This week we were in the choir room. They were a bit distracted by some costumes hanging on the wall and the piano in the corner. We played museum again and zip zap zop. I said if they were good I would play a song or two on the piano for them. They requested the “Peanuts song.” Which I happily obliged. We got them to go through the cast list and work on their characters. We got them to read through their scenes fully. However, they had a lot of energy this week and it was all I could do to keep them from bouncing off the walls. I think they have been coming down from the hype of Halloween. At least, I hope that was it. We really need to figure out how to contain their energy. Also, Alan pulled Colby and I to the side afterward and told us that they completed the reading testing of our 5th graders to figure out what grade level they are at. The person who walked out last week because the reading was difficult was labeled at 1st grade reading level. Two others were at a 2nd grade level and one or two were at 3rd grade reading level. This will be difficult for us especially in terms of teaching them and coaching them on Shakespeare. Hopefully we can work it one on one with them, but I am concerned that there are too many of them and not enough of us. Not to mention, I’m not sure how to translate Shakespeare to a first grade reading level. We have already determined that we need to shorten our script, but I’m not sure how to edit Shakespeare’s language so that is more easily understandable.