OhioMomof3 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 For those who have gone before me: What are your not-to-be-missed Shakespeare resources? I recently saw the book How To Teach Your Children Shakespeare (for teaching elementary school children) and I started to wonder what wonderful books or videos I should consider for my high schooler. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 First and foremost, see it in performance, preferably before being required to read it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TechWife Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Shakespeare Online Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Definitely watch first, with local productions being the first choice, and film versions second. Perhaps read a short summary (idea: No Sweat Shakespeare) or maybe a short prose version (ideas: Tales From Shakespeare (Lamb), Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children (Nesbit), Stories From Shakespeare (McCaughrean)) before viewing a production, to be familiar with the basic storyline and characters -- lots of disguises and double identities in the comedies, which can be confusing to follow while simultaneously trying to follow the language. Another option might be to first watch the 30-minute Shakespeare Animated Tales version. If you decide to read/study a play, the Parallel Shakespeare materials are meaty starting points. Items to choose from: a book of side-by-side modern translation and original text of the play; student workbook; teacher version of the workbook; and teacher guide. If on a budget, you'll get the most "bang for the buck" by going with just the student workbook and the teacher guide, and you can find side-by-side texts free online at Sparknotes' No Fear Shakespeare. I have heard that the Lighting Lit Shakespeare: Comedies, and Shakespeare: Tragedies -- each a one-semester program -- are good. A meaty, in-depth guide from a Christian perspective and exploring Christian-Judeo themes and images in the plays: Brightest Heaven of Invention: Christian Guide to Six Shakespeare Plays (Leithart). For digging into the background of the plays and about performance, there are two series of Shakespeare Uncovered from PBS. And after watching, reading, digging… It's fun to watch a movie that is a loosely-based, modern adaptation of one of the plays Romeo & Juliet ---> West Side Story; Warm Bodies; Gnomeo and Juliet King Lear ---> Ran (Japanese samurai) Macbeth ----> Throne of Blood (Japanese samurai) The Tempest ----> Forbidden Planet Twelfth Night ----> back in 2000, PBS's Great Performances did a fabulous 1920s Harlem setting musical based on the plot of Twelfth Night, set to Duke Ellington music (alas, not available anywhere, but here, , are clips) And even farther afield, this fun book that rewrites the famous film movie in Shakespearean language: William Shakespeare's Star Wars (Doescher). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioMomof3 Posted February 21, 2015 Author Share Posted February 21, 2015 Karen & Lori D, Thanks for the suggestion of watching the plays first, then reading. I always do the opposite with books, so I wouldn't have thought of that. Thanks, too, for the other information, Lori D. TechWife, Shakespeare Online is a treasure trove of information. I appreciate you telling me about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ethel Mertz Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 For research purposes, The Folger Shakespeare Library in DC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swimmermom3 Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I think for Shakespeare, everyone has to find their own way. In our house, we'll at the very least read through a Leon Garfield retelling (Lamb works) to get the basic storyline. We just saw Measure for Measure which neither one of us had any familiarity with. I read the Garfield version while ds drove for our theater road trip. At points, Shakespeare's language can be difficult and knowing what's coming next is helpful. I have never found that this detracts from the joy of the performance. Hopefully, we have read the actual play beforehand, but that doesn't always happen. If dh is going with us, we give him the Garfield version. :D We use the Oxford School Shakespeare series and I have a couple of resources I pull from if I am teaching formal lessons, but for the last two years, he's had another teacher. We try to see a about three plays a year for Shakespeare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3andme Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 Homeschool Buyers Coop has Shakespeare in Bits on sale. I haven't used it but the reviews look positive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmilyK Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I just posted something similar in the Gen Ed board and then saw this. With my kids, what seems to work best is live plays and, second, a film version. They're much more likely then to be able read or listen to an audio of the play. We recently saw a film version of The Tempest with Helen Mirren that my kids seemed to like better than the live version we saw last summer. Maybe it was the familiarity, but they thought they followed the back story more given the visuals. I read (and only read) a ton of Shakespeare plays when I was in high school and college, but I don't think that would be my first choice for myself now either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deee Posted February 21, 2015 Share Posted February 21, 2015 I'm a Shakespeare buff. If we are going to analyse a play for school work, we read it first, out loud taking different parts. This works really well with our little homeschool bookclub. We discuss it as we go. No modern language versions aloud. Then we watch the play. If we are just watching the play without heaps of study, Garfield, Lamb or similar version before the play, watch the play, some reading of key scenes or monologues if I think its helpful, bit of discussion, otherwise we just treat it as another form of (fabulous) entertainment. Afterall, I don't dissect movies, so why kill a play with analysis. One heavy analysis is enough each year for DS14 ATM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OhioMomof3 Posted February 22, 2015 Author Share Posted February 22, 2015 Thanks, everyone! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
i.love.lucy Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 A friend and I are teaching Classical Theater next year in co op and picked up several Prufrock guides. We also have Shakespeare A to Z by Boyce which I think is an indispensable resource. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8filltheheart Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 My personal favorite approach has been to understand Shakespeare's life by watching documentaries (Micahel Wood's is fabulous. Looks like they are now on YouTube. https://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=A0LEVy0VJOtUiWgAydrBGOd_;_ylc=X1MDMjE0NTg1MTU4NQRfcgMyBGZyA3lmcC1ocnRhYi05MDEEZ3ByaWQDRDd6V1c5aE1RSk9CVEZEWS41bmJDQQRuX3JzbHQDMARuX3N1Z2cDMQRvcmlnaW4Dc2VhcmNoLnlhaG9vLmNvbQRwb3MDTmFOBHBxc3RyA21pY2hhZWwgd29vZHMgc2hha2VzcGVhcmUgBHBxc3RybAMyNgRxc3RybAMzOARxdWVyeQNtaWNoYWVsIHdvb2RzIGluIHNlYXJjaCBvZiBzaGFrZXNwZWFyZQR0X3N0bXADMTQyNDY5NjM2OQ--?p=michael+woods+in+search+of+shakespeare&fr2=sa-gp-&fr=yfp-hrtab-901&fp=1 )listening to Joseph Pearce (who also has a great biography on Shakespeare) http://www.ewtn.com/vondemand/audio/seriessearchprog.asp?seriesID=7136&T1=, and reading the book Shadowplay. We read the Leon Garfield version from Shakespeare Stories http://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Stories-Leon-Garfield/dp/0395861403 followed by reading along with an audio book, and then watch a performance. My kids love Shakespeare, so the approach has grabbed their interest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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