Brit Lit: Shakespeare

 We are reading Hatrack Romeo and Juliet in class.  (Take a look at Hatrack Taming of the Shrew.). The kids take parts.  Remember our class is meeting remotely.  Acting out parts really brings the play to life.  Purists will disagree with my choice to use Orson Scott Card’s interpretations and No Fear Shakespeare for Brit Lit.  Fine.  I want the teen’s to both experience and understand Shakespeare with more modern language.  The kids are working independently to compile character analyses, Elizabethan timelines, a list of quotes, and another list of ten insults.  One on-going project is to write their favorite quotes on a found object.  See the quote pig below and examples below.  So far, we are having a ball.

Let’s start Shakespeare!

 The Brit Lit class just started Shakespeare.  Here is the slideshow with assignments.  Each kid was reading a different play.  I made a decision to read Romeo and Juliet in class.  I need to teach what I know.  I know Romeo and Juliet pretty well.  The class is creating timelines, writing Shakespearean insults, andnoting expression still commonly used today.  We’ll do character analyses, too.  The links are in the slideshow.  We’re reading Orson Scott Card’s script adaptation of Romeo and Juliet first and using this website, which has notes and definitions, to read the original play.  The class is acting out the play.  Hopefully, this process will help us tackle Shakespeare and still have some fun.  

Tech at the Library

 Have you checked out the tech available through your library?  Our library offers loads of tech materials: equipment loans, apps, online classes, etc.  Our family has trained on the digital drawing program and 3D printer.  The library lends Chromebooks in addition to the computer stations in the library. Our system offers free training.  Increasingly, staff are expert in a variety of media.   Additionally, there are a number of online courses, such as Great Courses.  Look here at the number of resources available at our library under ‘Learn at Home’.  Ask your librarian about the resources available at your local library.  Here is the latest newsletter with some of the apps, virtual groups, and tech available.  We make free copies of handouts.  A young friend with learning differences uses Talking Books all the time.  See what your library offers.

Chaucer: Character Charts and Social Media Profile

 The kids are working in Chaucer.  We’re reading the Prologue and Pardoner’s Tale.  Each teen was assigned to characters to chart. Here is a character chart or map based on the Wife of Bath.  Additionally, the kids are creating social media profiles, similar to this one.  I used a simple resume template to make this social media profile for the Wife of Bath.  The kids are including a playlist for their characters.  I added a number of wedding songs to the social media profile for the Wife of Bath, who was married five times.  Hey!  I’m trying to make this fun.

Family Science, Gifts, and Economics—All in One Lesson

 One of the lifestyle blogs, A Beautiful Mess, has a post about How to Make Statement Hair Clips, with a Resin Kit and liquid Sculpey, a polymer clay.  Better Homes and Garden, BHG, has resin barrettes instructions, too.  Here are hair clips instructions using E6000 Craft Adhesive.  Here are instructions using polymer clay.  Ask your kids to decide what make a good hair clip?  Would it be cheaper to just buy Resin Hair Clips?  Could you make and sell hair clips profitably? See all of the lessons—even if you decide to forego making hair clips at all!  My husband is teaching Personal Finance to the local Co-op.  He has issued a challenge for the teen’s to come up with a business idea: podcasts, chicken farming, dog breeding, etc.  Capitalizing on a fad might be an idea for your family.  What are the capital costs?  Fees to Etsy?  Marketing on social media?  Shipping?  Your kids might want to skip the Economics lesson and make hair clips as Christmas gifts.

Canterbury Tales

 We launched the Canterbury Tales today with Character Charts.  The kids each picked two characters.  I assigned some historical events, too: the Hundreds Years War, instances of Black Plague, the Crusades, and  the life of St. Thomas Becket.  Two students are comparing Beowulf to the Knight.  The kids researched the origins of their surnames; surnames first emerged in the Middle Ages.  I used this slideshow as an introduction.  So far, so good.

Beowulf’s Resume

 Brit Lit is creating resumes for Beowulf.  Here is a sample guide.  Here is the sample resume I made.  Below is a resume from one of the students.  We used the Project Gutenberg’s translation of Beowulf.  There is a Table of Contents with helpful links to specific sections of the poem, such as ‘Beowulf Receives Further Honor’ or ‘Beowulf Seeks the Dragon’ to help flesh out the resume.  I’m trying to make Brit Lit fun.  Take a look.