I LOVE these subjects. So, naturally, I am currently studying to teach English. Although I love the subject, I realize that there will be students that HATE this subject. My goal is to engage students that are not too keen on the subject. I realize that I won't be able to make them love English, just as I could never be made to love math. However, I do want to find a way to at least keep them somewhat engaged in what will be going on in class.
so my question is this:
To people who dislike reading and/or English, what kinds of things could your teachers have done to keep you engaged, even somewhat interested?
I was thinking about doing more activities that pertain to what we are learning. For example, when teaching my students how to identify themes within a piece of literature, we could read Romeo and Juliet and then I could split the class into 4 groups and assign each group an act in the play. each group would then look at their assigned act and try to find the theme of that act. Once that theme is found, they will construct a masquerade mask (like the ones that the characters in the play wore at the masquerade ball in the first act) and then theme their mask after the theme they found. so, if the theme that was found in their assigned act was LOVE then the group could decorate their masks with hearts and other things like that. Or if the theme that was found in their assigned act was DEATH than the group could decorate their masks with, i don't know, coffins or something (whatever they choose).
I was thinking activities along the lines of what I have mentioned would encourage the students to explore the literature on a deeper level and get them interacting hands on, because I know that many people aren't just auditory learners; they're also visual, tactile, etc...
does this sound like something that would engage students that are previously not too partial to this subject? ARE THERE ANY OTHER SUGGESTIONS THAT YOU MAY HAVE FOR ME? AS A STUDENT THAT DOESN'T LIKE THIS SUBJECT, WHAT KINDS OF THINGS WOULD ENGAGE YOU?