. (TRUE)

3. Henslowe owned the Globe Theatre. (FALSE, he owned the Rose Theatre)

4. The Rose Theatre was on the North bank of the Thames. (FALSE, the South Bank)

5. Another playwright, Robert Black, was jealous of Shakespeare. (FALSE, Robert Greene)

6. Greene called Shakespeare and 'upstart swan'. (FALSE, 'upstart crow')

7. Shakespeare was a shareholder in the Globe Theatre. (TRUE)

8. Shakespeare was well known and popular in his own time. (TRUE)

9. Plays were also performed at inn courtyards. (TRUE)

10. Shakespeare's brother is buried in Salisbury cathedral. (FALSE, Southwark Cathedral)

TIE BREAKER QUESTIONS (in case of a draw between top scorers):

A. Queen Elizabeth I often attended theatres. (FALSE, she saw their performances at court, in her palaces)

B. Shakespeare's portrait hangs in the National Gallery in London. (FALSE, Portrait Gallery)

Barbara Henderson is one of the regular Time Tunnellers and an award-winning author of eleven books, eight of them historical adventures for children.

Find out more on her website.

William Shakespeare, Part 1: A Classroom Activity

Much has been written about Shakespeare's Stratford-upon-Avon.

This week's Time Tunnellers post will instead offer an interactive and fun classroom activity: A Jumping Quiz.

Use masking take to mark out a long line on the floor. Invite as many volunteers to participate as you can fit on the line. They should stand on it. 

Explain: A jumping quiz works in the following way.

There are ten statements which you (as the teacher) will read out. The statements will either be true or false.

Pupils should think about their answer (which may well be a guess), but not give anything away.

Then you say 'Ready, steady, JUMP!' On the command, pupils should jump forwards for 'true', and backwards for 'false'. You can then reveal the answer.

As there are ten statements, pupils can keep track of their own scores on their fingers.

Apart from being fun and interactive, jumping quizzes are great for engagement: even those watching can participate by deciding on an answer and awarding themselves points if they were right.

In addition, cheating is all but impossible: you can't turn yourself around in mid-air, can you!

So without further ado, here are ten questions based on our video!

1. William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon. (TRUE)

2. William Shakespeare married a lady called Mary Arden. (FALSE, Mary was his mother!)

3. The Shakespeare home was on Hamley Street. (FALSE, Henley Street)

4. William Shakespeare's Dad was a glovemaker. (TRUE)

5. William Shakespeare became a player and playwright in London. (TRUE)

6. William was the youngest surviving son of the Shakespeare family. (FALSE, eldest)

7. Shakespeare's son Hamnet tragically died at the age of five. (FALSE, eleven)

8. The bedrooms in the Shakespeare house were upstairs. (TRUE)

9. The Shakespeare coat of arms above the door shows a quill. (FALSE, an arrow)

10. The schoolmaster in Shakespeare's school taught Latin and French. (FALSE, Latin and Greek)

TIE BREAKER QUESTIONS (in case of a draw between top scorers):

A. Shakespeare attended the Grammar School from the age of five. (FALSE, seven)

B. Shakespeare's portrait hangs in the National Gallery in London. (FALSE, Portrait Gallery)

Barbara Henderson is one of the regular Time Tunnellers and an award-winning author of eleven books, eight of them historical adventures for children.

Find out more on her website.

The History of Valentine's Day

Familiar flowers fill the shop windows wherever you look at this time of year. Of course – it’s February and the run-up to St Valentine’s Day. But where do these traditions actually come from? I was interested and decided to do a little bit of time tunnelling!

There are at least three contenders for who the original Valentine may have been (you may not guess, but Valentine was a very common name in the past – there were loads of them!).

My favourite legend refers to a priest called Valentine. When the Roman Emperor Claudius II outlawed marriage for soldiers as he felt single men made better soldiers, this Valentine defied the order and performed secret marriage ceremonies for young lovers anyway. 

For this, he was executed around 270 AD. The February timing of our Saint Valentine’s celebration may refer back to the saint’s execution, but there is every chance that it has its root in a pagan ritual called Lupercalia which the Romans celebrated.

It was dedicated to Faunus, a god of agriculture and fertility, and to Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. 

Part of the festival was a ritual where young women put their names into an urn, and the bachelors of the community picked a name out. For the coming year, these pairs became couples, and many of these random combinations actually resulted in marriage.

During the early centuries of Christianity, these practices were (understandably) outlawed, but in the Middle Ages, a new idea took hold: it was thought that birds began looking for a mate around Saint Valentine’s Day. 

The poet Geoffrey Chaucer 14th-century poem is the earlier record of this idea with his poem “The Parliament of Fowls,” in which “Seynt Valentynes day” is the day “whan every foul cometh ther to chese his make” . 

The idea caught on. The earliest Valentine’s note to be sent goes back to the aftermath of the Battle of Agincourt when Charles, Duke of Orleans, wrote to his wife from captivity in 1415. His poem refers to her as ‘my very gentle Valentine’. Tragically, he never saw her again.

William Shakespeare and John Donne both cemented Saint Valentine’s reputation as the patron of romantic love. But it was the Victorians who really turbo-charged the tradition – they went into romantic overdrive with ever more elaborate Valentine’s cards and greetings. 

These could be shop bought, commissioned or best of all, home-made and were commonly decorated with love birds, hearts and Cupid – pretty much the Valentine’s Day that we know today.

Writing Challenge: I thought it would be fun to create a Valentine’s poem to an inanimate object that you love: a toy, a book, a favourite item of clothing. Include descriptions and imagery of what the item means for you, and perhaps the reaction it prompts for you – do you tremble whenever you go near? 

Is it the light and the life of every hour? The more exaggerated and over the top, the more entertaining it will be! We at the Time Tunnellers would love to see your work if you are willing to share it. Find us on social media @TimeTunnellers.