CMers- How do you do Shakespeare studies?

[Esse Quam Videri]

I would love to hear how different families do this with grammar stage kids.

[Hunter]

:bigear:

 

I was just looking at the $20.00 complete B&N collection today and thinking about the same thing.

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Teehee. I will bump this even though I have no ACTUAL experience. Let me tell you "The Plan" for in a couple of years:

 

I hope to convert the February doldrums into Shakespeare Month. We'll put aside all but math and Shakespeare. Choose a play, read it or a children's version, watch the film, hold casting calls, create a scene backdrop, and act it out. I am hoping that when the time comes, my Co-op group might want to get into it as well. We'll probably try to find a period cookbook and speak in Elizabethan English. :-)

 

And then we won't worry about it again for a whole year.

 

That's my plan!

[Chelli]

Considering that I kind of stumble my way around CM most of the time (at least it feels that way!), here is how I've been doing Shakespeare studies.

 

For first grade, I use Bruce Coville's picture books of Shakespeare's plays. I usually read through half of the book talk about it and read through the next half later in the week and talk about it. Very cuddle on the couch discuss.

 

Starting in second grade, I use Nesbit's Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare. I read half of the play from Nesbit's book on the first day. On the second day I have dd narrate the first part back to me and I copy it down. The next week, I read the second half of the play and dd narrates the second half back to me while I copy down her narration. I work in plot and characters into our memory work after we've studied it so that it stays fresh. Doing Shakespeare this way will take us about two years to get through Nesbit's book. I'm actually working on a Shakespeare board game to help with review.

 

For 4th and 5th I plan on working through Lamb's book using the same style.

 

HTH.

[Esse Quam Videri]

Great ideas! I've been looking at the Nesbit and Lamb books as well. Would you definitely recommend the Nesbit first? Anyone else use a different resource for youngers?

[Holly]

I haven't actually started yet. :blush: My plans are to use the Nesbit and/or Lamb books (I have both) and some finger puppets I bought...I think there are also paper dolls and coloring books. I'd like to take them to a play or at least watch one on TV (you have to be careful of which versions though...many have nudity). I've heard the Lamb is written on a higher level, but the Nesbit is almost too simplified (it leaves out quite a bit)...many children prefer the Lamb ones. I'd like to read through the plays eventually, but this is supposed to be a good starting point.

 

If you google "Shakespeare for kids", there are quite a few websites on the topic. There are also some Shakespeare picture books, but I haven't checked any out.

 

Here is a link to the puppets, someone shared it awhile back. They are pretty cute and it comes with a book of famous scenes:

http://www.amazon.co...64911913&sr=8-3

[Esse Quam Videri]

Here is a link to the puppets, someone shared it awhile back. They are pretty cute and it comes with a book of famous scenes:

http://www.amazon.co...64911913&sr=8-3

LOVE those puppets!

[Chelli]

Great ideas! I've been looking at the Nesbit and Lamb books as well. Would you definitely recommend the Nesbit first? Anyone else use a different resource for youngers?

 

I like Nesbit first because it is simpler. My entire focus with Shakespeare studies is exposure to the story lines and characters. I want to do this through a slow, gentle progression. So far it seems to be working. My dd has learned quite a bit of Shakespeare and absolutely LOVES when we do our Shakespeare studies.

[claluck]

We did Lamb's book but we didnt start until 3rd grade. My kids loved the stories. We read 1/2 or less of each story each session and talked about it. We also bought a couple books for plays by children. Super simple and can be done with very few actors. We drew pictures and chattered about the stories. This year we moved into the actual plays. I let my kids each pick one (2 kids reading) and then I chose one (based on the lineup for the nearest Shakespeare festival) I have seen suggestions on what orders to read them in, however I decided to let the kids pick which ones they wanted to read. Believe it or not their top choice was Romeo and Juliet lol. We also read Comedy of Errors this year and are in the process of reading the Tempest. We will likely go see the play this summer.

 

When you get to the real plays there are some definate things to help. One we take it a ton slower. Two we buy dramatized audio recordings (audible) of the play which help incredibly with understanding. I also get each kid their own copy to read along and I have my own copy with modern day translation next to it. I stop the audio every once in a while to see how they are understanding and do mini narrations. Then if I feel the need I clarify the story in modern english.

 

Also we do not plan to do this forever. We are actually only going to read a few more plays. My DH and I talked about it and decided Shakespeare wasn't really as high on our priority list as some other things so our focus will be moving just a little.

 

Christina

[Hunter]

Great thread!

[Kfamily]

I was fortunate enough to find this version of the Lamb book:

 

http://www.amazon.co...&condition=used

 

You'll see that this version includes the name Trewin. This version has all of the original plays from the Lamb book, but Trewin includes a prose retelling of the histories that are missing in the original.

 

We do as many others have mentioned. We read a prose retelling of the play and then watch a live production, if possible, or in some cases a good movie version. If we can ever get settled again soon, we'd love to belong to a group that puts on Shakespeare productions.

 

My younger dd has only been introduced to a few plays up to this point. I like to wait and read the full Lamb book when they are a little older. This way it is very current as we move into reading the originals. I read her the prose retelling as a production is approaching that we plan on attending or if my older dd is studying a play and we will be watching the movie version. So far, she's read A Midsummer Night's Dream (and watched the movie), Henry V (and watched the movie), Merchant of Venice (and watched a homeschool play of it) and Comedy of Errors (and saw a small production of it locally). We just recently read from a children's version of Plutarch on Brutus and will be reading Caesar next. From here we will then read the play Julius Caesar.

 

I like the Bruce Coville versions, the Lamb (and Trewin) book and the Shakespeare Can Be Fun books are a fun follow-up to a prose reading.

 

http://www.amazon.co...eare can be fun

 

 

I also make sure to choose or have my children choose an excerpt or two to memorize from the play.

 

And my older dd, who went through a huge Shakespeare fan phase, created a game that she played with her sister. They would take turns saying a character's name and the other person had to guess what play that person was from.

[Five More Minutes]

And my older dd, who went through a huge Shakespeare fan phase, created a game that she played with her sister. They would take turns saying a character's name and the other person had to guess what play that person was from.

 

I'm not a CMer, so my plan was to lurk rather than post here, but ... my dd invented the same game to play with her sister! She also has a version of the game that she plays with dh (English teacher): one of them says a line, and the other tries to guess the play (with bonus points for the character). Hours and hours of fun to be had, especially when they try to include me, knowing full well I'm confined to about four or five famous lines. :laugh:

[mamatohaleybug]

We just listen to a children's version (Nesbitt, Lamb and others) each week and discuss briefly. Sometimes we'll do an extra enrichment activity (watch the BBC cartoon version, act out scenes from our puppet set, etc) but my main goal right now is to just expose my daughter to Shakespeare and his works. Nothing in-depth at all. It's enough for us.