Shakespeare

[HSKLNG]

Has anyone study Shakespeare? Could you share which curriculum or system (books, method) did you use to cover this subject?

 

Last year I thought I had decided to use Hewitt LLC, but this year I have been thinking about Teaching the Classics. Could Shakespeare be done with TC?

 

More than something structure I want it to be a time to enjoy reading and discussing the books without the pressure of knowing that we are reading the books to write an essay. Could I get away without any Shakespeare writing?

 

I still have time to think, but I would appreciate your inputs, specially of those that had study Shakespeare already.

 

Thanks in advance.

[SheWhoWaits]

I've never had my dc write on Shakespeare. Signet has discussion guides available online for many of the plays. Those work pretty well and are cheap, too! (free, actually) http://us.penguingroup.com/static/html/signetclassics/shakespeare.html

I've tried purchased curricula. Some are much better than others. I didn't like the Center for Learning guides. Too many bells and whistles and not enough comprehension questions. The Ready-to Use series is great, though. Get the catalog from The Writing Company http://www.writingco.com/c/catrequest.html?s@uzD7ur6XHRbQo

and you'll see lots of choices.

[Michelle in MO]

First of all, I've loved Shakespeare for quite some time and started out by ordering a couple of his plays (Henry V, Macbeth) in the Oxford School Shakespeare editions, which are my personal favorites. My reasons for preferring these editions are as follows: 1) they retain Shakespeare's original language (which I think is important for students to "wrestle" with); 2) they have abundant notes that explain what many of the words/phrases mean, as well as giving clues into their historical or literary context; 3) Roma Gill is the editor of these editions, and there are copious notes both before and after the actual reading of the play that greatly add to one's understanding and enjoyment.

 

Then, my oldest started reading Shakespeare on her own, just for fun. She's thoroughly enjoyed many of his plays. Sometimes it's fun just to read for the sheer enjoyment of it, kwim?

 

We've used Omnibus for our Great Books program (many use TWTM or WEM or other programs, as well), and Omnibus (at least Omnibus I and II) seems to include several works of Shakespeare each year (well, there were actually more in Omnibus II than in Omnibus I). The teacher's notes are generally pretty good, providing some good points for discussion. I've supplemented their notes with SparkNotes, which you can access for free online (although I went ahead and bought some copies---I like to hold books rather than read them over the internet.) Notice that SparkNotes also has their "No Fear Shakespeare" series, which has Shakespeare's play on one side and a modern translation on the other side of each page. I still prefer the Oxford School Shakespeare editions.

 

You could certainly use "Teaching the Classics" (is that the one by Andrew Adams?) for guidance in studying Shakespeare. Also, The Teaching Company has some excellent Shakespeare CD's or DVD's with Peter Saccio, which would be well worth your time. This link just shows one of his lectures series on Shakespeare---if you do a search, you'll find several others.

 

There are many online notes available for Shakespeare, as well. I found these notes when I was trying to find additional information for "A Midsummer Night's Dream". (I felt like we needed additional info. for the play than what Omnibus provided.)

 

I think it's a good idea to try to write about Shakespeare, if possible, although maybe not every play. Like I mentioned previously, sometimes kids just want to read and enjoy the play, rather than have to write about it all the time. Still, since I was counting this for h.s. credit, for Omnibus II I had my girls either take the evaluation (test) with the historical books, and I tended to have them write about the literature books.

 

I also think it's a great idea to follow up reading about Shakespeare with actually watching a version of that particular play, if at all possible. Try to go to the theater to watch a version live, if possible, or else rent a good DVD version of one of the plays. There's Henry V, Macbeth, Hamlet, King Richard III, and many others. I always think that the actors and actresses that come out of the Royal Shakespeare Company are tops.

 

Enjoy! Shakespeare is actually quite a bit of fun and not that difficult!

[Laura in OH]

Has anyone study Shakespeare? Could you share which curriculum or system (books, method) did you use to cover this subject?

 

They recommend it for grades 4 and up. See it here: http://www.amblesideonline.org/ShakespeareSch.shtml

[Cedarmom]

We also listen to the play on cd as we read the play together. I buy downloads from audible. com. Make sure you buy a complete version,not abridged. We have found listening to the play as we read, really helps our comprehension. If I had several children , I would have them take turns reading it aloud. If you have not done any Shakespeare before, it may be helpful to read some retellings, such as Tanglewoood Tales, before you do the plays. We have used Teaching the Classics, and it has worked wonderful. With Teaching the Classics, we read the book (play) then discuss several questions. Then he does the story chart. Doing this method, even without doing the essay, you discuss theme ,conflict, setting, and character. If I was not going to do an essay, I would have the discussion be more in-depth. The questions are very similar to TWEM,which is what somepeopleuse for discussions.

[Anne/Ankara]

We've been tying our Shakespeare study to our city's annual Shakespeare Monologue and Scene Contest, so we choose one play per year to read, discuss, watch on video, study with Teaching Company videos (Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition for example), and then memorize a monologue from it to perform before judges. The whole project takes about six weeks and is lots of fun for us. Just one idea!

[kate in seattle]

If you haven't 'taught' Shakespeare before, or feel a little intimidated, here is one approach that works well for students from 5th grade UP.

 

First read the story in Garfield's books ("Shakespeare stories" or "Shakespeare stories II" - these may not be the exact names; I can't remember) He does an excellent retelling, retaining a fair amount of the original language.

 

Then I would watch a movie of the play. Henry V and Much Ado about nothing, both directed by Kenneth Branagh are excellent choices. (There is one scene in Much Ado which is not so appropriate - it is very short and not essential to the plot)

 

Finally, I would read the play - out loud, taking parts is preferable.

 

If you have a chance to actually see the play performed, that would be even better.

 

This summer I am taking this approach to Shakespeare with my 5th grader and 8th grader for the four plays which our two local shakespeare companies produce for free in local parks.

 

all the best,

kate in seattle

[Carmen_and_Company]

If you don't mind secular materials . . .

The Center for Learning provides a ton of guides. I liked these guides as the material guided the student to evaluate various ethical traits such as loyalty, family commitment, justice, etc., via each play.

http://www.centerforlearning.org/Search_Products.aspx

 

Taz and I really enjoyed the parallel texts, teacher guides, and student workbooks published by Pearson Learning. http://www.perfectionlearning.com/browse.php?categoryID=2144

 

Rainbow Resource sells most of the Pearson Learning offerings with a lengthy review. If you click on each title, you can also view some of the pages.

http://rainbowresource.com/product/Macbeth+Text%0A/036517/1213893632-1506072