GCSE students learn Shakespeare 'the rock n roll way'!

London, Dec 21 (ANI): British schools have come up with a novel method to boost the interest of students in classics - children can now listen to the works of Shakespeare and Jane Austen as rap, pop and rock songs on their iPods.

The numbers have been recorded professionally and are based on texts included in the GCSE curriculum.

And almost three-dozen schools have downloaded the songs for their 10,000 GCSE students.

The tracks include a Lord Of The Flies-influenced rap, and a heavy-metal number based on To Kill A Mockingbird.

The rock version of Othello is titled Throw The Pearl Away, while the R and B adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, is named Life Without You, wherein a Maria Carey-style singer croons: "Whatever may come to pass. Our love triumphs over bad. And I will love you for ever, boy."

The predicament lying at the heart of Pride and Prejudice appears in the song First Impressions.

The song tells pupils: "When Elizabeth met him, it wasn't romantic.

"Darcy was reserved and coldly distant. She was free and idealistic. He was a man with a heart of stone."

Songs have also covered various topics in the GCSE science and maths syllabuses. And many schools have begun using the programme titled LearnThruMusic.

"There are lots of pupils who don't have a high level of home support - it's almost cool to say you're not revising and we have got to change that," Times Online quoted Dave Matthews, the deputy head of Hawthorn High School in the South Wales valleys, as saying.

"With this, they don't have to be sitting at their desk at home - they can be outside, walking around or even listening to it on the bus. Everyone has a phone, MP3 or CD player, and they're more likely to listen to these than pick up a book."

He added: "I think everyone would agree that music had an important influence on us when growing up. Both boys and girls are very good at remembering the words and dances to music in the charts.

"There's no one thing that will successfully engage every child, and some of them will make little or no use of this. But the fact that they don't have to do any extra work makes this a very good deal for a kid." (ANI)