Michelle in AL Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I'm reading Canterbury Tales to prepare to teach next yr. I must say I just find them "OK." Nicely poetic without to much substance. How did your kid like them? Anyone do anything to spice up their lessons? I'll be teaching this in a class and plan to use the Glencoe Study Guide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoriM Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I spent a large part of my AP English class in high school on the Canterbury Tales (primarily because my teacher died with a brain aneurysm and we ended up with endless subs until a rehire was made--it was awful), so I wanted to make it fun for my own daughters. I found several online resources of ideas to "spice it up"...and we did a few that my girls enjoyed. :) Here's a link to a bunch of neat ideas: http://www.lessonplanet.com/search?keywords=canterbury+tales&rating=3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy in MD Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 We just finished the Geraldine McCaughrean adaptation. Ds found them hilarious, starting with the Knight's Tale. :001_huh: Apparently he's already seen that same behavior in his friends -- 7 centuries later! Taking Susan's advice from the conference, I decided this was a book not to analyse. Let ds just enjoy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faithr Posted May 12, 2009 Share Posted May 12, 2009 I have never cared for The Canterbury Tales. There! I said it! I read some of them in high school, in Medieval Lit in college (I loved Mort D'Arthur, Sir Gawain, Piers the Ploughman and Everyman and poetry of the Middle Ages, however!) and again with my oldest two kids. I still don't like 'em. When I taught them we just followed the Lightning Lit study guide. I had six high school kids in a little class and I had each of us read a different tale and then retell it in class. That way we got through them quickly!!!! LOL! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted May 12, 2009 Author Share Posted May 12, 2009 Thanks all, Lori the link looks great. I'm going to have to get the free trial and print some out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kate in seattle Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 we only did four of the Tales and now I can't remember exactly which ones (I remember the stories, but not their titles). I think one of the most important parts of CT is the prologue Just learning the different characters is such a rich portrait of medieval life. I did have my students memorize (and recite) the first fourteen lines of the prologue. In my 'research' (haha) I did find out that the beginning of the prologue is a parody of the Romance of the Rose. He spends those first few lines really setting us up for a lusty romance (spring, birds, bees, lots of fertility symbols) and then says - and it makes people - feel like going on a pilgramage! kind of makes you understand that the whole story is somewhat tongue in cheek. i think chaucer likes all his characters but he is definitely having fun with them as well. I thought Beowulf, CT and then Shakespeare showed a nice progression in the English language and how it changed. We could barely recognize any of the "Old English" Beowulf, could read but maybe not pronounce Chaucer while Shakespearean English is so close to our own compared to the other two. Also CT works well to introduce and identify the concept of a narrative frame. If you are teaching a class you could come up with a frame device and everyone write their own stories to fit in the frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Before studying Canterbury Tales, a decision had to be made on whether we wanted to focus on a poetic version or a narrative. Given my very literal son, it seemed that a narrative version was a better choice, particularly because I wanted him to walk away with the flavor of medieval life and not struggle with the language. He and I pulled the various editions off the shelf at Barnes and Noble, found some comfy chairs, and compared the books. TWTM suggests Coghill--my son liked Hietts and Beidler. I can't remember the others we examined. Besides the prologue, he read six or seven tales (I'd have to check my notebook) including the bawdy Miller's Tale which some choose to avoid. (Personally I think the Reeve's Tale is the one to skip!) When the school year was winding down last year, I asked my son what his favorite lit books were. Canterbury Tales was the winner, followed by Inferno. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moira in MA Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I borrowed A Companion to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales from the library. It really helped the Tales come alive for us when we read them last year. ~Moira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeekingSimplicity Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 What is it you want your children to get out of it? When I did Canturbury Tales in AP English, the only part we spent anytime on was the intro mainly to learn about that period of speach and how different it is than what we speak now before moving on to Beowolf and Shakespear. We had to memorize the intro an for some reason I can still remember it. Why I can remember that after 15 years when I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast this morning, I don't know... but there ya go. I think I need to go thru and delete some old files, make a little extra room in my memory LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dee in MI Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 Chesterton wrote a neat little book on Chaucer: Chaucer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michelle in AL Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thanks Dee, I love Chesterton. I hope my library has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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